Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Over the years, Laurance had grown tired of living in the village.

He was tired of living there just to see the villagers either die or leave one by one until all he had left was their children. Children who grew to have grey hair and wrinkled skin while Laurance was stuck with his eternally brown hair and skin untouched by time other than his many faded scars.

He stayed though, if only to honor his Lord and his duty to Phoenix Drop. He helped them with every war, and every single battle. He completely dominated the battlefield. He’d become their weapon, leaving trails of bodies in his wake. Eventually, rumors had spread across the land that Phoenix Drop had an immortal soldier.

He still fought, though as the battles all blended and melded together, he started wishing someone could strike him down and end his misery.  Not like he could be killed, not without someone really powerful to stop him in his full form.

The strongest people he knew were dead, so no hope there.

After the decades of war, things finally seemed to settle down. The village turned more into what someone would call a town. He couldn’t even separate people’s descendants from people who moved in anymore.  He looked at his bloodied, rusted armor and told the Lord he was retiring. She wished him the best, and just like that he left the town of Phoenix Drop and all of the grief that it carried with it. He hoped Engrith would forgive him for leaving his grave behind, the one he had cared for so long even after it had been grave robbed. 

He left for New Meteli, then Scaleswind, then All across the region of Ru’aun. Each town was very different than what he remembered, a projectile weapon slung on guards' shoulders called a musket instead of swords or bows and arrows, Steam-powered machinery, printer presses, some even converted to something called paper money as currency and they studied to go to universities.
 As each town grew in size, and more technological advances were made Laurance found himself more immersed in the city life than he had ever been the past hundred or more years blending into crowds and drinking away feelings with random strangers at taverns.

Taverns, though, soon turned into bars and restaurants as the city became taller with things called skyscrapers and the inventions of automobiles and the telephone and Laurance had began to eventually wonder what Phoenix Drop had become.

The brunette couldn’t stay away from home.

 It was nothing at all like it used to be. The once small town grew into something bigger and it wasn’t recognizable at all other than the park that had reserved the Statue of Irene and even the well that many drunken guards or townsfolk had fallen into it.  At the base it had a golden plaque attached to it with some dates and other info. nothing was mentioned of him in the plaque, although, it stated that Irene herself had drank directly from this very well and the water had a holy quality to it.

After all this, he started looking on newspapers and on library computers and found a listing for a house on a strip of empty houses on a block that just been built. He didn’t think he’d get the house when he applied for it.

He was happy when he got the call.

While Laurance was the only one on the street, he had grown fond of the beautiful neighborhood. The picturesque nature of the trees and flowery bushes were a lovely site, it was more quaint than the city but refreshing all the same.  He moved in what little possessions he allowed himself to have, since attachments that could ruin when he was stuck in this state would prove futile.

He enjoy the peace and even grew a routine of sorts. He drank tea in the morning and ate whatever he had for breakfast, then he’d take a shower, then he’d turn on his TV(he bought it for cheap at a yard sale years ago and kept the old thing with him ever since.) and watch whatever was playing on the screen.

He’d make whatever new dish he thought to try for lunch and dinner, mostly old-school recipes (he remembered a tuna jelly-mold he saw in a magazine decades ago and tried it out, then vowed never to try that again.)  Everything was okay, he was alone, but that was okay.


Then he noticed the for-sale signs being taken down.

His little quiet life was disturbed by the plethora of moving trucks coming into the area. The first one he saw only had one man moving in on the house at the corner. His blue eyes looked on from his porch curiously, the man in the distance barely looked at the movers whilst directing them in a way that felt… familiar even from a distance he couldn't even read the details of his face. 

Laurance catches sight of the man with dark hair, they lock eye contact and the former Knight feels resentment boil strong in his blood. His chest grows tight and the man tries to control his breathing Relax, it's not him. He tells himself over and over until he’s sure he can breathe properly again.

 The man across the street from him narrows his eyes and lifts his hand as if debating whether to wave to him or not. Laurance bites his tongue and smiles, throwing a halfhearted wave in their direction before jerking around and forcing himself inside. The black-haired man frowned, muttering something under his breath before marching off.

The next person he saw move in was another familiar Face, a familiar figure, Brendan. Or at least his freaky look alike- maybe his great-grandson or something. The coincidences of similar-looking people were starting to get… concerning when two houses away from him he saw another person he never really was able to stand-  Aaron. Or… Whoever it actually was. 

Then two weeks after that two moving trucks parked themselves across from each other and Laurance was dreading even looking out the blinds when he heard the loud beeping and the distant chattering. 

_

Laurance sat curled on his couch, dark circles thick enough to be bruises sat heavy underneath his eyes. His thumb hovered over the google search bar on his phone, hesitating for a moment before typing.

What to do if someone reminds you of someone you hate and or cared about from a previous life but you can't just stay inside forever and live your immortal and sad life as a complete hermit?

Strangely enough, nothing popped up other than a series of books and…. “fan fiction”? As well as a popular tale called ‘Tuck Everlasting.’ Which he looked at the general description and it sounded a bit too romanticized for his taste- in a similar fashion to vampires like in those Vampire films and books. He hated vampires and what they stood for, why did so many find themselves so attracted to such an awful life and to creatures that killed and ruined others' lives?

A lot of whatever fanfiction was, was just a bunch of nonsensical mishmash of words he didn't care to look into or understand. He scrolled further and found a couple…. blog posts or something, it was similar to a town post board but with a much further range and Laurance couldn't be bothered to even try to understand the abbreviations and stupid hypothetical.

‘I would <3 to be immortal, living forever sounds awesome.’  

Laurance narrowed his eyes “Go to the nether and find out yourself.”  he found himself thinking bitterly, his thoughts interrupted by his doorbell chime reverberating throughout the house. He sits up, standing to his feet and walks over to the door. He opens the door and

Oh my Irene.

“Aphmau?” he says in shock, the girl looks at him in confusion “Yeah thats me…” She murmurs, shaking her head “I basically just moved in across the street! How did you know my name?” she asked, tilting her head to the side.

How is she here? She's supposed to be in her realm watching over everyone, This…. It's really her, it has to be but she doesn't recognize Laurance. But everything about her is the same down to how her hair is parted.

Laurance put on a charming grin as he looked over at her “I heard the name when all the movers were here yesterday, I saw you with your friends.” Of course, that was a complete lie.  Aphmau nods “Oh! Yeah! Not to mention a lot of yelling went on-  Sorry about that…” she apologized nervously through clenched teeth.

Laurance shrugged it off, leaning against the doorway  “Didn't bother me too much… What was that all about, anyway?” he didn't actually hear what all the hullabaloo was about. Aphmau looked back at the house next to Laurence's “...Well, there’s these three guys I've known for a long time and they moved in the exact area I have- it was a coincidence but I thought they had done it on purpose for a moment… Then KC made me mad on top of it all-”

Laurance couldn't help another twinge in his chest at another familiar name. “KC?” He thought of another girl he had known so long ago. While he wasn't particularly close, he was fond of the meifwa “The girl with Pink hair?” he questions, and Aphmau nods “That's her.” she rolls her eyes.

“she just set up like a weird thing in my basement and- oh right, I did come to meet our neighbors! I didn't realize we even had you as a neighbor until Katelyn mentioned this one didn't have a sign on it-” she paused “Basically I realized, we never introduced ourselves! Well… I'm here on behalf of the other two since they are at work.”

Laurance chuckled, He never heard Aphmau talk so… Cheerily and carefree. It warmed his heart, the name Katelyn rung familiar as well but he forced himself not to focus on that bit “I see, well… I haven't exactly been friendly with my neighbors either- only really interacted with one… from a reasonable distance of across the street.” he admits abashedly “My name is Laurance, it’s lovely to meet you.”

This felt so painful yet so nice at the same time, finally… a familiar face yet his wasn’t familiar to her.

“Laurance.” She says as if thinking about it “That’s a nice name!!” She says it at as if making an excuse “and If You’d like I could introduce you to my friends, and it might be easier for you.” She offers kindly and Laurance just couldn’t say no to her, He cares for her so much and has a selfish need for a friend “I’d like that actually, just let me get my shoes on- you can come in if you’d like or stay there it doesn’t matter.”

Aphmau nods with a smile “I’ll just stay at the door, Laurance!” She spoke in such a chipper and friendly manner towards him without even thinking that he couldn’t help but smile back at her. He missed her, he missed his friends so fucking much. Laurance hurried to his closet, ushering her to wait while he found a pair of shoes to slip on before heading out with Aphmau.

“I’ll introduce you to my roommates first then I can introduce you to the boys, and Brendan!” She looked at the driveway “…Well Brendan’s car is not there, so maybe not him yet.” she mumbled to herself, it seemed she knew him pretty well too- did… they all know each other? “Is he your friend too?” He asks and Aphmau nods a bit subtly “Yeah, he’s real nice- a little weird but he’s nice! We occasionally worked on projects together in class.”

Laurance can only nod in response “Cool.” He responds real smooth-like.  Aphmau opens her door “KC!!! Katelynnnnn?!” It’s called out playfully with a huge grin on her face. Laurance lets out a sharp inhale and prepares himself. KC was the first one down the stairs “Aphmau!” she cheers with a big smile “KC is so glad you're home!!”
So this one still does that cutesy speak? Laurance was sure that the old KC didn't speak in the third person anymore after she married Dante- she had reasons to hide behind it but… She wondered if this one did too.

“You must be KC then.” he smiles kindly at her and she stares back her pupils turning into slits “Aphmau who is this? He's cute!!!” she squeals, immediately covering her mouth and shyly turning away.

“This is Laurance! He's our neighbor! I offered to introduce him to everyone since we happen to be friends with everyone.” she introduces him and he waves, smiling along with what she's saying.  The miefwa nods “Ohhh! It's nice to meet you!! Oh Katelynnnn, KC thinks you should come down here!”
There's an audible groan and Laurance can't help but frown a bit. The Katelyn he knew was a bit of a hot head but never really a grump . The blue-haired woman stepped out of the room “I was trying to meditate-!” she paused once her eyes landed on Laurance “Oh Hello, you're The mysterious neighbor that Aph couldn’t shut up about.” She changed demeanor immediately, her annoyed expression turning more complaisant.

“Laurance.” he corrected a bit awkwardly, this was by far one of the weirdest moments in his life “Uh- Katelyn…” She looks at him up and down “Have we met before or something?” she asks, leaning against the railing. Laurance feels guilty when he answers, forcing himself to not look away “No, I don't think so- Sorry.” 

KC flicks her tail, looking between the two curiously and with a smug smile she chimes in “You know I thought you looked familiar too!” Aphmau looks at Laurance from next to him, her eyes observing him. The former knight shrugs, and he feel’s like a total asshat for lying again.

 “Well I don't remember meeting you before, it could be Deja Vu- like we were in the same store or something.” he offers as a solution. “That’s probably it.” Katelyn agreed and KC let out a harumph “I mean I guess so…”

Katelyn rolled her eyes  “Okay, nice to meet you then. I'm gonna go back to meditating now before I strangle KC.” she gestures to her room and Laurance looks that way “Maybe we can all get to know each other better when I'm not in the middle of something.” She gives a wave, turns around, and heads back to her room.

KC giggles, her shoulders bouncing lightly ( She’s a mirthful one isn’t she? )  “Katelyn likes to meditate a lot, being interrupted makes her a bit grumpy…” she bounces on her heels “It’s nice to meet you but I need to go get the cookies from the oven!”  She flicks her ears and waves a hand “Bye Laurance, lovely meeting you!” 

Laurance waved back, allowing her to go back to baking “They seemed nice.” he says, they both weren’t that different from who he once knew. Katelyn though did seem way more relaxed now, that might just be because she was meditating though.

Aphmau nodded in agreement “Yep! We all have our fights and lots of people find Katelyn aggressive or KC annoying at first- I mean I know I did! I became friends with her by accident, actually.” She laughed nervously. “On accident? How’d that even happen?” Laurance is sure most real friendships don’t happen purposely, most of his were by accident.

Hell, his strongest relationship other than Aphmau or Engrith, the blonde knight who he was so fond of- started off as more of a rivalry. They both fought over Aphmau and got into dumb arguments, dumb arguments that turned into friendly jabs, and soon playful teasing, then hands that searched for each other in the dark as unspoken confessions. Laurance hadn’t realized he zoned out until Aphmau was standing in front of him trying to get his attention “Hellooooo?” She tried, waving her hand a bit.

Laurance looked back at her with watery eyes, he hadn’t thought about him in too long  “My Apologies, my thoughts drifted away from me.” Aphmau can’t help but giggle at his response “No worries! All I said was that I put in a sleepover invitation at the wrong desk and she showed up! We ended up getting along… are you okay though? you seemed… lost.”

That’s the most Aphmau has yet to sound like her- or the old her- Irene? Laurance nods “Thank you, but I’m fine- Your friendship with them just reminded me of one that I used to have.” He must have sounded sad because Aphmau reached out and placed a hand on his bicep, rubbing a thumb up and down on the arm “You want to talk about it?” She offers so kindly, to someone she barely knew.

It also may seem a bit flirtatious, to an outsider, but he knew Aphmau. He trusted her, he just didn’t trust himself.

Laurance lets out a pained sigh “I um, it was… a while ago- and….” He chokes “I can’t uh- I can’t, later maybe- Thank you.” He swallows dryly, running his fingers through his hair “Let’s uh- go meet our other neighbors, shall we?” He turns to leave and Aphmau hesitates to let the subject drop before nodding “Yeah! Of course! Come on-!” She walks ahead of him, closing the door behind them.

A car door slammed shut from next to them and the two turned towards it to see Brendan hauling an IKEA box with the image of a couch on it and he was obviously struggling. Aphmau nearly said something but without a word, Laurance walked over and picked up the other end “Oh! thank you, Ga-” He heard, the man peaked over “Uhh I don’t know you-“

“Laurance, sorry you just looked like you were struggling.” He smiles and Brendan smiles back “Well, thank you! Not many people like to help these days- oh Aphmau hey!” He cheers and Aphmau smiles “Is there any way I can help too, Brendan?” She asks, and Brendan gestures with his head to the door “Open it for us?” Aphmau goes and does just that.

Laurance knew he could have lifted the entire box in by himself, helping Brendan felt so at home for him. Back in the village, he would often help with the heavy lifting- especially during the period Garroth was missing. Definitely a really painful time, he could barely handle being without the man- only Aphmau had really been able to ground him during that time
“We can just drop it right here-“ they both carefully set it down on the floor “So Laurance, right? Nice to meet you! I’m Brendan.” He offers a hand to shake and Laurance takes it “Nice to meet you too.” He smiles “If you ever need help like this don’t hesitate to ask- I’m from across the street.” He gestured to his house from the doorway, Aphmau looked at him “Yeah, I wouldn’t mind if you ever need help either.” She chimes in.

Brendan nods “Well thanks! I don’t want to bother you guys though.” He looks down at the box “I need to get to building this though, we can all hang out later!” He grins and Aphmau nods “Yeah! Come on Laurance!” She nudges him and despite his urge to stay and help- he follows her.

Laurance steps outside and Aphmau glances his way “That was awfully nice of you, you don’t even know him.” She reached to tuck hair behind her ear “Do you do that often?”

Laurance forced himself to laugh, it was awkward “I uh… not usually! But Brendan reminded me of a kid I knew once and I felt like helping him.” He shrugged ( Wow Laurance, scum of the earth you are. Can’t do anything but shrug can you?) and then he walked ahead of her.

“oh… either way, it’s still a good thing to do for a stranger, it’s…. Gentlemanly!” She perks up, happy at herself for finding the right wording no doubt.

“Thanks, we’re heading to the neighbors across from you right?” He gestured to the house “Yeah! The-“ She pauses, her happy face turning into a grimace “Zane.” She speaks.

Zane turns towards her as he steps off the porch “Aphmau.” His line of sight turned towards Laurance, his eye looked him over “You, I was going to come by your house eventually- I’m head of the neighborhood watch.”  He introduces “Zane Romeave.” 

Laurance can’t help but sneer, pointing a thumb in his direction while turning to Aphmau “This guy? Wanting to keep the neighborhood safe?” He cackles “No way I can believe that-“The idea and audacity that Zane fucking Romeave wanted to keep anyone safe Was so ridiculous. Zane let out a growl “Well You’d better believe it- whatever your name is.”

“it’s Laurance.” He answers, covering his smile with his hand “Nice to meet you.” Though, he doesn’t mean it- he can’t. This guy has been the source of so much hurt for him and all his friends for so fucking long.  Zane sighs heavily, crossing his arms clearly annoyed by the way his eye’s wrinkled “I also am gonna be…doing some events and I was looking for more people to join the watch but I can see no one here wants to or is even worthy.” He puffs out his chest, much like a bird. Laurance can’t even feel bad “Probably wouldn’t have joined anyway.” He comments bitterly. Zane’s brow twitches “ Tch , whatever- I’m keeping an eye on you little Laurance.” The fury bubbles in his chest “Good luck, Cyclops.” He huffs, glaring at him until he was out of sight.

Aphmau had a similar expression to Laurance “I get why I’m not particularly fond of Zane, but how come you aren’t?”

Laurance’s expression softens “I… I just had a run-in with him when he first moved in- it doesn’t help he looks like an asshole that-“ he cringes, coming up with a quick lie “that bullied me in high school.”  The girl looks at him with a doubtful expression.

“Oh… okay… why don’t we go ahead and meet our three annoying but well-meaning neighbors.” The goddess (?) cheers with a smile.

Laurance nods, walking with her to the door “Yeah alright.” Laurance was prepared for Levi or Malachi, maybe Dale or Logan- just… when Aphmau knocked on the door he didn’t expect to see Garroth, Travis, and Dante in front of them, all looking like they had fought to get to the door.

“Aphmauuu! How’s it cooking good looking?” Dante flirts, leaning against the doorway and the whiplash he felt was severe. Dante had a look that only spelled mischievous, eye’s narrowed in on Aphmau but there was nothing real behind it and that was worse than it being real.
 

“Heyyyyyy Aphmau!” Travis greeted with a wink, at least that was more characteristically true to the Travis he knew. He spoke the same as Dante, but it was more playful than flirtatious.

Garroth sends the other two a not-so-subtle glare before turning to the girl next to him, he was quiet for a moment and he seemed to calculate something in his head head before speaking in a very goofy-sounding voice that he had forced to sound lower like he smoked a pack of cigarettes.  

“Hey Aph, how’s it going?”

Still, he looked exactly the same as he did the day he lost him, well he had significantly less scruff, and his hair was more neatly kept not even half as many scars and-

His heart was racing and he could barely hear himself think, he stared into Garroth’s eyes with unintentional intensity. Aphmau was mumbling something, but it was all so distant and muffled and he felt dizzy.

He swallowed thickly, opening his mouth to speak.

Laurance was utterly mortified.

Chapter Text

Garroth picked up his sword from the wall and twirled it in his hand “This one might make a good replacement until it’s repaired, what do you think?” He turns towards the brunette who crosses his arms with a bemused smirk  “That blade isn’t quite as beautiful as your other one but I think it might just do well in battle, May I see it?”

Garroth hands it to him, their fingers touching when Laurance grips the hilt and for a couple of moments Garroths hand doesn’t leave “Well, upon closer look… it does look quite lovely.” Laurance whispered, his eyes looking at Garroth who nodded in agreement “I agree, it looks even better up close.”

They both look at each other in the quiet of the armory, Even in a moment like this, it all remained unspoken despite everything they wanted to say.

Garroth wasn’t looking at him, though.

The blonde was staring at Aphmau and focused on her like she was his entire world.

He looked so incredibly happy, his voice carried itself on in a way that was way less formal and even a bit gravelly, rough even. Laurance felt his heartache in a way it had every time he saw a silver sword or a blue cape, he had never quite loved again after Garroth had passed… Sure he did have plenty of instances of flirting and one-night stands devoid of any real intimacy but nothing quite like him.

“so who's this guy?” Garroth asked after finally finally noticing him, brows lifting a bit as their eyes met. Laurance jerked his head away, suddenly acutely awate of all the eyes on him.

“Oh, this is… Why don't you introduce yourself? I don’t wanna speak over you or anything” Aphmau gestured to him when it was seemingly his turn to talk, and was his mouth always this dry?

Laurance froze. Oh how he wanted to cry, wanted to run into his arms and never leave but this… this wasn’t the Garroth he knew or a Garroth that remembered all they went through. He knew that the moment he opened his mouth and when he found that he had none of Garroth’s scars.

“my uh-“ he takes a shaky inhale before forcing a smile “My name is Laurance, I live next door to you- Aphmau decided to introduce me to everyone since she somehow knows you all.”  He piped up, his voice felt like it went up an octave, and along with the shakiness he knew he must have sounded strange “I mean that’s quite the coincidence.”

“ oh ! Well then! I’m Garroth, that's Travis and Dante” he looks to each boy who both wave  “Nice to meet you…” he pauses, sending a wary glance his way “are you suuuurrre we haven’t met before? I mean if we all ended up on this street somehow then maybe..” 

 Laurance immediately nods, almost too immediate to be normal “Yeah I’m quite certain, actually.” Laurance hasn’t lied this much in his life. Garroth let’s out a thoughtful humming sound, drawing it out for a moment before turning his attention back on the girl “Okay! Anway Aphmau-” he put on an extremely flirty voice “I was wondering-“

Aphmau coughs loudly into her hand “Oh uh… wow!” She acts surprised “Smells like KC is… burning her cookies! I really should go check on her!” She nods with a wide and forced smile.

“Okay! Then we should-“ The blonde is interrupted, his face turning into one of disappointment.

“Gotta go!” Aphmau turns back around the street and offers a goodbye wave before running back to her house. Laurance breaks into a nervous fit of giggles “Okay man that was sad-“ he smiles, trying to make the air less thick.  Dante and Travis started to laugh themselves. Garroth frowned before begrudgingly admitting it and laughing along with them.“Yeah yeah, I guess it was.” He let out a rough sigh, shaking his head in defeat.

Travis looks up at him, than strides over to him in a practiced suave manner “So Laurance, you a lady killer?” He asks with a smirk and Laurance lets out a startled chuckle, of course , that's the first thing any version of Travis would ask. “I mean, I do indeed have my charm.” Laurance wasn’t lying, he did ‘get’ all sorts of ladies back in the day- even if he wanted to branch out so to speak.

Travis smiled, reaching out to pat his back and pressing their shoulders together and Laurance actually felt comfortable  “You know I think we can be good friends.” Laurance nodded hesitantly, even though the idea of being his friend again made him so happy- selfishly so it was still so weird “Yeah.” He agreed.

Dante looks between the two “Finally, now I have two worthy opponents for Aphmau’s affection- this will be a great challenge.”  He cackles like a mad scientist. Laurance raised a brow, he didn’t really have an interest in pursuing her “I um- I don’t like her like that.” he reassured them, he was long over her.

Dante rolls his eyes “Not even a little? You have to admit that she’s a total babe though right? A real prize.”  he wiggles his eyebrows, exuberant and still far too different from the other Dante to be normal.

Laurance slowly nods “She… is quite beautiful, but you shouldn’t speak about women like that.” He suggested, it just didn’t suit Dante it just didn’t  “I apologize but as someone with experience, they don’t appreciate it most of the time and they aren’t just… prizes to be won, and neither are men if you speak of them in a similar fashion.” maybe it was bit speechy- but he hoped he nailed that through their heads. He did not want to watch Dante and Garroth act like womanizers.

Dante’s face turns into a puzzled visage of what it was earlier “I… will keep that in mind! But still, I think You should at least try .” he encouraged and Garroth nudged him with his elbow “Hey! You want to make more competition for us?”. Dante scoffs in response, waving him off  “Oh please- Even if Zoey was here, I’d still win-“ he looks at Laurance “I’d still have a chance of earning her affections.”  He corrects himself, straightening up and speaking less like a playboy and more normal.

‘ Better .’ He thinks.

Travis snorts “you don’t have to worry much about me, I’m more for Katelyn anyway-” He releases a dramatic, dreamy sigh.  Laurance blinks slowly and then turns towards Dante. Shouldn't he be going for KC, then? Or even Nicole? “You know, you seem like the type to go more for someone like KC,” he comments, hoping to get some sort of insight or something. Dante shrugs “Never really been into the cutesy pink thing- I’m more into… maturer things?” He offers awkwardly.

Travis snorts “You liked her in junior year-“ he comments and Dante shakes his head “That was freshman year, but I never had feelings for her- just thought she was cute.” He defends, shoulders tensing as he crosses his arms. 

Laurance bites the inside of his cheek “Ah yeah, makes sense… I just had a um… weird feeling?” He smirked, he saw a joke about this somewhere  “You know, since usually the blue-haired nerds like the pink-haired girls.” He shrugs playfully with a teasing grin and Dante growls defensively “I’m not a nerd!” Travis pats him on the back “Tell that to your playtime on Legend of Zelda…” 

Dante turns towards him with a red face and Garroth is laughing again, and Laurence is smiling again and wanting to join in.

“You- you watch so much anime!! Even that stupid sparkle princess one! You’re a bigger nerd than me!” He pokes a finger to his chest and Travis lets out a gasp “You can’t diss Pretty Tutu Magical Princess Sparkle Hero like that!” Laurence is just wondering what the hell anime is and why it would have such a ludicrous name “What… what is that?”

“…You… you don’t know Pretty Tutu Magical Princess Sparkle Hero ?!” Travis's jaw drops like he just did the splits in tight pants. Laurance shakes his head “No I’m afraid not.” He admits sheepishly. Garroth and Dante both let out annoyed sighs “Oh Irene, Laurance You just sighed your own death certificate…” Garroth’s voice was light and playful, which makes him think it might just be overexaggeration. Travis looks at him “We have got to watch it together! You need to, need to NEED TO watch it with me!!” He demands.

‘Watch? So anime is… a show or… movie?’ Laurance was almost too scared to ask, but… spending time with Travis again would be nice even if the concept of anime seemed a bit foreign to him “I’d like that, I don’t really watch much so maybe I’ll like it.” it would give him another hobby, and god he needed those.

Travis smiles “Awesome man! What’s your number, I can text you when I’m available-“

Laurance pauses, he picks up his phone from his pocket “Uh- let me look-“ he mindlessly tapped around, hoping to find it.

“…here just give me yours and I’ll put mine into your contacts.” He offers instead and Laurance lets out a huff of air “Yeah, please.” He holds it out and Travis takes it, noticing the frown “…Why don’t we all give you our number? We could all use another hangout buddy.”

Laurance looks up at them “Really?” Travis nods, and Garroth looks over at the Phone “Why not?” He chirps up. Dante grins “Yeah! Could use another dude who knows what he’s talking about.”

One by one each one put their contact into Laurance’s phone, then texted themselves so they could have Laurance's number in turn.

Laurance takes the phone back from them and looks at the three contacts in his phone.

Travisss (WATCH ANIME WITH ME)

Dante 😎 

Garroth the doorman! 

“Why the doorman bit?” He asks with a chuckle. Garroth answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world “I like doors.”

Laurance is just gonna ignore that bit.  He smiles at seeing their names on an app that he’s pretty sure he’s never even used except to delete spam callers (once he learned how to do that.)  “Thank you.” he looks up at them.

Dante looks at him with a genuinely confused smile “Okay… well, it was nice meeting you, I have to go back to doing something but hopefully we can talk later dude, make sure to text me so I have your number.”   Garroth giggles, leaning over to Laurance “By something to do, he means more hours on his Legend of Zelda game-”

Dante turns red “Hey! I’m on the last dungeon, and all I have to do is a couple more quests and some grinding and I’ll be high enough to beat Ganon easily!”

Laurance smiled, though he didn’t quite understand what they were talking about and he was 100% Sure that grinding used to have a much different definition “Oh yeah? Better hurry up and finish then.”

Travis looks towards the two, glancing between them  “You know what? Garroth, why don’t you show him around the house? I mean, it’s a good way to hang out- ah but I gotta prepare the the tacos!” He announces, running back. Garroth looks to Laurance “You want to see the house?” he offers.

Laurance fumbles a bit and runs his fingers through his hair  “Sure, I’d like to see it.” 

“Oh goody! Come on.” He waved him in and Laurance hesitated for a moment before stepping inside, the house had a very warm feeling. It looked all around lovely, and even though it hadn’t been too long it looked very lived-in  “It’s very homely in here, the colors remind me of that of a tavern.”

Garroth looks at him “…a tavern? Thank you! Travis mostly picked out the furniture though! This area is our living room- we got the nicest TV!” Laurance looks at the TV “Yeah that’s… nice.” Laurence just bought the cheapest TV he could find, he didn’t understand what all the 720 and 4k and… all of that  was about “What uh… number is it?” He asks, trying not to be a drywall of conversation.

Garroth looks at him “Number…? Uh, I don’t know what model number- I don’t know much about TVs.” 

Laurance frowns “Like… the ‘p’ number?” He tries again, feeling on edge.

“…p number-? Ohhhh! You could have just said you wanted to know the screen quality, Laurance! It’s only the very best- 4K! We all pitched in a bit to buy it!”  He seemed pretty proud of that fact. Laurance nods “Oh… that’s the best one? If… it means screen quality then what does the P stand for?” He tilts his head, and Garroth opens his mouth to answer, then pauses for a moment  “I… actually don’t know… you might wanna ask someone smarter than me- Zane probably knows.”

Laurance shakes his head “I’d rather avoid conversation with him.” He isn’t sure if this Garroth has a good relationship with him or not. Garroth scoffs then shrugs “He’s my baby brother and I love him but I get it, he can be so rude! He doesn’t even think I’m cool?! What person doesn’t think I’m cool?”

Laurance mumbles something he almost wishes he could take back “Yeah, You’re very cool.”

Garroth stopped in his tracks “Wait really?” He asks, a bit of a shocked expression and Laurance shyly nods “I mean, at least from what I’ve seen of you so far.” He backtracked a bit, feeling stupid “Oh Irene…” he mutters to himself, hoping the ground would open up and swallow him whole.

Garroth grins “Gihihi! Thanks buddy! I knew someday someone would finally agree with me!” He wraps an arm around Laurance and oh Irene, he thinks he might just die “Hah! Yeah, no problem Garroth.” Laurance can’t help but focus on his smile, that perfect smile that used to be so rare to see but always a treat “…Is that your kitchen?” he tries, hoping Garroth would take his hand off his shoulders so he could breathe.

He points towards it and Garroth nods. “Oh, yeah it is- it’s nice, Dante is the one who cooks usually except Travis who can only make Tacos! The crunchy ones, I mean.” 

Travis turns to him from his place in the kitchen “Hey! At least they are more than mediocre! And not near inedible- my Tacos are quite amazing!” He puts on a playfully offended tone and Garroth rolls his eyes “Yeah yeah! Whatever- come on Laurance let’s leave the guy whose only personality is tacos to his work.”

Laurance can’t help but snicker “I’ve never even had a taco.” He admits, trying to add on to the humor of it all. Garroth skids to a stop, and clearly Laurance made some sort of mistake  “…okay- no way, I may have been talking trash but you gotta stay and eat some Tacos for us- TRAVIS-“ he shouts and Travis replies “ON IT!” Laurance frowns “Oh- you really don’t need to do that.” He tries, frowning a bit and Garroth shakes his head “No! I must, we must! Hell, we can invite some friends and have a taco party!” He suggests.

“it better only be Aphmau and the girls, I’m not making tacos for the entire street!” he warns and Garroth rolls his eyes “Fine!” He calls back “Why don’t we finish the tour?”

Laurance nods “Yeah Sure, after that though I’ll go home and dress nicer If it’s going to be like a party.”

“You mean what you’re wearing right now isn’t considered nice?” He looks a bit shocked, Laurance looked at his clothes, he supposed a striped sweater worked well enough “Well… I suppose I dress different than most.”   He fidgets with the sleeves, straightening out the wrinkles
He was used to dressing much different at parties, usually slipping on something black and wearing his hair down instead of pulled back like it is now. If Garroth said he looked nice enough, he’d believe him. “So this is enough?” 

Garroth cackled “Yeah of course! It’s just Tacos, no need to dress fancy over it pffft.” he rolled his eyes, but it was more in a friendly way without any ill intent. Laurance nods “Okay then… I guess I can just stay over until dinner then?” He tilts his head to the side, his bangs falling over his eyebrow and a bit over his eyes.

 “of course, you can!! Oh, we can play video games in the living room! Dante might be taking over it but it might be fun but I am not very good.” Garroth admits, placing his hands on his hips.

Laurance has never played a video game ever in his entire life,  but it sounded like it might be fun. “Yeah, of course, I don’t mind giving it a go.”

Besides… how hard could a video game be?

Chapter Text

Video games, Laurance decided, were very hard. 

Dante and Garroth had suggested a game called ‘Incredible Smash Fighters’  which he agreed to play because he had no inkling as to what it was. The fact that he didn't know, should have gotten him to back out. Laurance however, had never once backed away from any fight. So certainly

The weirdly shaped ‘controller’  felt so awkward in his hands. He fumbled with it and almost turned it off several times “Which button lets me pick one?” He asks, his face a bit red with embarrassment. Dante reached over Garroth “Ah! These joysticks move around the hand on the screen and you press over the one you want.” 

Laurance nodded, awkwardly thumbing the joystick and hovering over each character. It took Laurance a couple of tries to pick the one he wanted but he ended up choosing a character that reminded him of what Dante had once looked like- so maybe it was because of some strange sentimentality but he chose the character.

“Oooh nice choice, he’s a classic!” Dante chimed as he chose his own character; a girl clad in an uncomfortable-looking blue suit with blonde hair who kept whipping an electrical whip around and throwing high kicks.

Garroth chose a wyvern-looking creature with a shell who breathed fire and grabbed people with its claws and When Travis came to take a break and play a round he chose a white-haired mage with a weirdly shaped sword and a book of magical spells.

Regardless of who Laurance was playing as he couldn’t stop getting his virtual ass kicked. 

The knight character didn’t seem to know any moves let alone techniques other than from what happens when he presses a button- he supposed that might be the point but if this were a real battle he could be kicking chests and slicing the back of legs to get them to fall to their knees then stab them in the back.

This game didn’t even have realistic injuries or blood so how could he accurately plan how to avoid the hits? And from three other characters nonetheless. He frowned, brows furrowed as tried to focus more on the game  “why can't you just-!” He lets out a growl of frustration. His patience with the game beginning to wane.

“Take that, Dante!” Garroth roars, his character slamming into him.

“Is that the best you guys got?” Dante taunted, perfectly executing counter moves.

“Hurry up and kill me, the beef is burning!!!!” Travis had shouted, eventually just leaping his character off the edge and dropping the controller.

Maybe the Knight could have been likable once upon a time- But no, his dumbass character swung in the air instead of stepping forward! He was Jabbing instead of swinging it in a wide arc when the guy jumped? He wants to strangle this jerk for not listening to his all-too-simple commands!

…
Wow his competitive side is really coming out, isn’t it?

He thought technology had come a long way, but perhaps not as long as he thought. 

It’s strange how much this reminded him of when he and the other boys would practice with one another, he and Garroth had used to train Dante when he first became a knight and it would often end with a lot of anger from the blue-haired man.  Irene, he really missed having him as his friend- his brother. 

“This… Barth or whatever- is truly an idiot.” Laurance huffs, throwing his head back as Dante's character (Samas or something) grabs him and throws him off the cliff, killing him “Damn it all.” he mumbles, and despite his grievances with the character on the screen he felt compelled to apologize to him “Sorry Sir Knight, my leadership failed you.” he sighs sadly. Both Dante and Garroth suddenly burst into giddy laughter, apparently, Laurance's grievances were entertaining for some people.
“You really need to chill bro, it's just a game!” Dante comments and Laurance frowns, yeah it was a game! A frustrating one!
Garroths laughter starts to phase out before he reaches out and pats Laurance on the shoulder “It's okay to get into it but it's just a game, don't worry about it.” he reassures.

Laurance finds himself agreeing with Garroth, sighing and chest lightening at how stupid he felt for getting so worked up  “Of course… You're very right.” he cleared his throat, and to his best ability; his mind “...rematch?” he suggested sheepishly.  Dante and Garroth look at one another and grin then nodded in agreement.

They started up another round. 

Garroth leaned over and whispered “Laurance, let's Team up against Dante- he's too good.” he whispered a bit too loud, but Laurance didn’t mind “Yeah- let’s get him.” Laurance agreed with a nod.
The match started and both immediately started attacking Dante’s character.
“HEY! No fair-“ he whines, despite doing pretty well against them. Garroth’s character gripped Dante’s and tossed him to Laurance who finished him with an attack. 

“Laurance, that was Awesome! Especially for someone who has never played before!” Garroth turned towards Laurance and held his hand up for a high-five 

“Laurance, that was an amazing bow shot for someone who hasn’t really used one before.” 

Laurance already had shot a bow before, at that time, he had just wanted Garroth to show him and to grow closer with the man.  Laurance realized It wasn’t quite the same case this time around but it still brought that same warm fuzzy feeling.  He grinned and high-fived the man back.

 “Yeah, that was my first time even touching a game controller.” When he heard the series of knocks on the door, Laurance looked at the time and how fast it had passed him by “Oh- I… didn’t realize it had been more than an hour.” He mumbled, running his fingers through his soft brown locks.

Aphmau, KC, and Katelyn all entered the house with smiles strung across their faces, Katelyn had a redhead right next to her who smiled just as big as the girl next to her on her right “Dante!” Was the first name she had called out, getting all of the blue-haired man’s attention.
Dante immediately hops off the couch “Nicole! I didn’t expect you to be here.” He walks over to her, Katelyn sending him a furious glare. Garroth leans over next to Laurance “As soon as Nicole shows up? All his advances towards Aphmau mysteriously disappear.” he makes a gesture with his hands and wiggles his fingers outwards.

Laurance smirks, maybe some things weren’t that different “Not so mysterious at all.” He looks over at the three men “Let's all go say hi, shall we?” Laurance suggests. Garroth nodded, agreeing with Him with a laugh “Yeah yeah, I guess we should…” They looked at each other for a moment before Garroth scrambled to his feet “Aphmau!” he greeted with a giddy voice, he turned to watch Garroth approach the black-haired girl with a small frown and something in him aching.

The pink-haired mief'wa that had entered with Aphmau set her sights on the brunet and headed over towards him “Hello Laurance!!” she greeted, hands clasped behind her back “Oh uh Hey.” He greets back. KC sits down next to him, leaning forward with about a foot between them “I didn't realize you would be here!” She giggles, and Laurance starts to feel awkward.

“Ah, you didn't…?” He chews on the inside of his lip, he doesn't blame her. “Well, I wasn't planning on being here but they ended up dragging me into a tour and… all the Smash Wars.” They were fun but also extremely frustrating.

KC's ears twitch outward, and her golden eyes move to focus on the TV that was playing the cutscenes that started when the game was left on idle for too long “Oooh! KC doesn't really like to play games since she is so bad at it…” She pouts thinking about it “I wish I was good at them, but no matter how hard I try I could never really do well.”
Laurance leans back, relating all too well with her “I don't really think it's for me Either, technology has never been my strong suit.”  He snorts, smiling “but honestly today I had fun! For the first time in… Years, I guess.”
The pinkette smiles for a moment but frowns afterward, her ears flattening against her head “Oh Laurance…” she seems to hum for a moment in thought before perking up “You can always hang out with KC, Katelyn, and Aphmau!” She suggests excitedly “Here I can even give you m- KCs number!” she grins wide, flicking her tail out behind her.

Laurence's smile turns soft at the offer, he had been doing all sorts of selfish things in one day and he knew it would bite him in the ass eventually but for now? He would forget all about it. “Sure, you can put it in my contacts.” he pulls out his phone from his pocket and hands it to her “Oh you have a pretty old phone-“ she comments offhandedly “Well not old-old!” She types her number in and then gives it back.

KCKC(*≧ω≦)ﾉ

He chuckled, tilting his head as he looked at the random assortment of symbols “Is that supposed to be a face…?” he asked, glancing at the emoticon then back up at the Girl who nodded energetically in response “Mhm!! It's a cat face! That's what the three is for!” she points to it on his screen.
Laurance looks at it again “...oh it does look a bit like a cat's mouth.” he looks over it again before shutting off his phone with a click.

KC was about to say something but stopped herself and looked behind her. She lets out a soft growl as Garroth interrupts Dante and Nicole while they had been talking “Oh I thought you were gonna ask Aphmau, Dante? Gihihi-“

KCs tail flicks back and forth, muttering under her breath “Oh come on let them be sweet together.” she turns completely, her fingers digging into the couch “Garroth…grr…” she mumbled frustratedly. “Do you have problems with him or something?” He asks her in a hushed voice, she looks towards him “he… just gets in the way of so many ships and it’s frustrating.” She lets out a cute whine. Laurance’s brows furrow “You own your own boats?” Why would Garroth have anything against ships…? They don’t do anything bad, usually.

(poor Laurance, had no clue what he was getting himself into.)

“No silly! Ships like romantic pairings!!!” She corrects him, giggling a bit afterward. His brows furrow, he thinks he can kind of understand the concept of it? “oh so… you just like- are you invested in couples?”

KC nods excitedly “Yes! I think of the chemistry and the tension and how well they would be for one another- and just the general dynamic of two people… Dante and Nicole have all of that.” She sighs dreamily. Laurance looks over at the two and smiles, when those two had gotten together last time he honestly thought they were a match made in heaven, despite their differences. “I think I get what you mean, they get along seemingly really well… and Dante is a really nice person when you get to know him.”

KC nods “Mhm, I’m just- protective of them Because I don’t want to see them be apart when they are just so…. Perfect for each other.” She giggles, and Laurance finds it both scary and charming.

He bites his tongue before popping his mouth ”Soooo, what does Garroth have to do with all this?” 

The cat girl cringes, peering over at the blonde after she’s done eyeing Laurance “he just… intentionally messes with things sometimes and it frustrates me…” She slumps against the couch, turning her body back around. The knight next to her turns to look at Garroth, eyes lingering on the man’s face as he happily teased the two- The redhead flushing with embarrassment and Dante growing defensive. 

“Well, I suppose he… just doesn’t know what to do with his feelings, I know he has to mean well.”  He smiles when thinking about him, Garroth had always been so awkward with social situations- he would tease but he was shy. Always and forever shy.

This one though was much more confident, but he still cares, and obviously, he cares about his friends and such.

KC looks at him with practical sparkles in her eyes. “You seem to already understand him better than I do… but you do have a point… hmm… KC will talk to him later.” She cemented, turning towards Garroth and then glancing at Laurance “Hmmm…Maybe I found something else to keep an eye on.” Her eyes narrow before turning back towards Garroth.
Laurance knew these people- well versions of these people way more than they knew about him. “Well, I have always been pretty insightful.” he excuses, looking at his shoes like they are the most interesting thing in the room.

KC was pretty different from her old self, something about her was kind of weird. It might be just for show or a strange feeling but… He felt like she was being fake.

The pink-haired girl looks at him with interest  “Then… do you have any insights about me?” Laurance wonders what he can say without being too insightful, he had figured something out but only because he knew the old her- if they are even connected. “…Well, you probably… ‘ship’ people-” he makes air quotes with his fingers, “ because you have troubles with your own relationships and it helps you to see two people who are good for each other together.” That was more of an actual insight than something he actually knew.
KC backed away a bit, looking down towards her lap “Well… That was a bit blunt.” She giggles a bit nervously.

“Tacos are ready!” Travis shouts, KC immediately stands up, her demeanor changing “Come on Laurance! Tacos are ready!” She grabs his arm by looping hers around it which surprises him and starts pulling him along toward the kitchen, Everyone looks at them with a bit of 

suspicion which genuinely confuses Laurance.
His people skills must have gotten worse over the years “What?” He asks, tilting his head to the side- then he noticed how it must have looked from an outside perspective- and considering the fact that he had asked about the girl earlier must have also put thoughts into their heads.

 Aphmau shakes her head “Nothing! KC come here-!” She gently grips the girl's wrist and tugs her toward herself.

Dante from next to him whispers “So, KC huh?” He says, voice smug and Laurance can’t help but chuckle when he registers what was just said in his mind, Now that confirms why everyone was staring at them “What? She’s literally like having a little sister around, besides I’ve known her for like- a day.” Both a lie and a truth, technically he’s known a version of her for many years.

Dante frowns “A… day? I…” he looks down with an expression that looks as if he were thinking about the world's most illogical puzzle “Really? A day? Deja Vu is working its butt off today!” He decides, the confused frown turning into a bit more of a confused smile.

‘That was weird, and… concerning. If my being here is causing them to remember things- maybe I can get them to remember me?’ The thought was comforting, but also a bit scary.
What if it was just some sort of remnant of their past lives? A part of him didn't want them to remember, to know who he really was underneath his human appearance.

Shadow Knights weren’t even supposed to exist anymore, and maybe it was selfish but it was nice to be treated normally by them. Even if it was just one day of allowing himself to indulge “I know, I feel like I’ve known you guys for years.” He tried.

Katelyn and Nicole watched the two from their spot in the corner “…I haven’t met him before, but did you see how he looked at me when he saw me?” She whispers, leaning towards her friend. Katelyn nodded sternly  “Yeah, he… looked at me the same way.”  Nicole’s lips twist in a frown, and her eyes look back at the male- their eyesight connects for a moment and she waved before turning back towards Katelyn “It was like… well…” she winces “Do you think he's into us or something..?”

Katelyn shook her head “No, it was more like shock like he didn’t expect to see me- like I was a ghost…. Or something.” She mumbled the last part under her breath “I don’t know, maybe he just thought we were someone else.” The redhead nods in agreement “I think so too… I think he’s a good guy.” She pauses for a moment “…that’s weird since I just met him and haven’t even spoken to him except for introductions- he could be bad but-“
She gripped a strand of her hair resting over her shoulder and started fiddling with it “Do you think he’s a good person, Katelyn?”

The blue-haired girl crosses her arms, shifting her balance from foot to foot as a nervous habit “I’m not sure, he… gives me weird vibes but not bad weird vibes?” She tries, more so talking to herself at first before sighing “Well, I thought that… when I first saw him his name was on the tip of my tongue- I’ll admit he has a handsome face so I doubt I’d forget it but I also have… never seen him but- it’s like…”

“Like what?” 

“Like Deja Vu.”

Aphmau walks next to them “Hey you two, you're lagging behind!” She pushed herself between them and hooks her arms around theirs and starts to drag them “Okay Aphmau! We’re coming calm down-“ Katelyn laughs and Nicole giggles “Oh Aph, You’re such a riot.” The redhead loves the chaos.

Laurance sits down at the table, dragged by the forearm gripped by Dante who noticed his nervous look and decided to drag him to the table. KC sat across from Laurance and on one side Garroth sat while Aphmau sat on the other. Dante sat next to KC, Nicole on his other side, and Katelyn and Travis across from each other to her chagrin. The sight of everyone sitting together was eerily familiar, causing a comfortable warmth in his chest.

The taco in front of him admittedly didn’t look too appetizing, but he picked it up.

He felt several pairs of eyes staring at him, all intrigued to see his reaction to the taco.

Even though he couldn't see, he felt the eyes on him… all pitiful glances, no doubt.
A Knight raised his helmet in front of Laurance and gave him a smile, though the man couldn't even see it “I apologize for what's happened to you, Laurance.”

Garroth looked over at him and gave him an encouraging smile before taking hold of his taco and biting into it first, everyone after a moment followed suit and started to dig in.

“That was an awkward silence-!” Aphmau pointed out.

“Yeah tell me about it, we could hear a pin drop.” Katelyn snorted.

Laurance gripped the taco “Yeah, way too quiet.” He rolled his eyes and then took a bite. The hard shell was crunchy, and paired with very well-seasoned meat it was better than what Laurance ever thought it would be.

It wasn’t his favorite thing in the world, but still, he smiled.

Chapter Text

Over the past three months, Garroth had been wondering what their neighbor Laurance Zvhal was really about. At first, he’s the most awkward man he’s ever met, then next he’s the shyest. Then all of a sudden he’s a confident guy talking with everyone like they’re old friends. 

He’s warm but not explicitly kind, and overall was rather strange. Garroth liked him though,  and desired to know who Laurance really was- to learn everything he was about.

He’s invited the guy over many times, and each time he seemed so reluctant to accept the invitation like coming over might be the worst thing ever but by the end he would start smiling like crazy and laughing like he was having the best time.

Who is Laurance Zhal and why did he care so much? 

—

Laurance’s gaze lingered outside his window as the snowflakes fell from the sky, covering the ground in a field of white snow. While he often preferred the spring, the look of snowfall had always enraptured him.

Which of course meant Laurance had to go out in it.

Laurance pulls his hair into a ponytail and puts on his heaviest gray wool sweater and jacket, pulling on his leather boots last. The cold air hits him when he opens the door, he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath- his throat hurts a bit when the crisp air hits the back of it.

A snowflake hits his nose, causing him to chuckle “Jack Frost nipping at my nose?” He asks no one in particular, holding his hands out.

If he closed his eyes he could think of a distant past, heavy snow where in the midst laid a mansion… or perhaps a castle where Malachi had once resided so long ago. Malachi.

Laurance breathed out softly, his boy was long gone. 

“NO KATELYNNN-!” Rings out, followed by a ton of laughter and giggling as the titular girl tackled Aphmau to the ground. 

Laurance looks over, with a semblance of amusement on his face, and sees Aphmau laughing as Katelyn smothers her with snow “Not The food! Or my Levi poster!”

Katelyn playfully tossed snow over her neck. “Eeek!” Aphmau shivered.

He watched their interaction for a moment, before walking across the street to their yard “Hello Ladies, everything alright over here?” He asks, crossing his arms.

Aphmau nodded  “Yeah! Katelyn just has terrible taste in music!” She sticks her tongue out at the taller woman, who tossed snow back down in her face “blegh!”

“How To Build A Snowman is annoying! It gets on my nervessss!” She complained with a whine to her voice. Aphmau sits up and fights against her by grabbing a fistul of snow and smacking it in her face. Katelyn gets off of the shorter woman and wipes off her face while Aphmau defends her choices in music “Hey it's a good song!” she turns to the former Knight. “Don’t you think so, Laurance?” 

The brunette had no idea what that song was, so he answered honestly with a shrug of his shoulders “I have no idea, never heard of it before.”

Katelyn sighs “Well I wish I never did, that song makes me unreasonably angry.” she crosses her arms “I even accidentally knocked out KC when she was at my door… with my door.” 

Aphmau looked at her with a frown “Your door doesn’t open that way…?”

“I broke it off the hinges.”

“Woah, how strong are you!? that’s a pretty great feat of strength.” Laurance compliments with a smile and the blue-haired girl shrugs with a big of a smug smile “I don’t know…pretty strong? I just think… I need to calm down, I have bad anger issues, and- it’s why I value my meditation time because it helps me control it.” She admits, her face full of shame.

 “Her and Garroth are the strongest people I know, its kinda weird actually.” Her smile fell when she noticed Katelyns expression. Aphmau gets up and wraps her arms around her friend “It’s okay, Kate… hey you know what?” she pulled away, keeping her hands on her shoulders. “Why don’t we cool off with some winter fun!?” She grins ear to ear and both Laurance and Katelyn give her small smiles in return.

Katelyn suddenly barked our a laugh“You know what, your dumb pun made me smile…” her expression turned soft “Aphmau do you wanna build a snowman?” 

Aphmau gasped, clapping her hands excitedly “Yes! Yes! Let’s go, we can get everything from the basement we need to build one!” She begs, and Katelyn nods “Yeah…” she pauses and turns to Laurance “Do you want to come?” She offered.

Laurance says nothing for a moment, not expecting the invitation from Katelyn of all people “Oh, yeah sure why not?” He shrugs “…You two should put on proper clothes for the cold, you ladies must be freezing.”

The two look down at their attire “Oh my legs are all red-!” Katelyn hurries inside, Aphmau a bit after “I was going to say we should.” 

The three stepped into the living area “Laurance, you alright hanging here while me and Katelyn grab a change of clothes?” he nodded, and Aphmau took that as a yes “Sweet! Let’s go!” Her and Katelyn headed up the stairs to their rooms.

Laurance sat down on one of the chairs while he waited, it only took about five minutes before Aphmau was down “Katelyn must still be getting ready, She tends to take a while.” She adjusts the sleeves of her sweater, it was a pretty purple color that suited her perfectly.

 “Aphmau, you look lovely.” She had even done her hair up with a cute bow on the back, and a matching scarf that tied up the look together and on top of that Aphmau was very naturally beautiful.

She giggles dramatically throwing her hand on her hips in a pose “You think so? It’s one of my favorite sweaters!” She flips her hair afterward. “I get these compliments a lot, but it’s nice when someone says it because they mean it and not because they have a crush on me.” She admits.

“it’s nice when a man can compliment a woman without it being seen as flirting.” He smiles back up at her. “yeah, I agree! I… couldn’t compliment a guy in high school without them going after me.” She sighs “It was… a lot, so many people trying to get my favor for- ah!” She interrupts herself “Sorry, you didn’t ask about that! You’re just so easy to talk to, hah…”

Laurance looks at her with an encouraging look “Aphmau, you can talk to me anytime- We’re friends.” he stands up and places his hand on her shoulder  “I promise you, okay?” 

Aphmau chuckled softly, and nodded “Yeah, it's also just a rough subject for me to touch on- it was so much bullying and stuff too… don’t get me started on ivy.” She giggles again.

‘I wonder if Ivy is the same one that the wyvern killed… makes sense. She'd be a bully.’ He hums “Well if you want you can get started?” He offers, nudging her a bit before putting his hands to his sides.

Aphmau opened her mouth as if contemplating then she slowly continued “Welllllll, it's a long story…. I had so many guys have crushes on me? Including the werewolves- and Ivy…” she trails off “She really had a huge crush on Garroth and- well back then me and Garroth sort of used to have a weird thing?” 

Laurance couldn't help but frown, in every universe Garroth and her always had to have a thing, and in every conceivable universe there would be a point in which he'd have a torch for her. It was truly inevitable, wasn’t it? “Oh… So she bullied you over it?” he assumed.

The raven-haired girl takes a sharp breath, ignoring the look on Laurence's face for now “Yeah, hardcore too… Her and her friends spread so many rumors that I was easy or… Committed a crime or something- notes and blackmail got involved…” she shuddered “It would have been horrible if I didn't have any of my friends…. Katelyn and Teony especially helped me that year, since I hadn't really gotten to know KC or Aaron yet.”

Laurance nods along, making sure she knew he was listening while she kept going “I just had so much to deal with in my first year of high school alone- not to mention my first year at a public school.” 

“Was not a good first impression was it?” he can't help but snort. Aphmau followed suit and the two ended up a bit of a giggling mess as the shorter girl shook her head “No- it uh- it really wasn’t.” she agreed, wiping at the corner of her eye.

 Katelyn opened her door “Everything alright?” she asks, rushing to her best friend's side with a protective glare at Laurance. “Katelyn, you look quite beautiful as well.” Laurance simply says instead of defending himself for something he hasn’t done. The blue-haired girl can’t help the flush to her cheeks that came from getting complimented “Zip it, pretty boy before I-“ 

Aphmau playfully pushes her with her shoulder  “Hey!  It’s okay, he just said something funny so we were laughing- nothing weird was going on I promise.”  She leaned against her and despite the skeptical look on Katelyn's face she nodded “Good.” she mumbles.

Aphmau looks between the two “...why don't we go get the decorations downstairs!” she cheers, pausing when she hears a slow series of knocks “...I'll go get that, can you two- make some hot cocoa?”

“Isn't it a bit toasty while wearing our winter gear?” Laurance turns to her, while Hot chocolate sounded delicious he didn't want to burn up. “He does has a point, Aph.” Laurance didn't realize Katelyn would agree with him, seeing as she didn't really like him very much

(Or at least he thought that.)

 “...Well I like feeling all cuddly and warm and toasty- inside AND out! Come on it's deliciousssss~!!” she grins. The other girl looked at her with a grimace and gave in “Okay fine, now I’m craving it.” 

Aphmau grinned proudly, turning back to hurry to answer the door after several knocks. 

Katelyn sighs “Alright, come on.” She mutters, dragging Laurance by the elbow which almost hurt. ‘she really is strong.’  Laurance goes along with her, saying nothing in protest.

Aphmau opens the door, and in front of her is a girl only a bit taller than herself with dark circles under her eyes “Hi, I was… made aware one of my- friends caused trouble …?” She crosses her arms “a lot of them actually-”  

Aphmau thinks on it “…ohhh the guys that almost attacked the pizza delivery man and screamed when KC threatened to call 911?” the girls responds with a heavy sigh “that’s the one… my name is Ava, by the way- I just wanted to sincerely apologize, they thought that- the guy had uh stolen something from them, especially after hearing he was a prince or something… still can’t believe they followed him all the way here…” She mutters bitterly, biting her cheek.

Aphmau chuckled “it’s okay! My name is Aphmau, and… I have my fair share of troublemaking friends so it’s alright! Maybe as a…an olive branch I can invite you to our holiday party we’re having this month!” 

Ava stands by silently for a moment, crossing her arms “…I’ll think about it, when is it?” and Aphmau takes out her phone “I can text you, here I’ll just send you the info.”

“You're just like Lorelei- ugh… Fine…” The girls exchanged numbers, one more hesitant than the other. They ended up chatting a bit more to the others chagrin before parting ways. Aphmau turned back around and closed his door, seeing Katelyn watching her with a judgmental gaze “how many times are you gonna give your number out to strangers?” 

“As many times as I need to!” she speaks in a light voice, walking past her “Where's the hot cocoa-?” she smells a whiff of hot chocolate “...oh you're making it fresh?” 

Katelyn shakes her head “Not me, Laurance offered so I let him.” she shrugs her shoulders and Aphmau gives an exaggerated gasp “You let the guest make the cocoacoco?!” she rushed past, Katelyn stepped back so she didn’t run into her “Laurance it's okay, I can make-”

The brunette was already pouring out the chocolate into the mugs “I got it, Aph. Hot Chocolate is fairly easy to make and you invited me over so it’s the least I can do.” He reassured me.

The girl wondered how Laurance looked so practiced and graceful, the way he moved as he prepared each drink… he looked like a housewife almost “Right…” She murmurs, having to shake her head to break her trance. “Thank you very much but you were supposed to be the guest!” she argues and Laurance chuckles, his shoulders arching back a bit. “Well… I just felt like it then, I don’t know what you like on yours but I prefer mine with just marshmallows.” He gestures to the mugs “Lady-“ he paused for a moment before shaking his head “Hey Katelyn, aren’t you gonna get yours?” 

The blue-haired girl stepped around Aphmau and wrapped her hands around the steaming hot cocoa “…I think I’ll add some whipped cream… I don’t really like marshmallows.” She goes and gets the whip cream and sprays a dollop on top “Here Aphmau.” She tosses it to her friend who barely manages to catch it “Ack-“ 

“Well I like it with everything!” She presses the nozzle down and swirls the whip cream much more messily than Katelyn, accidentally spilling it over the sides “Oh shit.” She wiped her finger across the splatter that got onto the counter and licked it off “There, all better.” She smiles, finally lifting the mug up to start drinking it.

They drank their hot chocolate pretty fast (Aphmau in like two chugs) and soon after Aphmau proposed that they make the snowman building a competition to see who can build the best one- the two agreed and met up outside after Katelyn and Aphmau gathered some boxes full of extra things that they could use for decorating their respective snowmen.

Laurance was being dragged back outside before he knew it, Aphmau and Katelyn sizing each other up while Aphmau counted down each rule they had to follow which was very loose.

Then again it was meant to be fun so why would it have restrictive rules?

As they all ran back and forth from the box, laughter and such breaking out from Katelyn each time Aphmau slipped and fell on the icy sidewalk. Laurance didn’t quite know if his snowman was up to standard, it was pretty basic with a Santa hat and buttons being used as decoration in the front.

A scarf wrapped around its quote-on-quote “neck,” but the shadow knight felt it looked quite nice, while the girls continued their snowmen he noticed Garroth, Dante, and Travis were in the midst of their own snow-project.

He lifted his hand in a wave and the blonde,  who had just set a pile of snow and packed it in, waved back with a grin. He looks like he’s about to say something but Dante pulls him to the side.

“Katelyn you just built the same thing as me!!!” Aphmau complained, Katelyn looked smug “on the contrary, I believe yours looks like mine.” Katelyn looked pretty satisfied with herself.

Aphmau frowns “I made my so incredibly intricate -“

She’s cut off when a snowball smacks her dead in the face “Ah- pbbbt-“ she spits out a bit of snow, and both Katelyn and Laurance burst into laughter which cost them when they both got hit with snowballs, Katelyn let out a growl “Okay, that’s it!”

Aphmau gets up  and shouts “Defenses!!” She jumps behind the fence and slides along the snow, Laurance almost reaches for his sword from pure instinct but instead he looked over at the giggling trio from across the street and tosses snowballs at them.

“On it!” Laurance grabs a handful of snow, scrambled to his feet and chucks it at Garroth when it lands the blonde is smiling wider when he realizes who it is that threw it “it’s so on!” The blonde shouts, reinvigorated. Laurance felt so energized, this was the closest he’s had to a fight since he got into a bar fight a couple of years back and that was just sad. Even then Laurance was still pretty rusty but he was far better than anyone here individually.

This is probably why they started focusing on getting them in a corner “…we’re trapped!” Aphmau cried quietly. “Give it up!” Dante taunts. “You’ll never win this snowball fight!” Garroth shouts. Travis from next to him grins wide “Come on guys! It’s okay to lose every once in a while!” He whistled and that’s the most enraged Katelyn had ever been “That’s it!”

She grabs one, and as a last-minute plan, she throws it at the man walking down towards his house, who Laurance recognizes as Zane. Aphmau and Katelyn both point towards Garroth, Travis, and Dante. Aphmau chimed in “It was them!!”

“Oh no -“ Garroth mutters. Zane lets out a growl “It’s time for my revenge!!!” he lets out an evil laugh and Laurance can't help but be shocked at just how lethal Zane was with snowballs because holy shit it was a slaughterhouse.

“damn,” Laurance whispers, wincing as each snowball hits a different guy with varying levels of scary accuracy.

“I love winter.”.  Katelyn sighs happily and Aphmau giggled along with her as they stalked back inside. Laurance however didn’t follow the two, he instead stuck around and watched as both Dante and Travis managed to escape the fury of the black-haired man while Garroth continually got the brunt of the attack- clearly some issues there.  

Laurance grabs a handful of snow and forms a snowball in his hand, packing it tightly and smoothing it out before pelting it at the side of the man’s shoulder. He let out a grunt and fell over “Ahhh-!” He turned towards Laurance and let out something similar to a growl.

“Had to have your little boyfriend protect you?” He asks Garroth who was still getting to his feet. Laurance didn’t say anything, his heart skipping a beat when he watched Garroth walk over to be next to Laurance “He’s my friend, little brother.”

“Yeah sure and I’m your biggest fan .” The sarcasm was as heavy as a ton of bricks. Laurance felt his gut twist into knots at Zane’s implication, Garroth rolled his eyes in response but the brown haired man didn’t feel like letting it go “At least he has fans.” He asked, grinding his teeth and walking forward.

“Did I strike a nerve, little Laurance?” He asks, voice smug. “okay Come on..” Garroth tries, reaching a handout but Laurance didn’t hear him… he was focused on Zane “You strike everyone’s nerves.” he crosses his arms with clenched fists, eyes lingering over the shorter man (shorter by like, half an inch.)

“Oh? Well then I’m proud…” he smiles, oh and that awful smile- the one he gave when he felt like he won… smug and ugly  “Proud of what, Cyclops? Your ability to be annoying at every turn?” and that had managed to hit just the right sore spot for Zane. 

Zane reared his hand back in a tight fist and punched Laurance in the face “Shut up!” And Laurance was actually a bit shocked by how hurt he actually sounded “I knew you’d strike eventually.” He mutters, wiping at his bloody bottom lip. Zane lowered his fist shakily  “If you want me to hit you, why didn’t you just ask?” 

Garroth grabbed Laurence's bicep “That’s enough! Both of you!” He spoke, and that was the first time he genuinely sounded like the old Garroth- someone in command trying to calm the situation. Zane let out a grunt of annoyance “I didn’t even want to hit him.” He muttered. 

Laurance couldn’t help the look of resentment on his face “Sure felt like you did- honestly, You’re lucky your brother cares about you or we’d be matching.” He roughly pokes the man in the chest, the amount of hate he felt was unfathomable.

This man killed and hurt so many, many I cared for, he even killed- 

Garroth gently tugged on Laurance’s arm “Come on man, let’s take a look at your lip.” The brunet felt embarrassed that he let Zane hit him in the first place but nodded. Zane turned around and headed back into his house with a pitiful look on his face.

The blonde next to Laurance watched his brother leave with a similar expression before turning to Laurance “Do you have a med kit at your place? We only have band aids in our bathroom.” He asks, looking over the busted affliction on the face of the shorter “…I have some stuff.” Not much more than band-aids but he’d rather not see Dante and Travis right now, or much anyone else… he was having so much fun earlier so why did he have to go and ruin it? 

“Alright.” Garroth had placed his hand flat against Laurance’s back, in between his shoulder blades. He couldn’t feel the warmth through his layers of clothes but the pressure alone and old memories were enough to make his heart race and his face flush. Laurance was thankful for the cold disguising his embarrassment. He sighed, holding his arms inwards towards himself across his chest.

When they entered Garroth had immediately asked where he kept his bandages and things, Laurance told him they were in his bathroom and before he could show him the door the taller had run off. Instead of following him though he sat down on his couch, leaning back and brushing his fingers across his swollen lip. ‘ I could have broken his arm as soon as he got me, I could have destroyed him- yet I let that asshole get away with it.’ 

‘Because of him.’ The blonde came into view with a rag “..I didn't really think it through hehehe- lips mostly need ice and to just be cleaned up… You have ice? Or frozen anything?” he asked with such an idiotic Grin on his face that Laurance couldn't help but forgive him “I have ice in the freezer.” he playfully huffs, smiling ever so slightly.

Garroth nods “oh yeah, duh-“ he snorts,setting the rag to the side and digging into the freezer and getting a handful of ice into his rag.

Laurance scooted over on the sofa for Garroth to sit next to him, the other sat “alright man, you gotta face me.” He nudges, and Laurance scoffs “Are you trying to be my personal nurse?” He didn’t know why he reacted like that, the deflation in Garroths demeanor made him regret it “Because I need one.” He sighs, turning towards him. “Come on.”

Garroth smiled again, lifting the rag and wiping clean the blood off his lip with a concentrated look on his face. “It’s like really hard to read you, man.”

Laurance felt the tingle of his lip, and a spark in his chest “Is it?” He chuckled, Garroth smiling back at him “Yeah, can never tell if you’re actually happy, joking, or angry… or uh- other things.”  He fumbled with the rag of ice in his hand and lifted it up “I guess my brother is tougher than he looks.” 

Laurance couldn’t help but roll his eyes and scoff “Please, I could break him like a twig.” He bragged, to the blonde's confusion “What makes you so confident, Do you work out or something?” Laurance almost answered him before getting interrupted by the most exaggerated gasp he heard in his life “Oh my Irene-! Can we be workout buddies?” He asked, Laurance wincing when Garroth pushes a little too hard on the ice “oh shoot sorry-“

Laurance started laughing, not just chuckling or giggling, but actual laughter. His shoulders shook and his hand was brought to his face to cover his smile. Garroth’s gaze lingered over Laurance’s more lighthearted expression, he puffs out a short airy laugh “How come you’re laughing?” 

Laurance shakes his head, pressing his hand to his forehead before swiping it through his hair and resting it on his lap “You. You’re so…” perfect. “So funny, even though it’s not on purpose you just- you have this way of…” he shakes his head “You’re amazing, man.”

Garroth’s face tinted red “I- um thanks, that’s- wait-“ he shakes his head “I… you still need ice-“ he moves to put it back on Laurance’s lip “I guess laughter is the best medicine after all-  you no longer have that stupid look on your face.” He speaks it in a manner that seems too affectionate for him to mean it in an insulting way.

“Oh shut up, you're such an idiot.” He laughed again, smiling so hard his cheeks hurt “me an idiot? You’re the one who got punched here, Laurance,” he chastises and in response, he punches him in the shoulder “ow! LaurBear- that hurt.” He placed a hand on his chest and faked a pained expression. Laurance cackled “Laurbear??? You want me to call you Garbear now?”

Garroth bobs his head in agreement “If you want to, you may… I just want to keep hearing you laugh like that- seriously don't think I've heard you fully laugh before.” He clicks his tongue in thought, he arched his eyebrows in a playful manner “Are you ticklish, Laurance?” He asks, his tone light and inherently mischievous. 

Laurance shook his head “What? Pfft- no no no.” He denied, pulling away from him “I am not ticklish in the slight-AHHHAAHA.” Garroth had started to tickle his sides and stomach, the shorter was laughing so hard his chest hurt “Garroth- come on- stopAHAHAHA.” Laurance fell back against the cushions as the blonde continued his attack. One movement led to another and by the time the taller had stopped he was leaning over the top of Laurance, propped up by his knees and hands on either side of his head against the armrest.

“Why are you such-“ he takes a deep inhale “an idiot.” He finished, exhaling loudly. Garroth was silent for a moment “Um…. I dunno.” he shrugged, laughing a bit “...You seem in a better mood.” 

Laurance hums, turning to look back up at him “I am in one, you… Helped a bit.”  

He sits up just a bit, neither boy leaving their current position “I did?” he scoots back, resting on the man's legs.

Laurance nods slowly, moving to sit up completely. “Yeah, you just have that effect I guess.” he mutters while looking away, having noticed the closeness between them and the weird intimacy- `Irene, how is Garroth this comfortable with me?`

 “maybe… I should go take a shower- I got a lot of snow and stuff on me.” He felt his heart betray him and beat faster against his chest.

“oh um…” The blonde looks disappointed Before he realized exactly where he was” Garroth scrambled a bit to get off him “I gotta get back anyway,  talk to you later?” he offers, and Laurance nods “Yeah of course.” 

Garroth looked like he wanted to say something else, but shook his head “Bye!” He quickly left after that and Laurance let out a breath of relief.

that was way too close, Laurance thought.

Chapter Text

Laurance stepped into the decorated and busy shopping mall with a plan: He would take every possible route to avoid the huge crowds and go to the places where he could get the best deals…. 

A plan where he would get his friends Christmas gifts for the holidays.

Laurance had been debating it for a week but decided he should try to use this as a… way to thank them for how kind they’d been to him! Or… an excuse to just buy a couple of gifts. Currently, he had no idea exactly what he was going to get his friends but he knew he was going to get them something good. He avoids the people in front of the kiosks trying to catch his attention, with similar greetings advertising whatever product he didn’t even want.

“Hello Handsome would you like-”

“No, sorry.”

“Why hello cutie! Want some lo-”

“No thank you.”

“Hey, you having trouble gifting-”

“No.”

“wait-” He pauses, walking back up to the kiosk “What did you say ma’am?” he asks, hands resting on the edge of the kiosk stand. The girl behind it had light blonde hair and blue eyes with a pair of white meif'wa ears on top of her head “Are you having trouble finding Christmas gifts? You look real lost here." She stood proud, behind her hung an array of beautiful handmade jewelry and even some handmade soaps and lotions too.

Laurance nods slowly “Yeah, I am actually- I’m Laurance.” He introduces himself, and the girl smiles back wide and energetic “My name is June! And it doesn’t matter if it's for a lady friend- or a male friend- I got a good array of things available!” she gestures behind her. “Well… thing is I am buying for seven people?”   The seven people; were Brendan, Aphmau, KC, Dante, Katelyn, Travis, and Garroth.  He figured it’d be pretty easy to figure out a gift for most of them but Dante, Katelyn, and Garroth were a bit more difficult

June hummed, tapping a finger to her lip- on her wrist was a beaded bracelet with the name ‘Rylan’ spelled out in wooden beads “Is that one you made?” he asked, and June shook her head with a laugh “Uh, no… someone I knew in high school made this and he decided to give it to me instead of keeping it so I… kept it.” she sighs, shoulders sagging for a moment “But! It’s what got me into making bracelets and other crafts in the first place!” She yelps excitedly. She hums happily in thought for a couple of seconds “So, Laurance…. Do you know what colors your friends like? Maybe their favorite stones or smells, their initials?”

Laurance huffs as he thinks about it “…Well…?” He has to wrack his brain “Aphmau’s favorite color is Purple, Kc’s is pink, Dante’s is red, Garroths is light blue, Brendan likes dark green, and Travis likes light green- Katelyn loves blue too…” He knows those are their favorite colors “Kc’s favorite flower is cherry blossoms, and Garroth likes sunflowers! Aphmau is a fan of irises. Dante and Travis both like roses I think?”

June nods as she takes in the information, though the names she recognizes she decides to conduct her business first and foremost “...what about stones and scents?” she asks, her tail swishing back and forth as she turns around and starts to look through the items on her wall “I… don’t know about anyone else but Aphmau likes Amethysts, KC likes… opal I think? And Garroth likes Topaz! I think Katelyn mentioned Topaz once?” These are all things they had loved once, long ago, and now… he’s seen them wearing similar stones and lighting candles of certain types in their houses.

“As for scents- I remember Travis mentioning he liked oceany scents, KC likes anything sweet smelling, Katelyn likes flower scents but not too strong… and Brendan the foresty stuff… Garroth loves vanilla!” Laurance had committed these things to memory, being immortal meant making sure to remember the things you want to.

He focused so hard on remembering his life and friends after joining Phoenix Drop that so much of his life between then and now was very blurry or lost to time. Even then, he still couldn’t remember faces like Nekoettes and Dimitri or even Dale and his family.

June took all this in stride as she started picking out a couple of things “What is your relationship with Garroth, Aphmau, and KC?” She had several items picked out already but seemed focused on these for whatever reason “Oh um, Well- Aphmau is sweet and kind and has been the reason for me meeting my friends and just feeling comfortable. KC is really adorable and she’s honestly like having a little sister around…” he has to think about how to describe his stupid shit with Garroth “Garroth is… probably my best friend from the bunch! He… he’s always there and never fails to make me smile.” He chuckles, while it was true for him it might not be quite the case for the others.

June starts separating each assortment made for each person before moving on to Garroth, she had some things picked out except for any jewelry “Does Garroth prefer gold or silver?” And Laurance knows the answer “Definitely gold.” 

June snorts, then she grabs a gold band and modifies it to hold a sunflower charm right off The corner “I’d recommend personalized Christmas cards to be put with each item.”

Laurance looked at The items “Wow! You even put them in little bags for me-!” He looks back up at Her “How much?” He pulls out his wallet, and June looks at the items “….I’ll give you a little bit of a discount!” She slides a piece of paper to him after scribbling some numbers on it.  Looking at it Laurance thought it was reasonable enough especially for how many gifts he was getting “And because you bought more than five it comes along with a free My Little Horses, custom paint Chaos figure with a matching bracelet!” 

Laurance wasn’t so excited about the bonus figure as he was everything else but hey it was whatever- he grabbed it from her hands so he could throw it in with KCs gift or something.

He dug into his wallet and brought out a couple hundred and handed them to her “Thank you so much! And I will put my own Christmas cards- I’m just glad I got a gift for everyone.” he let out a sigh of relief “thank you, June.” June grins wide “Of course! And please say hi to Aphmau for me!” 

Laurance nodded “Yeah of course! I didn’t even realize you knew them.”

June tips her head, fidgeting with her hands. “We were pretty close in high school, not so much now but it'd be nice to hear from her.”  she hummed thoughtfully, chuckling a bit afterward while shaking her head “Don’t mean to reminisce and keep you here.  You have a good one, Kay? Merry Christmas!”

“Thank you! Merry Christmas, June.” he bows his head along with a thanks before walking off. He started to head for the exit but paused when he spotted the entrance to the food court and the smell…  

His stomach started rumbling, he wasn’t sure exactly what he was smelling but god was it good.  Laurance released a resigned sigh and headed into the food court while maneuvering around the crowds of people who walked in and out.

He looked at the multitude of food stalls and decided to try something fairly cheap by ordering a burger and a drink and seating himself at the nearest table. Laurance took out his phone and looked over his contacts, he tapped on his text messages and opened the messenger app after seeing the notifications on it and was a bit surprised to see he had multiple messages from different people.

There were a bunch from Travis, apparently, something was going on with  Tokyo Princess love~love Cookie mew~Mew School Girl, or whatever the name was, and a new movie for it was coming out. Laurance didn't enjoy the show much but it was fun to watch it with his friends that do. 

His friends? 

Laurance thought it was quite funny, to call them that. He had been comfortably calling them that when they first showed back up in his life and yet they weren't even his friends. They were copies, people who simply looked like them and have said multiple times that they only got deja vu when they met him. Well, most of them.

If he was as selfless as he once was, he would have ignored them and distanced himself as soon as Aphmau appeared on his front doorstep but lately, he found himself becoming more and more selfish- indulging in his hapless desires. The desire to feel a connection again, the desire to feel love again. To have that affection and care placed on him by friends who cared for him just as he cared for them- He knew he was being extremely selfish, he knew that it was wrong for him to be able to have this.

He looks at the invitation from Travis and stares at it for a while, he sucks in a breath and releases it before texting him back 

‘yeah man, sounds fun!’ 

He looked at the other notifications, tapping on the message from Katelyn which… was a rare thing, She usually never texted him unless there was something she needed to know. Katelyn had asked him if he heard what the boys might like for Christmas which he promptly answered ‘I don’t really know, I just settled with what I got for them.’ 

Laurance lifted his drink to his lips and started sipping.

“Laurance?”

He looks towards the voice calling out to him “Oh, hey Aphmau!” He sets his near-empty drink down “What’s up?” He leaned against the table as the shorter girl approached him “I got into an argument with KC over her gullibility and we got separated- annnnd now I’m looking for her.”

“we’ll I haven’t seen her around yet, at least not in the food court.”  He answered honestly.

Aphmau sighed, running her hands over her face “What am I gonna do with that girl?” She lets out a groan “I really did mean well but she took it the completely wrong way.” After she ran her hands along her face and eventually through her bangs, she brushed them to the side.

“I can help you look for her.” Laurance had offered, he was allowed to be concerned for Kc too right? She was his friend, even if she wasn’t the exact same.

“Oh really?!” She clasps her hands together, her amber eyes widening “That would be a great help!”  She suddenly pauses “Oh- wait…. What are you doing here, Laurance? I don’t want to-“

Laurance, for whatever reason, got nervous that Aphmau would be too nosy if he admitted he was getting presents “I uh-! Nothing! I’ll go look for her!” He runs off with his bags before Aphmau can get another word in. 

He slows down and starts to head into different stores to look for the pink-haired meifwa, he’s not quite sure which ones She’d enter so he tries pretty much each one he comes across. The brunet finds himself looking at the different items placed among the various shelves, one, in particular, catching his eye.

It was a snow globe and depicted inside of it was a Knight in shining silver armor standing on a snow-covered Rocky Mountain with a sword in his hand looking as if he just pulled it out of it, he even had a molded blue cape flowing behind him. ‘If it had a cross on his chest, it would be just like him.’ He reached a finger out and ran it across the glittery blue base of the snow globe ‘Looks like they sealed in the glitter so it won’t come off.` 

He picks it off the shelf and decides he would add it to Garroths gift. He’ll add something more to the other gifts too, it's not that he thought of Garroth when seeing a gift or anything… It just so happens that he knows Garroth likes blue. That’s all.

It’s all it can be.

He grabs some other small things from the shop to add to the other gifts to make them more unique. A page of sweets-themed scented stickers for KC, a weird blue crystal-looking meditation rock for Katelyn, A red headband for Aphmau, Dante got a joke gift of a dating tips magazine, Brendan got a good luck charm badge, and finally, Travis got a poster of Tokyo Cookie Mew~Mew love or whatever it was.

Laurance bought everything at the register and soon left, he continued his search for the Mief'wa afterward and after a while, he spotted her crying while she was talking to Aphmau “What’s wrong with KC?” He asked when he walked up to them. The girl let out a wail as Aphmau turned to him to explain her situation “She spent all her money because this salesman sweet-talked her into buying all of these things.” 

“…isn’t that their job?” He asked carefully, and Aphmau nodded with a heavy sigh “That’s what I tried to tell her, but she couldn’t understand that she doesn’t have to buy something she doesn’t want because they beg her to.” 

“oh man, really? Is there any way to get her money back?”

She shook her head “All sales were final… no refunds or exchanges.” She mutters bitterly.

Laurance can’t help but pity her, he used to act similarly when he was a child walking around the market stands.  “Oh man, poor KC. I’m sorry.” 

“what’s going on?”  

Laurance tenses up, why was Zane here of all places? Couldn’t he just stay away from him? He turns towards him, and despite the cut on his lip being gone, it felt fresh when he saw the black-haired man “None of your business, 21 Edgelord.”  

Zane looked at Laurance strangely, almost with a sense of guilt before jerking his head to the side and carrying himself with pride “Oh? Still mad about the snowball fight? How I owned you and Garroth?” 

“You kept aiming for everyone's eyes!” He grinds his teeth, trying not to lose his temper. A shadow knight losing his temper was not good for anybody. Aphmau decided to cut everyone off before anything got too rough and difficult to control “Okay you two knock it off- why are you here Zane?”

“Let me get straight to the punch.” He looks at Laurance who huffs angrily before turning back to Aphmau “You three are considered to be loitering, so since it’s my job I will need to know what’s going on.”

“How do you even get a job not suited for you anyway?” Laurance asks skeptically, to Zane’s complete annoyance. 

“…I can be persuasive. Now, why is the cat-girl crying?” His voice is low and grumbly, damn this awful man, and his deep voice that would be soothing if he wasn’t EVIL. 

Aphmau rolled her eyes “I don’t want to but since you’re… security for some reason, KC essentially got tricked into buying all these things that she doesn’t need or even want.”

KC starts to sniffle, wiping at her face “I ended up buying all these things! Even this Chaos figure!! I already have a chaos figure!!! I don’t need any more of them or any other of my little horsie figurines!”  She started to whine, Aphmau almost went to comfort her but Zane walked up to her first “…alright, I’ll buy it from you.”

Kc looked up at him “…You will?” She grips the figure “Deal! Thank you so much!” She crashes into him in an overbearing hug and he lets out a scream “Ah! Let go You- girl- woman-! Ack-” His face was bright red, out of either anger or embarrassment and he looked truly at a loss for what to do. 

Laurance broke into laughter “He can’t even handle getting a hug from one girl!” He couldn’t help but cackle. Zane let out a growl and pried the pink-haired girl off him and shivered “I’m never being nice again- ugh.” He shoved the money at her and took the figure “You’re Welcome.” He answers with a heavy sigh before walking away, shaking off his nerves or something.

KC held the money tight to her chest “…I got money for Reese’s present!!! Eeeehehehe!!!” She broke down into fits of laughter and pure glee that she could get him a present again. Aphmau crosses her arms “That was nice of him…” She mumbled. 

“but Zane isn’t nice,” Laurance argued despite the happy look on the pinkettes face, he didn’t feel bad for it either. 

Aphmau looked at Laurance, brow raised “…not that nice at least, it’s a bit weird.” She turns attention back to KC “But at least she’s happy.” She spoke fondly, hitting him against the arm as she walked past him. “I'll talk to you later, Laurance. I need to go help her pick out a gift.”

He must like the show it’s from or something. 

“Alright, talk to you later Aph.” He offered a small and awkward wave, the woman grinning before walking away with an excitable woman in tow.  Laurance let out a heavy sigh and after that exhausting yet entertaining trip at the mall, he decided it was time to head home.

His house was usually laid untouched for every holiday that he had been in for probably since before he left Phoenix Drop. 

This year though, he had bought a simple tree with built-in glowing leaves and lights. He didn’t have a star or any ornaments of the sort but for Laurance? This was plenty enough for him. 

No one was going to be coming over here much anyway, so there wasn’t a real point to it. He sits cross-legged on the floor and starts to take out the gifts from the different bags “Okay…” he mumbled quietly,  separating each gift and muttering to himself which one belonged to what.

He arranged them in the gift bags just like Cadenza might have; intricate with well-thought-out placement. After this, he would plan to knit something Or would that be considered too much? Maybe just something for Aphmau and Garroth… he was closest with them- or would people feel bad?  He puffs out his chest and decides against it for now. Laurance places each one underneath the tree.

 Presents under a tree. He snorts, it’s a pretty silly tradition because when he celebrated in his time gifts weren’t really a thing but he had to admit the colorful gifts matched with the lit tree were rather beautiful. It gave him a warm feeling just looking at it.

A warm feeling that you don’t deserve. Laurance sighs, knocking the side of his head with his hand in a half-hearted attempt to stop the bad thoughts. It wouldn’t work. 

“Maybe I’ll just head to bed early.”

Knock Knock. The knocks were barely audible like they didn’t want to be heard

“Or not.” he huffs, heading towards the door and opening it. He prepares himself to put on a happier facade but stops himself when he sees Zane Ro’Meave standing there still in his work uniform from that day just with a black jacket layered over top.

“Hello, Laurance.”

“…Oh, a rainy cloud on an otherwise bright day,” Laurance mutters, ready to shut the door in his face but paused when he remembered the mall incident. He didn’t quite take a nicer tone but curiously he decided to listen “What do you want?”

Zane had instantly recoiled at the tone of the man's voice “If it isn’t the cold annoying breeze on what would have been a warm day.” He retorted with a growl, he wasn’t expecting to be immediately antagonized as a greeting. Laurance hates how that hurts a little bit “Your point?” He asks with a raised brow.

Zane huffs, crossing his arms across his chest “All I wanted was to talk to you, and yet you immediately decided to antagonize me. That’s a rather bold choice for you, little Laurance.” He sneers and Laurance, despite himself, gets pissed at the nickname- the all too familiar nickname “Alright then, if that's all you want- go away.” he demands, crossing his arms and leaning against the doorway.
Zane tenses “You’re- you’re the one who insulted me as soon as you saw my face!” he yells, clenching his fists at his sides “I just wanted to talk you- ugh.” he stomps his foot indignantly “I don’t even like this- I’m only doing it because my mom says-” he releases a tense breath.

“Laurance, how…” He ground his teeth, his entire body was entirely rigid and Laurance could just tell it was either literally painful for him to say, or it was hard to put into words. Zane takes a sudden sharp breath “How’s your lip?”

‘ Wait seriously? That's what he wanted to ask???’  Laurance held in a laugh, his lips twisting together into a grin “No offense,” Laurance didn’t care if he did take offense- it was Zane fucking Ro’Meave.
“-but you barely left a lasting mark, it hurt for like a couple of minutes at most.”  

Zane sighed, starting to pick on the skin at his wrist “As insulting as that is, I’m… glad that it didn’t hurt…. Not like I was trying anyway.” He turned to leave, Laurance looked at the man’s stance, and for a moment he forgot who this was, for a moment he saw just how… different he carried himself from the old Zane.

The old one carried himself with pride, this one seemed so small and anxious.

Zane was a scared and socially inept man, one who clearly has a lot of problems and maybe he’s a jerk but he’s not… evil. Laurance’s had a strange feeling of guilt surface in the pit of his his stomach but right now he couldn’t face it “It’s fine, whatever. I was pretty out of line too.” He slams the door shut afterward so he doesn’t have to hear Zane’s response.

Zane. 

The name carries so much weight and hatred for Laurance, so much pain. Zane was the cause of so much of it. 

The raven-haired man stood over him, his visible eye now matching the red of the blood he was covered in.  

Laurance couldn’t think about that night, he couldn’t. He falls back against the door and clenches his eyes shut.

Zane stepped over the body “Ah,l̴i̵t̸t̷l̸e̵ Laurance… “ 

 No! Laurance whacks the side of his head. No, please. He starts to cry, sliding down the door to the ground.

“Finally after all these years, you are t̴h̶e̶ ̴l̵a̵s̸t̴ ̶o̵n̶e̶ to face me? The little baby s̴h̷a̴d̸o̵w̶ ̸k̸n̶i̶g̵h̶t̷? How utterly pathetic.”  His words in Laurance’s mind were garbled and monstrous, his words laced with venom. 

Laurance hit himself, again and again, trying to forget and get out of his head everything that happened as his eyes flashed a violent red for a moment. 

He can’t stop it; The negative thoughts. He had gotten so relaxed, letting his guard down to the point he’d allowed his mind to slip.

Stopstopstopstop-

“I’m going to burn Phoenix Drop to the ground, and you…? I don’t think I’ll let you live to watch.” He stepped over the body of a guard, one that Laurance knew. 

Stop.

Laurance took deep breaths, moving his hands away from his head and placing them on the ground. He forgot how whenever he transformed, it always called for blood. Laurance always gave it his. 

He shakily lifts a finger and feels his head, there was a thick trail of blood trailing down his forehead stopping right under his eyebrow. He continuously rubs at it, eyes going unfocused.

Laurance lets out a choked noise from his throat, drawing his knees to his chest when he starts to sob.

Chapter Text

Aphmau had been turned into a cat.

Joy. 

Guess this stupid crap was what she had to deal with now. 

She’s been in more disastrous situations before, sure but at least they weren't as put upon her by a magical cat.

It had been a week after that awful snowfight and a day after the incident at the mall when she had been ambushed by a bunch of cats that KC was supposed to have been babysitting. One of them was magical and had some sort of grudge against her (well, mostly her dog), so here she was as a purple cat in the snow on her front porch until she could spread that catmas cheer!  After Katelyn had thrown her out, it was the only choice she got.

Aphmau let out a grumble, pawing at the snow ‘ Katelyn come on please, it's so cold out here! What if someone gives me to the pound or pet shelter?!’  She's sure nothing but meows were coming from her throat. 

She sighed heavily but it came out as a mewl. Maybe one of my friends will let me hunker down in their house until it wears off and in the process… maybe try to fill them with that catmas spirit. 

She decided that would be her best shot at going back to her human body. She looked around and decided to try going to Laurance’s first- He seemed to be the most normal one so maybe he could treat her well enough.

The cat trot towards Laurance’s home was awkward, Aphmau stumbling a bit ‘stupid little potato cat legs-!’ She started to get used to it by the time and she got across the road and to his door, she sat back and started to claw at the door ‘oh I hope this doesn’t leave marks on his door, he takes such good care of his house’

She jumps back when she hears footsteps, the door creaks open “…a cat?” He mutters, and Aphmau rushes inside “You must be seeking shelter from the cold.” He closes the door, seemingly not too bothered by the fact she had ran inside.

Aphmau turned to look up at Laurance, her body tensing when she noticed his reddened and wet tear-stained cheeks. He squat down to her level “…it looks like some person decided to dye your coat a shade of purple…?” He chuckled, Aphmau flicked her tail without thinking and tilted her head ‘Laurance are you okay?’ 

Laurance reached out to scratch behind her ears “I’m sorry little kitten but you can’t stay here.”  he apologizes, seemingly genuinely sad. Aphmau hates how upset Laurance seemed.

 The brunet sounded so lonely, and so hurt and Aphmau wanted nothing more than to give him a hug and tell him it would be okay. 

She tried nuzzling her head into his shin, like she's seen cats do before and Laurance lets out a sad chuckle “Aw…. It's okay, I won't let you go back into the cold.” he reassures, gently stroking the cats back.

Aphmau shook her head, couldn't Laurance use the company? Why was he crying?

“Meow.” `Please Laurance, what’s wrong?`

Laurance gently picks the cat up and cradles her in her arms “It’s okay, again I won’t let you be in the uh- the cold.”he spoke softly to her, going to the coat hanger so he could slip on his coat while maneuvering the cat in his arms. “...What if I get you a blanket, hm?” he offers, Aphmau decides to say yes by nudging her head against his chest- despite how weird it actually felt.

 Up here she could see the stain of blood on the man’s knuckles and the smallest smear just on his forehead.  He’s wearing the same clothes he wore to the mall, too.

Laurance looks down at the cat and smiles “Sweet feline.” He mumbled, setting her back down and heading to his room. Aphmau sits patiently, wondering what she should do…  maybe she can get him help.

The brunette walks back into the room with a knit blanket “I made this… i accidentally made it too small but it’s the perfect size to wrap around you like a scarf or something.” He sits and crosses his legs, taking the knit thing and wrapping it around the cat “…There, you look cozy.” 

Laurance picks her up again “Alright, let’s get you to someone who actually wants to take in a cat… I think I heard them talking about a pet… he’d take good care of you.” He began to stroke her fur, Aphmau didn’t know how to really react.  She almost didn’t want to leave him, but then again if he took her to someone else they’d see him and surely they would help him… right?

The two left the house and Aphmau soon realized that he was taking her to Garroths house. Laurance knocks and Garroth answers “ITS A CAT!” He cheers with a smile, that smiles quickly turning into a frown when he notices the state of Laurance’s face. ‘Good, now Garroth can ask you what happened!’

“Laurance…what…?” He reached out, his fingers barely brushing his bangs out of the way.

Laurance pushed his hand away “I’m fine, just fell face first into the sidewalk on my way here- be careful it’s slippery out here.” He chuckled, putting on his best smile. ‘Garroth, push further you dummy!’ 

Aphmau knew Laurance was lying, which gave the question: What actually happened? 

Garroth snorted “you have got to be super clumsy to fall that hard!”

‘Garroth, you are lucky you’re pretty.’ Aphmau huffs, did Garroth seriously believe such a lie?

He looks back at the cat, his expression still soft but for a different reason “Daaaawwww…. Can I take her?” he makes grabby hands and Laurance nods in return “of course, I… brought her because I knew you liked cats and I thought…” his face tinted red a bit. ‘Did… Laurance just… blush?’  

The blonde takes Aphmau into his arms, looking down at her purpled-tinted fur he comes up with a name with a smile “That’s sweet! Ohhh I’ll name her Sprinkles!” He hugs the cat to his chest, his eyes wandering back to Laurance’s face “Want to come in, I got a med kit?” he offers, stepping to the side for him to come in.

‘ Come on Laurance! Say yes!’ 

Laurance nods “I um… no, I need to go home.” His body sags a bit, seemingly dissapointed by his own response. Garroth himself looks a bit disappointed too “Oh… well, Talk to you later?” he asks and Laurance nods with a small pitiful smile before walking back home, Aphmau made a mental note to go to him after she turns back.

‘Laurance… you are even more of an idiot! Ugh… I’m so worried for him.’

Aphmau is then left with the trio of boys. Travis and Dante look at her skeptically “…So if we’re gonna keep Taco here-“ Travis was interrupted by Dante “No, no you mean Muffins… if we’re keeping her here we need to take her to a vet and-“

“It’s sprinkles! And yeah I guess we’ll need to have her fixed.” Garroth pipes up.

Aphmau lets out a loud shriek, clawing her way from Garroths arms and running away after she hears that ‘oh hell no! I am NOT letting that happen!’ She leaps out a window that was open despite the chilly air.

“miss taco come back!!!”

“Muffins!!!”

“Sprinkles!!! Here Kitty Kitty!”

Aphmau runs out of sight towards the end of the street

She slides to a stop, the icy sidewalk causing her to slam into a pair of legs belonging to Zane. The man looked a mess, dressed completely in black but without a scarf to be seen. His expression seemed tense until he laid eyes on the cat “Oh Hello there…” he looked around, looking for something to indicate this was a prank, before squatting down and holding his hand out “You lost?”

Aphmau might have guessed that Zane might like animals more than he liked people, but honestly, a part of her was still expecting this man to have thrown snow at her by now to scare her away. ‘Let me guess, you’re gonna pick me up and toss me around like a personal plaything.’ 

“If you follow me I can give you some milk, even warm it up but I’m not gonna force you.” He reached out and pat her head, standing up and turning around to head home. Aphmau might have not done that but something about the way he looked at her… compelled her to go along ‘Why is he being nice?’

She began to carefully trail him, being careful in case this was a trick. Zane stared down at her “Huh… I didn’t actually expect you to follow, most animals don’t usually like me.” Aphmau could tell, not many people liked Zane at first meeting- or ever at all. Aphmau thought he was cute in high school but that was about the extent of the positive feelings for Zane she ever had.

She entered the surprisingly cozy house, it was decorated rather nicely- the one thing missing though… were presents.

None were placed under the decorated tree, nothing wrapped or bagged- there weren’t even stockings hanging up on the wall. Aphmau was sure that their father gave Garroth a gift every year by now… so where was his?

Zane sits on the couch, crossing his legs and leaning back “Strange, you even hopped on the couch next to me… I was honestly joking about you following me at first.” he chuckled, very hesitantly reaching out to pet the cat. Aphmau decided to let him, it didn’t bother her despite the annoyance and suspicion still in her mind over the situation.

‘So he was joking, and he actually is a jerk.’ Aphmau huffs, turning away from him “You know, I wasn’t even allowed to have pets when I was a kid.” He hums thoughtfully, looking down at them.

‘Great so he’s gonna take me, neuter me, and force me to be an indoor-only cat who poops in a litter box!’  

“Okay then, there's the door when you’re ready to leave- I won’t force you to stay, you look like you prefer your freedom.”  He pets her again, looking so gently at her.

‘ What…?’ 

“ Plus with that scarf you look like you might have an owner.” He points out “I’m sure they might be waiting for you.“ And Zane sounds so genuine, in a way that Aphmau has never heard for herself before ‘You must be so lonely…’ 

Aphmau thinks for a moment on how to make him feel better, without the thought of anything else in the way, and shakes her scarf off. She takes it in her mouth and drops it on his lap as a gift ‘Merry Christmas.‘ 

Zane gathers tears in his eyes as he picks up the scarf,  he grips it tight before draping it over the back of his neck “I’ve never… I mean I haven’t gotten a gift from someone besides my mom since I was a kid.” With a watery smile he  wiped his tears away.

Aphmau meowed and in a flash, She was human again. The change in her limbs was dizzying and the sudden light hurt her eyes “Oh shhhit-“ She mutters, looking at the shellshocked Zane from right next to her “Uhh….” 

Zane looks over at her with a look of disbelief and total shock in her eyes then his expression changed into one of embarrassment “What…! Were you spying on me??” He sits up, faces red and anger prominent Aphmau looks up at him “…I was actually stuck as a cat-“

“….I can’t believe…. How???”

Aphmau opened her mouth to speak “…would you believe me if I told you the magical Christmas cat turned me into a cat for Christmas cheer?”

Zane blinked ever so slowly in disbelief “…Aphmau, what- just what?” He seemed so genuinely confused, eyes furrowing together “I… what are you doing in my house though?”

Aphmau frowned “I uh… You were nice to me.” She utters out, shyly smiling afterward “I wanted to see more of that side of you- and see… if you were being genuine.”

“Is it that unbelievable that I like cats, though?”  

“…I’ve never really seen you interact with one, outside of potions class.” She admits sheepishly. Zane sighs frustratedly, clenching his fists and unclenching them in rapid succession “Okayyyy, why did you let me pet you?” 

Aphmau honestly didn’t know how to respond “…I… uh…” She glanced towards the door “I don’t know, it was… instinct- i gotta go.” she bolted towards the door and left. The air was a lot colder without any fur so Aphmau ended up running even faster back into her house.

She was met with an angry looking katelyn, with several cats in her arms “I finally round them up, only to find you ditched me! Aph, you seriously left me to deal with these cats all by myself and they scratched up the door trying to run away!” she seemed mad and irritable, she was covered in scratches as well as cat fur.

Aphmau, despite the stressful hour or so that she just had, put on a smile “Katelyn, the kitty-cats can sense your duress!” she flips her hair over her shoulder “Watch and learn,” she takes one from the blue-haired woman and begins to stroke it where Aphmau wouldn’t have been able to reach as a cat and the cat immediately relaxes, its haunches going loose and paws hanging over as it purs “You need to have the magic Aphmau touch.” She grins wide.

Katelyn sighs, shoveling the cats one by one into Aphmaus's arms despite how hard it was to carry all of them “Then, you can give all of them the Aphmau touch so they can leave me aione!” she huffs, stomping up the stairs.

Aphmau looks at all the cats, she cuddles them up against her chest for a moment before setting them on the ground at her feet. They all sit around her with their tails gently swaying, a cat appears in a ghostlike form in the middle of the crowd of cats and looks up at her ‘ Looks like you spread cheer to someone who really needed it, in fact… you made several people happy, or at least easened their burden.’

“But… I may have helped… Zane, but what about…” she thinks of the look on his face, how he was so obviously hiding his pain even to a cat ‘About your friend, Laurance? I’m not sure, his… scent was beyond just sad- and… his pain feels old.’

“Isn’t there a way to help him, too?” she asks going to her knees to be closer to eye level with the cat.

‘You can’t help everyone, and even then… you helped Zane feel a little less lonely. Just keep being their friend, Aphmau- everyone could use a friend.’  he stands up, stretching low before shaking his head and disappearing into a burst of sparkles.

“...right, everyone… could use a friend.” She wonders if Zane would even accept her as a friend, or if Laurance would be willing to keep her at more than an arms distance away. Sometimes she thinks that when whatever wall he has built up is about to crumble down, he builds it right back up.

Chapter Text

Zane from the very moment he was born, was met with distaste from his father. While he looked completely like his mother, he didn’t look anything at all like his father, Garte? which caused him to favor Garrioth over Zane. He preferred his children to look like him.

Garroth held onto him, despite barely being two, and adored him but when Zane yanked on those blonde curly locks that adoration evaporated in an instant when Garroth started to cry from just how hard those tiny hands had torn into him.

Every person he met, he had ended up making them feel disdain. Like he was a piece of gum stuck to their shoe, a Ro'meave that didn’t fit the look. The Ro'meave only his mom wanted. 

His brothers had loved him too at one point but over the years Zane had pushed them away because of how angry they made him because of how perfect they were. So incredibly perfect. The favorites in the family by far.

Zane let himself become bitter and hateful.

No one liked him and Zane knew he deserved it, had built this lifestyle and was paying the consequences. It wasn't as fun as it used to be, it just wasn't.

But at least in the case of Laurance Zvahl, he knew he didn’t deserve his antagonizing. He hadn’t even spoken a word other than a well-intended invitation before getting mocked to his face. The genuine amount of anger in the man’s eyes whenever they looked at one another threw Zane for a loop.

Every single word that came from that guy's mouth directed towards Zane was almost always an insult or a passive-aggressive remark. Anything else was just silent fury and cold stares. 

Obviously though, he didn’t just stand quietly and take it, he shot back and threw insults back in his face while the other seemed shocked as if Zane had the audacity to defend himself. 

So why did he feel bad when he had hit him?

Laurance had deserved it for speaking to him that way, but Zane had never really hurt anyone like that. The full rage he felt in that instant was awful, something he didn’t like to feel, he wasn’t thinking and Zane preferred to think. His mom had told him he should apologize when he talked to her about it. While he may have tried to ignore that in High School he respected his mom the most out of anyone in his family, perhaps Vlyad was a second to that but only because the other never went out of his way to annoy him like Garroth had and didn’t (openly, at least) show any hatred towards him like his father.

So he had found himself at Laurance’s doorstep, staring at the wooden entrance with disdain and something akin to fear. He had prepared himself to say sorry and then leave immediately but whenlll he knocked and the door opened, that thought had left after he saw how Laurance had looked at him. 

“…Oh, a rainy cloud on an otherwise bright day.” Laurance had told him, and that had almost gotten Zane to leave altogether. The man knew he was better than that though, he wasn’t a coward or a quitter so Zane fired back “If it isn’t the cold annoying breeze on what would have been a warm day.”   

Zane normally would have just called him an idiot or something, but the other just HAD to be smart and throw insults as if he were in a poetry slam. So naturally he pushes through, throwing some more subtle insults and the nickname that seemed to bother the other so much,  before gathering up all his pride and caving in to ask if the other’s lip was okay.

He watched the shock creep up onto the taller's (SLIGHTLY TALLERS, as he reminded himself) face, the dumbfoundedness was almost funny. He ignored the jab the other threw in response, pinching his wrist to keep himself grounded as he pushed through and apologizing the best way he knew how: as indirectly as possible.

“As insulting as that is, I’m… glad that it didn’t hurt…. Not like I was trying anyway. ” Zane felt stupid as he said it, he waited for Laurance to laugh in his face again. 

He didn’t.

 In fact, he apologized too. Sort of.

“…It’s fine, whatever. I was pretty out of line too.” 

The door slammed in his face.

“Hey wait-” He reached for the doorknob, hand flinching away from it when he heard a loud thud followed by other noises and something all too similar to crying and panic. His hand hovered for about 30 seconds, listening to the other and trying to convince himself to open the door.

Zane didn’t consider himself cowardly, but he walked away anyway.

The next morning Zane was visited by a strange cat, one he had considered taking home but the poor thing seemed more like the free-roaming type so he offered it a deal if it wanted to come with him.

It was the first time an animal had ever followed him home, and in the span of around an hour, he had grown attached to the feline.

Of course, like most good things to grace his life, it had turned out to be a lie.

The shadow knights always made it seem like they might give him a chance at joining only to rip it out from underneath his feet. To Zane, that was the closest he was to having Friends- Aphmau never really seemed like a real option, since she was so fond of his brothers. Everyone else in school hated him, bullied him, or constantly 

the scarf he was given felt a bit heavy around his neck after Aphmau had revealed himself. She seemed so genuine but a part of him just couldn’t believe it wasn’t some sort of prank or joke.

But…

Aphmau frowned “I uh… You were nice to me.” She utters out, shyly smiling afterward “I wanted to see more of that side of you- and see… if you were being genuine.” 

She wanted to see more of what little kindness he showed, to see if it were genuine.

Whether it be from guilt or curiosity, Zane realized he wanted to see if Laurance could be genuine too. 

…

The shadow knight looked into the mirror with a look of disdain, he pushed his index fingers into the cut on his forehead causing it to bleed a bit more. He played with the blood in between his fingers, his mind drifting off to the moment the night before his fingernails shifted into a sharper point and his eyes turned red… 

He snapped himself out of it when he heard a series of rapid knocks, he cursed to himself and just grabbed a handful of tissues to press to his head and hurried to the door “Hello?” He asks as he opens it, blinking in shock when he realizes that it’s Zane Ro'meave.

He almost opens his mouth to throw an insult out but steals himself when he catches Zane looking at him with an expression that could be interpreted as concern, more so slight shock. “...How did that happen?” he asked immediately, already having his suspicions. 

“I tripped. On the snow.” He answered curtly,  about to close the door but Zane stopped him “Okay, I saw you the other day in the snowball fight- you didn’t trip at all and you slid around the snow like some sort of expert, I’m not as dumb as my brother so I can tell something else happened… besides it doesn’t even look recent and it’s relatively deep for just hitting your head.” The Ro’meave put his hands on his hips, waiting expectantly for an actual answer.

‘Garroth really is less perceptive than he used to be, but Zane… he’s just as perceptive as the High Priest was.’ Laurance’s brows furrowed before relenting with a heavy sigh “I uh… I scratched it.” 

 “You…. scratched it?”

“Yes.”

After a beat of silence, Zane grabbed Laurance’s wrist and looked at his fingernails “These aren’t long or sharp at all, how could you scratch it that bad?” Laurance tore his wrist away easily, Zane wasn’t strong in the least so it wasn’t difficult. “I worked at it, I was… having an episode.” Laurance had no idea how else to describe it without revealing his less-than-fortunate state of being.

Zane draws his hand back “...That’s not something to take lightly, you know.” He notes, crossing his arms. Laurance notices how cautious he sounds, he narrows his eyes “Why do you care?” Zane’s face twists into an expression of annoyance before sighing “I’m not heartless, I’m supposed to watch over the neighborhood anyway.” 

“Right, then… bye-” Laurance was about to close the door, but Zane stopped him again “I know basic first aid.” He offers but Laurance doesn’t have any interest in Zane seeing him weak “Oh wow, I wouldn't want to inconvenience you.” Laurance says with a sarcasm-laced tone. “It's more for my peace of mind, I won’t overstay my welcome.” 

Laurance thinks on it for a moment, cursing to himself “oh irene, forgive me-” he steps aside, opening the door for Zane to come in “...I need to go get my first aid kit, first-” 

“I have one in my bathroom, No need to drag this out longer than needed.” 

Zane nods, adjusting his mask over his nose and stepping inside the home. Everything inside was clean, but strangely empty and devoid of personal touch which Zane found strange. The only thing that was put up was a plain Christmas tree with some gifts underneath it. Zane almost made a snarky remark but he bit his tongue.

“Where is it?” He asks instead, and Laurance sighs “In the bathroom underneath the sink- it's similar to the layout of the other houses on the street.” he explains, laying back down on the couch and holding his hand over his head. Zane noticed just how tired Laurance looked, like he’d been waiting for a moment to relax but even like that there was a strange tension. Zane wanted to pretend he didn’t know why he was feeling it, but he knew. He knew it was because he was there. There had to be an actual reason.

Zane walks through the hallway, and fair enough the first aid kit was actually where Laurance said it was. He grabs it, thumbing the latch and opening it “...The bandage roll is almost empty.” he mutters, going back over to the living room. He stops in his tracks when he hears the soft snoring from the other, he scoffs and decides to just hurry up and fix the cut so he can leave.

He sets the kit to the side, grabbing the bandages and the alcohol wipes to help clean it “Laurance, hey- Wake up.” he reaches out, swiping over the cut with the wipe and cleaning it over “Okay I’m just getting this over with.” He mutters to himself, beginning to properly patch the cut up.

“You’re lucky this wasn’t infected.” He waited for an answer, but he got nothing except soft breathing. Zane lowered his hand after he was done, looking over Laurance and noticing the twisted expression on his face “...Okay one more time-” he grips his shoulder lightly and tries to shake him awake from his nightmare “Hey, Laurance-” and that turns out to be a mistake. 

A hand wraps around his wrist, and Laurance’s eyes open to reveal blood-red irises. Zane is struck frozen at that moment, the crushing feeling on his wrist and the eyes boring into his soul. For a moment, Zane saw himself in a grassy area with a jagged sword in his hands with a gloved hand holding on tightly to his wrist with a glowing orb between them.
The next moment he’s back in Laurance’s living room, his heart beating way too fast for his liking. He looked at his wrist and felt the feeling of powerlessness take over as he tugged “Let go!” He demanded, refusing to look into the eyes of the other in fear of what he might see.

The hand released his grip “Shit, Zane I’m-” Laurance had started, but Zane refused to look at him “I startled you, I suppose it’s- my- it’s my fault.”  He barely chokes out the words, rubbing his wrist. Laurance looks on apologetically, his stomach churning “Zane no I’m- I just-“ he felt the apology gets caught in his throat, and he struggled to look at Zane and say it. He took a couple of deep breaths and tried once more but Zane stood up abruptly.

Rather for his reassurance or something else he left.

Chapter Text

Aphmau face-planted into her bed, her hair tangled and stuck to her face. Her body was exhausted, limbs sore from being transformed into a cat and having to run on all fours.  Everything that happened with Zane and Laurance really didn't help ease her troubles. She was sure KC and Katelyn were worried about her when she got home and immediately collapsed in her bed.

She didn’t leave her room until that next morning when Celestia jumped into her bed and woke her up. The miniature husky nuzzled into her chest and whined softly until Aphmau wrapped her arms around the dog and pulled her closer. She yawned, stretched and groaned “Celestia come cuddle me for an hour and then I’ll get up.”

“Not so fast, Aph.” Katelyn was stood behind the door, the opening just wide enough for her to peek her head through. “Me and KC had some plans and you were supposed to join us today, remember? ” On cue, KC appeared from behind Katelyn with a toothy grin  “Hey Aphmau! Katelyn did you tell her about the decoration competi-”

“Yes, I was getting to that.” She stepped further into the room  “You should remember today! It’s Christmas decorating day!” Katelyn is unusually ecstatic, the thrill of competition along with her love for the holiday shining through. Kc was excited as she usually got but her mood was always infectious “Come on Aphmau, get upppp!” she began to shake her friend to the point Aphmau was starting to actually groaned “Come on, I always overdo it! Aren’t you two supposed to be mad at each other anyway?”

“Well… I forgave Katelyn after she watched those cats for me- The door thing was an accident anyway and she apologized already so…” she hums. “Not the whole point- the point is you joining us for decoration day!”
Aphmau sighs, running her hands through her hair and standing up until Celestia jumps off her lap “Last time I went… crazy over it! I get super competitive over these things and it’s embarrassing how much.”

“Aph, we won’t make fun of you- Besides we need that side of you to win today!” Katelyn grins wide, and Kc tilts her head “And it’s fun to get into the competition! We’ll make sure to get you to dial it down if you get too much. Promise!”

Aphmau crosses her arms, before sighing and giving in with a small smile “Okay- okay okay! The decorations are in the basement, in the red tubs- Where we had the snowman accessories.”  She starts to walk to the door, Katelyn shouting “Race you there!” and running ahead of the two girls. Kc hurries to her feet and chases after the woman, feet pounding against the hardwood floor.


By the time Aphmau made it to the basement, Kc and Katelyn already were in the midst of another segment “No way! Blue and silver are the best sets of colors for the house!” 

She argued, crossing her arms and Kc turned away “No, Red and Gold are way better! Blue is too cold! ” she bit back. They went like this for a while before turning to Aphmau “What do you think is better?”

Aphmau raised her hands in defense. “I um, actually my favorite pairing is Red and Silver- I just think it looks so elegant or even blue and gold.” She tried to offer an easy solution: “Pretty much any of the colors together look cool.” She smiled weakly “We can all add our own little flair- we’ve been friends for a long time it should be easy to come up with a simple compromise.”

“I think the icicle lights would look pretty,” Kc admitted softly, tail gently swishing behind her. Katelyn’s grimace turns soft and into a small smile “Really? Okay well, I think poinsettias would be great to set out on the tables- and those little gold bell thingies you like.” she begrudgingly offered, they both looked over at each other and began to giggle and Aphmau couldn’t help but sigh in relief “good! Can we all hug now?”

The three rushed to hug each other, just for a moment before splitting off and going to retrieve their own sets of decorations. Aphmau gathered some of the indoor decorations first, Kc was looking at the different stockings and Katelyn was gathering the outdoor lights and untangling them from an almost impossible knot.


“Oh, how I hate when you put lights in all neatly and they tangle up anyway.” She grimaces, Aphmau giggles “Good luck, I’m going to set out the statuettes.”  Aphmau had fun setting up the miniatures of Santa and the reindeer,  adjusting each little figure to be the way she wanted them to be.

KC hung up three stockings, each one decorated to represent one of the three girls. A blue one with silver glittery snowflakes and a K in the middle, a bright pink one with white fluffy trim with another K made from white pom poms, then a purple one with light-purple stripes and an A in sparkly gold in the middle.

Katelyn had unstrung the lights, setting them to the side she began to hang up mistletoe in a couple of their doorways with a mischievous grin “Hey, gotta see some odd kisses come from this right?” she laughs “Might upset KC depending on who goes under it.” 

She teases and Kc huffs with an adorable pout “I can handle it!” She argued back “Just not if… it turns into anything real.” she mutters the last bit Aphmau laughs lightly “I don’t think you can! You might just pass out at the party, you poor thing.”

“Shut up you guys!!” She whined.


Hours passed and the inside of the house was finished, the girls took a bit of a break to watch the Charlie Brown Christmas special with a couple of cups of hot cocoa. The next moment  after that, The trio went outside with the bucket filled with Christmas lights “Alright, since I’m the only one here who hates heights I’ll string the lights along the fence- Katelyn… you do the right side of the house and KC you do the left.”

Kc was already dragging the tall ladder to her end of the house, Katelyn using the ladder that was only a couple steps shorter to get to her side of the house. Aphmau meanwhile kept her feet safely planted on the ground as she strung some snow-flake lights across the fence “Does that look good? Hm no it's a smidge too low… now it's too high- oh too left!” She grimaces already getting frustrated and she’s barely on the first section of the fence.

“Aph, chill! It doesn’t need to be perfect- just… keep going.” Katelyn shouts from her place on the ladder. Aphmau nods, taking a deep breath and moving on from the last part of the fence. She continues weaving it, ignoring the smaller details like how even it was and going for the general look and shape. In the end, the lights themselves all looked nice.

The three boys across the street had just come out of the house to decorate their own house with green and red flashing lights along the trim and bright blue bows in between. Garroth stood on top of a ladder, turning to look towards the house the girls were in.

Dante though saw the lights covering the house and he let out a loud laugh, calling out to them across the street “You call that hanging lights? You might as well have blindly picked them all and tossed them on there!”

Aphmau turned around from her spot, practically glaring at the boy “What did you just say?” She speaks calmly but her body language was stiff. Travis gasps “Oh no he didn’t…” He mutters with a smile and Dante turns to him “Oh I did!” He corrects, Garroth giggling to himself as he chimes in “Were you guys really thinking of participating in this competition with those tacky decorations?”

“Oh no, you guys don’t know what you’ve just done.”  Kc worriedly glances over at the increasingly angry Aphmau

 “Tacky…?” Aphmau whispered. The quiet fury was hot enough that it might as well melt the snow. Katelyn’s fury was more than quiet though “You did NOT just say that! You guys better knock it off before I come down there and make you!”

“Katelyn, don’t be so violent it can’t be your answer to everything… it’s just unfortunate your house can’t match your own beauty.” Travis winked, running a hand through a lock of his white hair. Katelyn flinches at the backhanded compliment “HUH? What kind of insult is… you are so annoying!” she clenches her fists angrily.  Dante chuckles “Man, seriously though that house belongs on an ugly sweater!”

Garroth giggles mischievously “Yeah! It’s like what they’d put in a stocking! For the bad kids- because it’s… like coal!” The other two stayed silent for a moment, as did the girls on the street until Travis broke it “Garroth, baby, please let me and Dante make the witty remarks for now.” Garroth frowns and KC chimes in as if she just came up with the best insult in the world “Well your house looks like a dog butt!”

Dante gasps and points back at her “Your FACE looks like a dog butt!”

“No… your face is!”  The pinkette had argued back with a proud smile on her face.

“Okay, you guys, how about we chill the hell out.” Katelyn demanded, now on the ground next to Aphmau who finally burst from her quiet spell “Well one thing you should be told… is that your wreath is the ugliest, most tacky wreath I have ever seen in my life! A kindergartener could have put that together!”

“Hey, that was my grandmas!” Garroth shouts back, taking it quite personally while the other two boys held in their laughter.

“Oh no she didn’t…” Travis whispered again after stifling his giggles.

“Not to mention your house looks like it should be made out of gingerbread!” She added on, Garroth stumbling to come up with a comeback. “Well, YOUR House looks like Rudolph shat on it!”

“Well then at least it will look magical!” She turned her nose up at him, sneering. 

Zane meanwhile, with dark circles underneath his eyes walked along the sidewalk with a clipboard in hand. He had begun from the end of the street and looked at each house. Brendan had set up a cute little Santa sleigh display with his reindeer in flashing lights. Cute display, and I like it. 75/100 

Laurance had built a snowman and there was a very simple wreath hanging on the door that looked like it was made from actual greenery and tied with a red bow. Zane marked ‘ disqualified, no lights’ on his board and continued.

“Hey look! Zane is judging the houses! He can decide whose house is truly better!” Dante declared, crossing his arms. Garroth smiles, “My baby brother will have to give me a good score.” He climbs off the ladder, hurrying to drag it back to the garage before Zane got back. Travis hurried to put the finishing touches on the fence.

“Come on girls! Burst into overdrive!” Aphmau shouts, internally very worried that Zane would be harboring resentment towards the whole cat fiasco. The three worked to make everything look as perfect and colorful as possible before Zane got there.

Garroth approached his brother after Travis and Dante ushered him “Zane, my big tall handsome brother- what do you think of our house? I mean it’s not even close to as cool as you!”

“...30/100.” He says exhaustedly, sighing and turning to look over at Aphmau as the trio of men let out cries of anguish behind him. He looks at the mashup of colorful lights and then at Aphmau for a solid moment  “75/100, I guess.” he turns and heads further down the street. “Wait! So does this mean we won?” Aphmau asks, running to catch up to him.
“No. Aaron did. 200/100.”


“What no way how does-” Dante had begun, only to immediately shut his mouth when he saw the whole light show dancing to the beat of a Christmas song. A huge light-up piano and guitar blared to life and underneath Aaron sat on his porch with a smug grin.

“Woah! That’s so cool!” KC squealed, flicking her tail back and forth. 

“If I could marry a house, I would.” Aphmau looks on at it in awe.


…

Zane was tired when he got home,  tossing the clipboard to the side and very much thankful that it was over. He liked being in charge of these things, but it was exhausting. Especially after everything from the day before. The cat, Aphmau being that cat, Apologizing, and Laurance.  There were two main outliers: Aphmau turned into a cat and Laurance gave him some sort of weird vision or hallucination.

He kicks off his shoes and leans back over to pick up his clipboard that he really shouldn’t have thrown on the floor. His hand grazes the metal clip and he feels his fingers burn . The clipboard morphs into a beautiful shining red amulet and a kindly voice whispering “Thank you.” in complete awe. He violently jerks his hand away, stumbling and falling against his coffee table and knocking over the flower vase and he’s left in a state of shock. The image of the amulet disappeared before he could even blink.

He took unremittingly shaky breaths, trying to think of any explanation other than he was going crazy. He clutches at the fabric over his chest, finally standing to his feet “I’m okay.” he whispers “I’m okay, you're okay.” he reassures himself. He considers the lack of sleep he had the night before and considers it. 

Yeah.
That must be it.

Chapter Text

Christmas Party December 15th

Katelyn, Katelyn, and KC have decided to invite you to our Christmas party! Gifts are not required, but you are welcome to give one if you’d like. We’ll be baking sweets and cookies to serve as well as punch and other drinks! Feel free to bring a plus one (Or two!) and we hope to see you there!

- Aphmau

Laurance was surprised, if anything. Not for being invited, he had figured Aphmau would invite him even if no one else wanted him there, since that’s just the kind of person she is. He flipped the poster to look at both sides, The other side was blank, other than a Christmas tree.  He wasn’t sure if he should go or not. Having a small get-together is one thing, but being in a crowded party is certainly another.

He began to crumple it into a ball but stopped midway and attempted to smooth it out.  He’d come so far but lately he had gone back into being some sort of recluse. 

Avoiding anyone coming his direction, such as refusing an invitation to go to the mall with KC and Aphmau because he was totally going out to buy groceries then when he went to actually get groceries, he saw Nicole and Katelyn talking, and he had abandoned his cart and run away.

He wasn’t sure why exactly he had started doing this way, he just knew it had something to do with Zane and the freaky shadow-knight panic attack thing he had. Maybe the fact Christmas was ever approaching and he hadn't spent Christmas with anyone for a long time.

He knew it was ridiculous, and he felt ridiculous at each fumbled excuse that came from his mouth but maybe it was just about time to show up- he did have all those presents after all.



…

“Katelyn you are going to be a generous host! You can’t just change your mind on this party after we’ve already sent out all the invitations.” Aphmau had demanded with her hands on her hips. Katelyn was groaning, her head leaning against the counter “But my social battery Aphmau, it’s draining away as I even speak to you.”

KC perks up. “Then what about me? Come on, it’ll be so fun to see the mistletoe traps in action!” She grins, tail swishing back and forth. Katelyn grimaces before letting out a groan and a sigh, “YOU are even more draining,” she points out, hiding her face from the two.

“What about all the food that KC made? Wouldn’t you enjoy eating that, at least?”


“Sure- if it was more than just cupcakes and cookies! It’s always just cupcakes and cookies- cupcakes and cookies ! I like an actual meal to go with my desserts, Aphmau.” She turns her nose up at the idea of eating nothing but sweets. KC gasps loudly, placing a hand to her chest as her ears pin back against her head. “My food is delicious! You can even survive on it! Your tastes are unrefined!” she points with a clawed finger. 

“ My tastes are unrefined? What about your taste in Reese?!” She points out, “You literally have had maybe two conversations with him and you invite him into your house!! Then, when he’s scared enough to pass out by even more strangers, you let them all inside!!”

“Those cosplay guys kept chasing him in!! They ran when I mentioned 911, but…” She shook her head,  deciding to defend her crush, “Reese is the most refined man I have ever met!!”  She defended, clenching her fists and waving them at her sides. Katelyn sighs heavily, “You are CRAZY! Name one thing- One thing you know about him!”

“He’s HOT!” She whines, turning away from her, and Katelyn lets out a groan. “Come on ! Something other than his appearance!” She crosses her arms, and KC pauses. “He… was super kind to me… No guy is ever that kind of nice to me at first- especially after hearing me speak.” She whines, now more hurt than angry. Aphmau, after seeing the two’s faces, sighs heavily, “Alright, guys, please, that is enough! Katelyn, it’s unfair to both of us and to everyone we already invited to cancel the party on the day of just because your social battery is low.”

Aphmau clasps her hands together, turning to Kc.

“KC, Katelyn is just… concerned for you and has difficulties showing it. I don’t exactly know anything about Reese either, and it scares me a bit that you so eagerly want to date him.” She looks between the two. “Katelyn, you can hide away in your room or whatever you wan,t but you agreed to the party weeks ago.”

Katelyn sighed heavily and even dragged it out.  “I’m sorry, but I still don’t want to.” she mutters quietly. “ KC, I don’t trust Reese or anything about his perfect little facade .” She squirmed in her spot. “I just feel like he’ll break your heart.”

KC whined, the quietest of mewls at the back of her throat, “He won’t break my heart, Katelyn…”  Katelyn groaned in frustration, tugging at the hair strands framing her face. “You don’t know that!” She shouted through grinding teeth.

Aphmau’s eyes shot back and forth between the two, then she suddenly perked up, “Katelyn!” Katelyn turned to her with crossed arms and raised brows.

 “Nicole and Cadenza both said they'd come.” Aphmau’s lips turned into a well-pleased smile as her friend's face absolutely lit up at the mention of her two friends.

“ Okay , I’ll suck it up,” Katelyn mutters, arms falling to her sides.  “Doesn’t mean I’m coming out of my room, though.” She squeaks out a surprised sound when KC wraps her arms around Katelyn. “Thank you so so much!” She cheers, bouncing on her heels. 

“Too much!” Katelyn complains, hugging the girl anyway.

Aphmau sighs, running her hands through her hair. “That could have gone a number of ways.”

Zane had walked out to check his mail like he had done every morning, only to pause when he saw Aphmau hand delivering a party invitation to a somewhat confused Laurence standing on the icy sidewalk. He furrows his brows. He had heard about the party, and yet he had not been invited?

He knew things between him and Aphmau were quite strange after the whole cat inciden,t but he thought that they may have been on their way to be something similar to friends. He huffs a bit, perhaps… he could wait a couple of hours more? Maybe she’d give him one eventually, but then again…

Zane shook his head, heading back inside and completely forgetting to get his mail. “I’ll just wait.” He reassured himself.

He tried his best to bide his time, doing every meaningless chore and cleaning every last dish, but no knock on his door ever came. 

The sun had se,t and Zane realized he really hadn’t been invited. He knew he wasn’t entirely pleasant to be around, but he thought they’d at least invite him to a party; he had known most of them since high school, so wouldn’t it make sense? Garroth even usually would try to pester him to go.

But he hadn’t. No one had. Aphmau had been giving out these invitations for a while now, so what was the reason?

“Oh well,” he reassured himself, “I have enough of my own problems to be around crazed partying and Garroth smothering me for an hour.” he adjusted his mask further up his nose.

‘Maybe you should do something about that.’

Zane jerked his head towards the voice.

–

Aphmau looked at the clock taking a deep breath “...we have around 15 minutes until the expected party start time!” she announces, KC putting out the last of the refreshments in preparation “Ooh! I gotta put my party outfit on to impress Reese!”  and at that Aphmau sours a bit “Girl, you don’t need to dress differently to impress a guy.”

The Mief’wa looked over at her in a bit of disbelief. “It’s THE guy! My potential future husband , Aphmau.” She spoke with such surprising seriousness, then ran up the stairs in a hurry. Aphmau sighed,“Husband?” She muttered.  As much as she loved her friend, she became insufferable whenever she fixated on her current crush.

She prayed that she’d stop this boy's crazy streak soon because Aphmau was about to start tearing her hair out at every eardrum-bursting squeal.

Briiiing! 

Oh, it’s the doorbell! “Eek! The first party guests!” Her train of thought derailed completely, running over to the door and opening it. “Oh…Ava! And… friends wow-“

Ava smiles awkwardly “Hi uh, I wasn’t actually going to come but- they insisted then they insisted I bring two of them along and I was forced to choose them… so I brought Rhyse and Noi- yay…(seriously Lorelai why did you have to push so hard.)” Her entire demeanor was awkward and stilted, like she didn’t talk with others much and very much like this was the last place she wanted to be.

“…they took a vow of silence.” She shifted her eyes awkwardly. “You guys may speak, uh, now.” She gestured to them and twirled her wrist. The blonde-haired one was the first to speak. “Hello! Wow,  you and Lady Ava look alike, are you sisters?” he gasps. “Of course no,t Noi.” The more composed man in blue brought up, adjusting his glasses, “Let’s be proper guests now, lovely to meet you, Aphmau.”

“Um, yes. Lovely to meet you…? Come in, please! (Wo,w they are hot- wait, now I’m doing this too?!)” She coughs nervously, stepping aside as the three walk inside, and just as that happens, Michi is found standing at the front door. “I would knoc,k but it’s already open, Hey Aphmau!!!.”

“Oh hey yyy, Michi….(I don’t remember inviting you, wait I’m still doing this? Stupid parentheses!)” She stepped aside, sighing- How on earth did Michi even get an invitation? She watched as Michi waltzed in and grimaced. She prayed to Irene that no more unpleasant guests would arrive.

…

Zane ground his teeth as Michi was let into Aphmau’s house. Michi. As he watched from afar, he got increasingly upset with each guest who didn’t know, or someone who disliked him, entered the house. The Christmas music playing from the house being annoyingly loud didn’t help much either.

Why don’t you do something about it? 

The voice in the back of his mind echoed his own, it was deeper with more malice but it was his “What would I do?”

“Make them regret it.” The voice got stronger, more tangible even. 

Zane found himself hesitantly asking, “How?” 

For a beat, there was nothing but the distant sounds of a party, and the sound of snow crunching as Zane looked for the source. 

“Perhaps we can figure it out together, I am you after all.” 

 Zane’s breath caught in his throat, and the voice that had been clouded in mystery and felt so distant became that much clearer when it spoke again.

“Albeit, a much better ‘you.’ ” 

Chapter Text

“Albeit, a much better ‘you.’”

 Zane’s entire body froze up, the voice was so clear as if spoken directly to him “What do you…” he started, interrupting himself with a wince and covering his ears which did nothing to stop the oncoming imagery.

Visions of a white room, with Garroth at his mercy. He clearly had the upper hand when they clashed swords. He was upset, clearly and he seemed to be accepting his inevitable demise.

Zane pushed his legs to step forward, his legs almost spasming with every forced step.

Garroth glared at him, eyes fierce with anger “You are an absolute monster! You… you killed all of those people!” He swung his sword in a wide arc, warning him not to take another step forward “You aren’t my brother.”

Nothing but pure hatred in his eyes.

“Garroth…” He trailed off as the voice continued going, raising a hand to his head and cringing as waves of pain rushed through him. “ Don’t you want revenge?” Zane did want revenge.

but he didn’t want to kill Garroth or anyone for that matter. “Not whatever, that is! That’s not my- not my life…”

Zane remembers Garroth showering him with hugs at his graduation, laughing about how proud he was even when Zane didn’t believe him for a second.

He could hear his other self groaning “What of the others? Maybe you wouldn’t want to hurt our- Your dumb brother, but what about Aphmau? She wants nothing but to mock you.”

Aphmau was dressed in armor, crying her eyes out with clenched fists “You… you are a monster! How could you be so cruel?” She took a deep breath “I know you’ll rot in the nether, Zane.”

Zane growls, shaking his head “That’s not my life! Why would I even care what she thinks of me? I am… I am me.”

“ Zane, look, I know you’re edgy or whatever but I don’t think you should join the shadow-knight. They are trouble, you’re not as bad as them.” She warned softly, and Zane ignored her.

“What of Laurance? He’s done nothing but treat you unfairly- The one thing I can say though is that he made it very possible for me to talk to you.”

Zane clenched his eyes shut as memories of himself fighting Laurance came to the forefront of his mind. He ran his hands through his hair and gripped it, trying to deal with the memories passing by at the speed of light.

A hand grabbed him by the neck and lifting him up, derisive laughter coming from his mouth. Laurence’s armored grip squeezed tightly before slamming him into the ground, demanding to know… demanding to know something. Aphmau’s voice called for Laurance but Laurance was clearly not listening.

Nothing but pure rage and hate in his eyes. 

Zane mentally pushed the memories away, falling to his knees and clasping at his ears desperately. Eyes tightly shut, he couldn’t think of Laurance being so hateful. Maybe he was rude- maybe he was… he was hurt by something in the past but he’d never kill him. Zane related to him, Zane didn’t know how or why but something in him felt that he and Laurance were the same.

The memory changed.

Laurance looked sullen with a cut on his forehead and circles under his eyes so dark it looked as if he had makeup on. He looked mildly annoyed at Zane, his busted lip was healed over but it seemed he still held some resentment.

Then he saw himself bandaging the other's head, the other was asleep. That was the softest he’d ever seen his face look, with no furrowed brows or smirk to be found. Just gently closed eyes and lips resting in a small frown.

Zane wondered why Laurance always looked so angry, but he couldn’t think of what he had done to make him… so aversed to his presence. Then the other woke up, surprised and with a set of red eyes but he didn’t look angry in hindsight. Just scared, like he had forgotten he was there or that he was getting attacked.

Nothing that showed pure hate, unlike his first encounters that seemed more bitter. Laurance didn’t hate him though. Zane, no matter what, for some reason couldn’t force himself to hate Laurance. He slowly moved his hands down from his ears and finally, it was silent. The voice had stopped speaking and no forced memories of times past were in his head.


“I will take care of this, my own way.” 

Y̶̠̐o̴̮͆̕͜u̴͔͝͝’̷̢̥͐̓ļ̸͙̌͒l̴̞͚͛͗ ̴̭̓̈́l̷̩̣̔̾e̴̳̰̍̑á̴̲r̵̝͘n̸̺̣͂̀ ̴̙̒e̷̮̽v̶̩͒̔e̶̗̹̊͘ň̵̯̙ț̸͊̄ŭ̵̧̜ä̶̭́͒ľ̴̪͝l̴͔͚̒ẙ̵͎́…̶̘̌̓ ̶̟̟̓.̴̨̲̅.̴̮̕

.

..

…

Laurance put on his sweater over his tanktop, nervously flattening it out and adjusting the end of it until he was convinced he looked nice enough to go out “Alright, good.” He mutters.

After way too much deliberation, he decided it would be for the best if he went to the party (and that he would wait on giving gifts.) He grabs his scarf hanging off his hat rack and tucks it securely around his neck.

It was secure and his neck was pretty warm, he felt it might be a bit too much to get so warmly dressed just to walk across the street but the fact he looked good in scarves, especially when he takes them off, helped his decision.(hey! There’s a little bit of ego left in him.)

He steps outside into the gold, taking a deep breath just as he hears Zane’s door slam shut. He looks over a bit curiously but decides that isn’t something he needs to deal with today- too many hideously mixed emotions that made him want to puke.

He sighs, heading further towards the house booming with Christmas music that he was gonna beg Aphmau to turn down when he got in there. He knocks against the door once, and then again. Nothing yet, he knocks once more.

KC is the one to open the door, perky as ever “Hello~! Come in! Sorry for making you wait so long- it’s hard navigating when there’s such a crowd we can barely hear over anything.”  Her ears flick outward a bit, and her face was nothing but smiles and excitement “I’m glad you came! We were all wondering when you’d arrive!”

Travis peaks his head from behind KC “Lauranceeee, babyyy! It’s good to see you here- thought you’d never arrive.” He winks, giving him a wave “Garroth and Dante ditched me to pull some stupid prank and I’m all by my bro-some…” he sighs dramatically as KC’s nose twists up “That sounded stupid.”

“It’s a legitimate word, Kc! Real.”

Laurance was happy to see him too but…. “What on earth is ‘Bro-some’?” He uses his fingers to quote it. Travis sighs “IT’s fine- it’s fine! Dante and I use that all the time, not everyone needs to get it!” he groans, turning around and retreating further into the house. Laurance snorts, there goes Travis, he supposes.
KC looks confused, sighing “…Oh well- im going to go back to waiting for Reese-Senpai.” Laurence grimaced at the girl calling that man that “Please, KC, you’re great- but update your vocabulary.”

“…Oh… Is it annoying?” She asks. Laurance frowns and shakes his head  “No it’s just- I mean it’s not really you is it?” He thinks of the girl in his time, who had stopped speaking in such a way not long after he officially met her. She freezes up in that moment “I…” she nervously picks at her nails for couple seconds, instantly shifting into a different demeanor “I… don’t know what you’re talking about! Let’s go enjoy the party!”

She grabbed him by the arm and dragged him into the main area with everyone looking at them the entire way. Laurance knew exactly what idea they were getting but he didn’t want to push the girl off in fear of hurting her feelings and its not like he didn’t enjoy positive touch, so it wasn’t too bad. So he just awkwardly stood there as she dragged him towards Aphmau “Look who finally made it!” 

she cheers as the Raven-Haired girl turned around with a grin “Laurance! We thought you weren’t going to show up- super glad you did though.” She took a drink of whatever was in her cup and sighed like it was the most delicious thing in the world “We got uh- drinks and food on a table- don’t go too crazy with the… ‘cider’ though.” she giggles a bit, drinking more from the cup and Laurance was so ready to have whatever she was having. “Where’s the cider ?” Aphmau giggles again “Oh my irene, there are so many people you got to meet here-”

Laurance tenses a bit, not really liking the idea of meeting so many new people- knowing Aphmau and KC, they’d definitely force him to meet all of them to ‘expand his friendship circle’.  “Oh yeah! There’s some people even we don’t know!”

Laurance wanted to leave.

He really wanted to leave, now.

What if they were people he knew?

“I think I’ll go home now.” Laurance laughs nervously,  gently unravelling his arm from Kc “I just wanted to stop by, really.” he puts his hands up in false surrender. Kc and Aphmau both pout at him, they look so disappointed. He looks between them “...okay just, for an hour- I’m kinda hungry.” They both light up again “Come on, we’ll show you the food!”

They both linked arms around his and dragged him over to the food table, ontop laid plates upon plates of sweets and a couple boxes of pizza that he assumed was Katelyns idea to balance out the onset of cookies and brownies. Laurance looked over the array and decided to pick out a cookie, which caused Kc to smile wider “I made those!”


“Oh yeah?” He chuckles, Kc had always been a baker hadn’t she? He takes a bite “Mm, okay- I’m going to head for the bathroom.” he gestures, towards the stairs an Aphmau tells him to go ahead by gently nudging him with her hip and letting him go “Kc, is Aaron actually gonna show upppp?”

“Why? Are you crushing on him?” She asks, giggling and Aphmau immediately gags “eww, no he’s like my brother! You did give him an invite though, right?” and Kc nods “Yep! Im not sure he’s actually going to show up though.”  Laurance sighed, grabbing the pitcher of hard cider and pouring it into a red plastic cup.

“He’d better, he’s so socially awkward-” Aphmau sighs, and Laurance swishes the liquid in his cup. KC hums in agreement “He’s like a brother to me too… he was always nice in high school even if abrasive!”  Laurance squeezes the cup, crumpling it slightly as he takes his first sip.

Aaron Lycan. He thinks another person he’d rather avoid. In this universe, it seemed he and Aphmau were nothing but friends, like siblings but way back when they had… something with one another. Laurance was protective, and he had thought he had lost Garroth so he often took it out on the man who seemed to get along too well with his lord too quick.

Then of course, Aaron sacrificed himself to save Garroth and Laurance was thankful. His image though was shared with someone he hated just as much as he hated the Priest, and that made the idea of seeing difficult. Apart of him wanted to thank Aaron for saving Garroth, and the other part was angry for the way he hurt Aphmau and angry for letting Shad take him over.

He had downed the drink before he realized it, his throat burned slightly from downing it so quickly but the buzz was well worth it. He pours another, maybe he could just pass out drunk on a couch as an excuse not to interact with anybody. He reaches for a cookie to eat while he drinks, taking a bite and filling his mouth with sugary goodness.

Kc watched him intently as he bit into the cookie, waiting until she saw him smile before grinning herself and tugging on Aphmau’s sleeve “He does like sweets! Ooooh, I hope Reese likes them too!”  she grins, lightly shaking Aphmau’s arm. Aphmau rolls her eyes, pausing when she hears the distant laughter of what was unmistakably Garroth and Dante “Oh, joy. What are they up too?” She mutters “I’m going to make sure they aren’t causing too much trouble.”

Kc looks over at Laurance and watches him reach for some more cookies, she nearly says something but stops herself when the door rings “Oh! That must be him! That has to be him!” she skips over to the door, opening it “Oh Hello-”

“Why hello dear! It’s been quite a while hasn’t it?” The voice was posh, elegant, and well put together. The girl had ginger hair with hints of gold mixed in, the lightest blue eyes, and the kindest of smiles “Cadenza! I wasn’t expecting you to be here!” She reached over and pulled her in for a hug.

Laurance paled, his lungs constricted and suddenly it was all to hard to breathe and the room was stuffy. His hands became unsteady as the cup filled with his third round of cider spilled onto the floor. He heard footsteps approaching even though the blaring loud Christmas song.

the most wonderful time of the year, my ass.

Laurance could do this.

All he had to do was say hi, he could be normal. 

“Oh, Cadenza! You have to meet Laurance- Wait where did he go?”

Laurance ran up the stairs before Kc could bring Cadenza to him, and he felt absolutely nauseous. He pushes past both Dante and Garroth who look over at him in concern, he apologizes and further pushes past Travis and Brendan. 

He pushes open the Bathroom door open and slams it shut behind him, he leans against the door only for a brief moment before running over to the toilet, gripping the sides and vomiting into it until his throat was sore. His tears mixed with his sweat, his loose hair falling down and sticking to his forehead and cheeks.

He had run.

Laurance Zvhal was a coward.

He let out a soft cry, he tried his best to keep his crying silent. His Sister was long gone that wasn’t her. It hurt, so much but it wasn’t her.

Zane wasn’t the Priest.

Aphmau was no longer his lord.

Cadenza wasn’t his sister and Garroth…


Garroth, no matter how he may look like him, was not his Garroth. They acted completely different, even sounding completely different.

No matter how much he wanted him to be like his love, no matter how much he wished Cadenza was his sister, no matter how much he wished he could go training with Dante or spar with Katelyn… he couldn’t have that. He couldn’t have his friends back and it hurt, it made him wish he had stayed dead when he went to the nether the first time around.

A gentle knocking was heard at the door, Laurance sucked in a deep breath and almost said something but the door was already opening and he saw of all people, Dante standing there “Hey uh- I heard crying and vomiting… and Garroth and I were concerned so I offered…” he pauses when he noticed the state of him.

“Oh man, dude-” he runs over to his side “Sorry I shouldn’t have… are you okay?” he asks, well-meaning but Laurance thought he was very obviously not okay . “Do I look okay? I just literally tossed my cookies out.” he chuckles drly, coughing a bit. Dante frowns “Okay, Let me get Garroth or Aph-”

“No!” he grips the other sleeve, and Dante looks at him with a very confused expression “No?”


“No, I… I just want to go home, parties just aren’t my thing anymore.” he tries, Dante was enough, and he could handle him more than he could the others when at his worst. Dante nods slowly,  looking around for a moment before grabbing a handful of toilet paper and clumsily wiping away the vomit on Laurance’s face. Laurance didn’t like the feeling but he appreciated Dante’s want to help. Dante sighs “You don’t feel like you have a fever or anything… is it just really bad anxiety?

“It’s something like that, Dan.” He mutters softly, he felt so pathetic. He had barely just gotten here, and he was making a scene like this? Dante softens, gently patting the back of his friend.


“Okay, want me to help you home?” and Laurance nods “Yeah.”


…

When Dante and Laurance got downstairs, they were stopped by the loud wail coming from KC, and right behind them in the same archway was Michi and Reese… kissing.  Dante looked disgusted, and Laurance was just… mostly confused “Why are they…?” he mumbled, and Dante sighed pointing up the mistletoe.

Everyone was luckily focused on KC’s crying too much to see them, and Dante hurried to get past them and it seemed the only one who really saw them was Travis who thankfully did nothing but send them a wink “Poor KC.” he sighs dramatically.

Dante and Laurance go past them “That wasn’t there before though was it…?” Laurance asks quietly, Dante huffs “Me, Garroth, and Travis thought it would be funny to shuffle around the mistletoe and see who gets caught underneath it. We thought it would be funny- that and the stickers on Katelyn'sw poster..” he snickered to himself, smiling “she’s going to love that.”

“What stickers?”

“Oh man okay so, me and garroth made these hilarious stickers of zanes face and we…” he breaks up his sentence with giggles, Laurance lifted a brow “You… what?” he asks, lightly bumping his elbow against his side as they left the house through the door “We stuck them on her band poster! Aphmau lectured us but honestly, it was funny enough that it was worth it.”

“Why Zane though?”

“Oh man uh- Katelyn really doesn’t like him and Zane’s kind of a jerk…? He hates me anyway, says my voice is annoying.”

Laurance scoffs “Yeah, I get that… he annoyed me a lot at first too, but he’s not the worst.” he argues a bit, though it wasn’t annoyance he felt at first it was rage, anger.
Dante hums, clicking his tongue “Yeah… I mean he was worse in high school at one point but he’s still a grade-A jerk most of the time- at least to us.”

They made it over to Laurance’s house “Are you gonna be alright? I um… Nicole wanted to spend time with me at the party but if you need me I’m one call or text away!”

Laurance chuckles “Yeah, I’ll be okay- I’ll probably just take a shower and go to bed. Have fun with your date.”

Dante turns red, to Laurance’s amusement “I um- yeah- thanks- sleep well.” he pulls Laurance in for a brief hug “Seriously though, one call.” he reassures. Laurance laughs, hugging him back briefly despite the pain in his chest from doing so “Have fun.”

He watches Dante linger for a moment, before jogging back across the street. Laurance sighs softly, turning to open his door but pausing when he hears some weird banging noises from inside. His eyes narrow, he opens the door slowly and when he gets to his living room he sees…

Zane Ro’Meave in a Santa costume, attempting to shove a tree into a red sack.


“Zane. What the fuck?”

Chapter Text

Zane loved the Grinch as a kid.

He saw himself as the green fuzzy monster, less disgusting, but still a monster. So maybe it stuck with him and after much deliberation, he decided that becoming the grinch would be the best way to enact revenge.
In hindsight, it was a very idiotic idea. Singing the musical number was fun, sure, but nothing is worth the absolute look of disappointment on Laurance’s face and the complete embarrassment he felt, his face growing hot “um. Hello-“ 

“Why are you in my house?!” Laurance is tense, face filled with disbelief. Zane clicks his tongue, kicking his foot out as if he were rolling a pebble underneath his heel “…I’m taking the tree to get the lights fixed?” He offers as an excuse. “Uh-huh. Okay. And the presents?” Laurance crossed his arms, leaning against the door as if to say you aren’t escaping, buddy. Zane clenched his fists, clenching his jaw for a moment as he tried to come up with some sort of excuse “What presents?” 

“Zane.”

“Laurance.”

“What are you doing in my house?” He asks again, this time more irritated than last. Zane takes a deep breath, huffing and harshly dumping the Christmas tree back onto the ground “Your tree has basically no decorations- it’s the most boring tree I’ve ever seen like really-“

“ Zane ,” he interrupted, “last time before I throttle you- why and how are you in my house??”  He stomps his foot, trying to make a point. Zane lets out a frustrated groan “fine. Have you seen The Grinch?”

Silence.

“…Laurance?”

Silence.

“Laurance-“

“Zane,” Laurance stopped him, holding a hand out as he processed. He of course had seen the movie when it first came out, in a drive-in movie theater, in 1968. 

“Please don’t tell me… you’re trying to steal Christmas?” He pinches the bridge of his nose, sighing then brushing his hair out of his face. Zane is silent, watching him before he picks up the tree and sets it up straight “I won’t, then.”

“That’s why you’re dressed as Santa? How many houses have you gotten too?” 

“I haven’t really got the chance to get to any past yours, and to be fair- it sounded better than the other option.” He sounded so casual like any of what he was doing was logical. Like he had made a decision between wearing heeled boots or sneakers to a hike and he regretted wearing heels.

“What was the other option?”

Zane looks around nervously, eyes darting down the hall  then toward a window. Laurance easily caught up, grabbing onto Zane in the blink of an eye “Zane, This is just… uncharacteristically stupid-” he lets go of his sleeve “Even for someone who likes to cause trouble, this is just breaking into people's homes.” 

“I did it because Aphmau never invited me to her party, okay?” 

Laurance was a little mad, but this escalated way too far for Zane’s standards and in comparison to his previous pranks this was childish and half-thought out. Zane was never this level of idiot. So there clearly was something else going on here. Some weird underlying issue made Laurance refrain from calling the cops immediately.  That and he doesn’t really like the idea of someone else solving his issues.

Being a part of the guard himself, he never had to call on anyone else except for his friends. Then in most kingdoms, the guards were after him, so he didn’t quite trust the modern version of guards these days. He’d definitely be in jail in this era, and he’s pretty sure ‘I was taken over by my shadow knight urges!’ wouldn’t fly in court.

“Look, Zane… I am sure she did. Aphmau is too kind to just not invite you. You should have just come to me before it came to this.” he suggested but not without feeling weirdly awkward suggesting it “I mean… if you want too you could have. We’re…” he tenses on the wording, but somehow this strange little emo was kind of one of the few people he could talk too.  “we’re friends.” he admits, strange as it is. Relieved even though he still had the face of one of his greatest enemies. (Irene forbid Gene or the others from showing their faces.) 

Zane’s eyes shot wide-open, mouth slightly agape like Laurance had said the most out-of-pocket thing that he’d ever heard, Like Laurance was an oracle who just delivered a prophecy difficult to understand, like he was staring down at an angel who floated down from heaven, and we could go on but then we’d be here a while. “Zane uh- what’s wrong man? Zane? Hello?” he reached out to poke his shoulder but Zane waved him off, finally coming to his senses.

“Wow I just- I haven’t had someone call me their friend in… years .” He muttered to himself, eyes darting across the ground “I didn’t really think to talk to you, maybe that… made more sense but in my head- it… it felt… dangerous.”

“Dangerous.” Laurance repeated, “Can you reiterate for me?”

“ I said that it felt dangerous. ” it was spoken so quietly, like an admission of guilt. Laurance frowned “Oh. Like… you’re scared of me or something?” he took a couple of steps back, because ‘of course he would be scared of me. Who wouldn’t be after… what he’s seen of me?’   Zane took a couple of steps forward, making the gap Laurance created smaller “No! I mean- No. Nothing like that, I was more scared of-” he interrupted himself like something was caught in his throat.

“If not that then what Zane? Another person?” He tried speaking in a lower voice. “No Laurance it's just- I was scared of myself. There was- I had this- I saw a weird- vision of me hurting both you and.. Garroth and even Aphmau and maybe I can be a jerk sometimes but the idea of hurting you guys like that made me sick! ” he shivered, hugging himself.

“Oh.” Laurance knew that kind of struggle, thanks to his condition his curse . He knew what it was like to battle inner thoughts and severe anger that threatened to take over at any given moment. From Zane though? Especially this Zane, it didn’t make much sense “Zane are you hearing voices?”

Zane’s wince and the silence following that answered it for him “You know, being alone just makes that worse- trust me. Despite me-” Despite Laurance creating his own misery, he knew technically that hanging with his friends would be a lot healthier but the idea of it… of selfishly devoting his time and forcing them to hang out with him made him feel sick to his stomach “...despite everything, we need to spend time with our friends. And I heard somewhere that communication is key.” he swallowed his bile that rose from the hypocrisy.

“Laurance. That might have been a very self-contradictory statement but I think there was some sense in there.” He speaks firmly, smirking and finally standing up straight rather then the hunched-over nervous form he had before “I will simply confront Aphmau myself.” He grins, deflating just a bit “If you’ll come with me, of course.”

Laurance rolled his eyes so hard they might as well pop out of his head, but he agreed anyway because at least Zane was trying to make an effort  “Yeah, that sounds like a much better idea- but right after this we are fixing my tree.”

“Yeah, sorry about that… I mean it's not like it had many decorations on it before- sorry.”

Zane didn’t bother to change from his Santa gear but Laurance had to put his winter gear back on because even if it was just crossing the street it was extremely cold outside, and he didn’t want to deal with it for even a second. He wasn’t insane. 

Zane and Laurance left the home, not bothering to lock it since he trusted the rest of the neighborhood not to break in. Aphmau had a lot less cars in her driveway than there were before, which made Laurance hope that Cadence left really early. He and Zane stopped in their tracks.

Zane took a sharp breath “Okay I know why I might be nervous to speak to her, but why are you?” 

“What me? Nervous? No…” He denied, laughing to try and steer away. Zane wouldn’t let him though, unfortunately “Laurance, you are clearly freezing up at the idea of entering… you seem so calm and collected it’s kind of strange to think of you of being socially awkward.”

Damn it why is he so observant when he wants it least. “No, I just… I have some people I want to avoid in there- and I’m hoping that they left already with the rest of the cars.” he doesn’t know why he’s telling him this, because if he asks who then it would just lead to more trouble and inevitable lying or avoiding… maybe he could just let Zane make his own conclusions?

“Is it Garroth? I figured you two were… really close, at least from his perspective. Then again he acts like one big…teddy bear who becomes friends with anyone immediately. I get if he can be overwhelming but unless you had a fight with him or a crush…” Zane left the implied question in the air but Laurance cringed.

“No. He’s- He’s good-looking I will give him that, but…” He’s not the same. He never will be. “He reminds me too much of an old ex I had. Like it’s uncanny how alike they are, while I like the guy I don’t think I could like like him. If you get what I mean?” he feels the words come out rushed, and not very well-thought-out out but Zane accepts them without a second thought “Ah, yeah I can understand that I suppose.” he coughed awkwardly.

“Maybe we should stop avoiding going in there, and just… go in?” He nudged Zane’s shoulder “Ugh… yeah I know. It’s easier than it sounds.” they both laughed a bit, Zane wiping his hair from his eyes and for a moment Laurance saw the much paler, near-white icy blue color of the eye hidden behind the hair. ‘ His eye is blind here, too? Cyclops must have been a much harsher name to hear…’ “Hey man- I’m sorry for calling you Cyclops when we er- first met.”

“It’s okay, I suppose I should say sorry for calling you little. Though your reaction was quite funny, and I was merely defending myself from your instant aggression.” He teased, walking up the sidewalk to the door. “Oh well- I’m… I swear there’s a- I mean- shit.”
Zane held up a hand between him, gesturing him to stop “Later. I just need to talk to Aphmau now.” he knocked his fist against the door, too softly at first and when Laurance whispered for him to knock louder he ended up banging on the door a bit too hard causing the two to wince. Theres a shuffling, and from behind the door there's shouting and a loud groan followed by “FINE!”

Katelyn opened up the door, looking very grumpy “... didn’t you leave like… an hour ago? And not only are you back you brought this jerk with you.” she gestured to Zane like he was a stain on a couch “He shouldn’t even be invited, but then again Aphmau was in charge of that…” she grumbled to herself “the party is over anyway- those weird strangers Aph invited created a mess and we had to end early because of it.”

“Well um… we’re here to talk to Aph, anyway- if we could come in or you could go get her…?”


“What kind of business do the two of you have wi- you know what? I don’t care. I just want to meditate after this stressful night! Thank god Nicole is here or- just come inside I’ll go get Aph.” she stepped aside, still warily watching Zane’s every move which caused him to squirm a bit uncomfortably. Laurance purposefully stepped between them, temporarily blocking the eye contact “Thank you, Katelyn, sorry for bothering you so late.”

She scoffs, eyeing him down a bit “Uh yeah… okay.” she leaves him behind, running around the stairs to get to the kitchen “Aphmau, Laurance, and Zane are here to see you. For some reason.” 

Aphmau frowns, peeking around the corner in Starshine Glitter pajamas and a clip-on purple streak in her hair, for some reason. Zane seemed like he wanted to say something though until Aphmau spoke up “Oh! Hey Guys! I didn’t think you’d both show up- the party is over now I’m sorry to say- really I am.” she reassured smiling brightly at the two, seemingly having sobered up a lot since she last spoke to Laurance “but I did miss you at the end there, you left without saying goodbye!” she pointed at him, looking a bit flustered.

He held up his hands in surrender “I threw up, too much er- cider. Zane wanted to speak with you anyway, and he just… needed a friend.” Zane looked at him with a bit of surprise but shook it off rather quickly when Aphmau turned to him “What is it?”

“Why… how come you didn’t invite me to your party?”

Aphmau frowns “Zane I did? I sent an invitation personally to your mail, don’t you check it?” Zane’s brows furrow “I was sure that I-” The voice. The voice had interrupted him… no that was… he had plenty of time to do that today but he never had. “I… usually pay my bills online-” he excused “and… I didn’t order anything and I don’t usually get mail so I just… I forgot to check it.”

Laurance’s body sagged “This whole damn thing could have been avoided if you just-” he ran a hand over his face with a tired sigh. Aphmau frowned, seeming sadder “Oh I’m… I’m sorry you thought I wouldn’t invite you… you know- To make sure you know I’ll give you your present! I was gonna wait for tomorrow since some people are sleeping over, but I’ll give both of yours to you now!”

Zane looked stunned, people being kind to him or giving him gifts seemed like a foreign concept to him which made Laurance sad… or would if he didn’t seem a bit out of the loop “Oh I…”

Aphmau gestured them to follow and ran over to the Christmas tree, where quite a bit of gifts were sitting wrapped acutely in colorful wrapping paper topped with pretty bows. Aphmau leaned over, pulling one out from under the tree and handing it over to Laurance “First one I saw.” she commented with a giggle. Laurance took too long just staring at it, so Aphmau ushered “well? Hurry!”  He nods, carefully tearing open the wrapping.

Inside was… oh.  It was a snow globe, with a golden dragon in it. While it wasn’t a wyvern like his old friend, it was the same golden color and even had armor wrapped around it. His lip quivered “I um… I love it thank you, Aph.”

“I just thought that you’d like it! I saw it and… I don’t know I just immediately thought of you and I’m sure you liked gold better than silver.” She lets out a couple of giggles and Laurance barks out a laugh “Yeah I do like gold a lot.” he’s partial to bronze, but gold as a color was pretty.   Aphmau looks to Zane “Oh! Yes yes right- okay give me one second.”

“Uh okay.” Zane shifted uncomfortably “...this better not be a prank…” He muttered, Laurance just let out a peeved huff. Aphmau reached into the middle of the pile towards the pack and pulled out a present wrapped in two different types of wrapping paper, the last gift wrapped. “I wasn’t sure what to get you exactly because- well… I just hope you like it because… yeah.”
Zane gently took it, rubbing his thumb over the label that had his name “Really… for me?”

“Mhm! I hope you like it.”

“Zane just open it.” He encouraged.

Zane ripped it open, pausing when he saw what it was. A beautiful black sweater, with a pattern very similar to the blanket he gave that one cat “...That’s a pretty sweater.” he noted. Zane nodded “Oh it’s… it’s really nice, soft too-” he slipped off his Santa jacket, which revealed he was wearing a simple black shirt with… a cupcake on the front. Still, he’s pretty sure that’s the first time he’s seen Zane’s upper arms like.. Ever. Zane slipped on the sweater “It’s just like the scarf you gave me.”

“...pardon?”

“Yeah from when I was a cat because that’s when you were nice to me for the… well the first time in a very long time.” she smiled softly at him and he slouched “Thank you I… this means so much to me.”

Laurance coughed into his hand “Excuse me- did you just say you were a cat?”

“Not now Laur, we’re having a moment.” Aphmau excused him, waving him off and Laurance conceded for the moment because holy shit he may have ranted about his problems to Aphmau while she was a cat somehow but Zane is making important progress at the moment.   “So… with this all said, I was going to have another part tomorrow with fewer people, just friends from the neighborhood and Nicole since she stayed the night.”

“So the both of you should come, and just have some fun- it's starting at 3 and we’ll be opening gifts and all of that.”

Zane nodded “Yeah. If I created such a big fuss over not being invited and denied coming tomorrow… I think the hypocrisy would kill me more than the social situation.” he looked over at Laurance “and the overbearing tenacity of my brother.”

“I’ll… go too, I got gifts for everyone. I just bought them a while ago so I might need to… make sure they are all in order first.”


Zane looked a bit guilty at that but said nothing.

Aphmau nodded, yawning a bit as she did so “Sorry guys, I gotta go leave cookies out for Santa… and sleep after that, make sure we’re ready to host Christmas tomorrow.” she looked over at the two “Can I… give you guys hugs?”

Laurance smiled so sweetly at her kindness “Oh I… yeah sure you can hug me.” it’s been forever and he might be a bit tense, but he wrapped her arms around her and squeezed tightly. It’s such a nice hug, and guilt tears its way to its stomach it’s only because you're a liar. He pushes it away, allowing himself to enjoy the moment for a bit longer before letting go. 

Zane hesitates but steps forward and hugs her. He’s tense and awkward but he smiles after a couple of seconds “I’ll make sure to show up tomorrow.” he coughs, regaining a sense of composure when Aphmau lets go.

After saying proper goodbyes, the two left.

“See you at the party Zane.” he waved, and Zane nodded “Yeah… I um- yeah bye.”

Zane was so much more awkward when he was happy, or by himself… or maybe he was just that way around Laurance for some reason. Then again he didn’t always get that way, just as of late. “Yeah bye…” Laurance whispered, but as soon as Zane entered his house he cursed to himself


“Now I need to get Zane a gift.” He muttered,  running into his house. He didn’t buy anything extra at the mall… but he did get that one little bonus item from June at her kiosk.  It was a strange Chaos figure, like a custom-painted one but surely it was cool enough for Zane? He could throw it one of his little knitted creations… or he could stay up all night knitting a beanie. He grimaced at the thought.

Eventually, he settled on knitting a pair of socks with his leftover blue and gray yarn. He had started on a sock one day so that cut his time by a quarter at least, made one of the socks look a little messy but at least he was putting effort in. He didn’t have very much yarn in the first place. He bought a variety pack of those Christmas bags so he could just stuff them into there… and voila! Last-minute Christmas gift done at 3 am.

Laurance quickly went to sleep after that, he’s pulled off sleepless nights before but he’d prefer if he didn’t have to do so. 

The next day, the morning came and went by fairly quickly.

Then the party started. Zane and Laurance were the first ones there, despite them being expected to show up late. The nerves from the both of them made them show up about 30 minutes late, despite that KC and Aphmau welcomed them with open arms, and even Katelyn flashed them a smile and wished them a merry Christmas as a greeting.

The second to arrive was the trio of boys; Garroth, Travis, and Dante. Dante had run up next to Laurance as soon as he saw him and asked how he was doing. Laurance gave him a nod and a smile “Yeah, thanks for like everything man.”

Brendan arrived next, with a red-head named Kiki. Another person to throw Laurance out of the loop, but at this point, he was used to seeing old friends becoming new people. He pretended to see her for the first time and introduced himself, and Kiki was pretty much exactly the same just with a softer accent than she once had.

Then Cadenza walked in. Nicole was right next to her, and they both were carrying trays of store-bought goodies “Enforcements have arrived!” Cadenza shouted with a smile, Nicole throwing in a “Yay!” right afterward. Laurance felt dizzy, the room spinning “H-Hello.” he spoke, determined not to ruin another day for himself. Cadenza looked over him “Oh… you were at the party yesterday, weren’t you dear?”

Laurance nods, shakily taking the cupcakes from her and Nicole at the table “My name is Laurance.” he introduced, holding out a slightly sweaty palm. She took it, seeming a bit taken aback by the name but she didn’t say anything of it “It's quite nice to meet you. Sorry, we missed each other. “Yeah. of course.”

Laurance let out a deep breath, he did it.

The party continued onward. The gifts were next,  Garroth let out an excited yell when he saw the knight snowglobe he got, immediately going in for a hug “Thank you buddy!” he cried out, and Laurance hugged him back slowly. The feeling was awkward, and he had to keep himself from crying at the idea his Garroth never showed so much excitement but his reserved and patient nature was just… he missed him. He loved this Garroth too… just maybe differently than he used to. It’s not him. It's not him. 

Aphmau was excited over the cute headbands she got, and Katelyn liked hers as well. KC was another person who immediately went into hugging him, Travis ruffled his hair and Dante gave him the biggest smile he’d ever seen him have. Nicole went “Aww…”
It got to Zane, and he seemed shocked to even be given anything. When he picked out the Chaos figure, he shook but he kept his emotions on his face so well controlled it was hard to tell what he was feeling (it was excitement.)

It earned Laurance an appreciative brief hand-squeeze, which he smiled at him for. Zane handed him and Aphmau both Christmas cards. Laurance didn’t miss the hurt on Garroth's face at the gesture.  They were oddly sweet cards, and Laurance just knew he was gonna pin it to his wall after this.

Garroth got him a bandana to put in his hair, Dante got him a cologne with a dating advice note attached to it, Katelyn gave him a 10$ gift card which he appreciated, and Travis got him a ‘blu-ray’(whatever that was) of Tokyo Princess love~love Cookie mew~Mew School Girl special movie. He would ask Garroth later what that meant, Nicole and Cadenza apologized for not getting him anything but he was fine with not having anything.

Christmas music played and the party went on. Zane sat by a doorway, shying away from the festivities.  Laurance walked up to him, with an extra glass of eggnog (Aphmau banned Alcoholic Cider from this party.) He wordlessly handed it to him. Zane took it, lowering his mask to drink from it.  Laurance watched him for a moment, only turning to look and see Aphmau pointing upward.

Laurance looked and saw the mistletoe “Ah shit- hey Zane-?”


“What?” he asked, pulling up his mask and looking up when Laurance gestured him to do so “Oh… uh… we don’t actually have to follow the rules… you know that right? It’s all just um… superstition, and social pressures-” he was mumbling and Laurance was just gonna ignore the mistletoe, but he figured why not! It’s Christmas!  

He grabbed Zane by his chin, and pulled him closer to deliver a kiss to his cheekbone “There.” Zane stopped speaking altogether, repeating the beginning of a word like a broken record for a hot second. His face was bright red by the time he covered his cheek with his hand “You didn’t… you… uh… Merry Christmas Laurance.”

Aphmau smiles at the two “See! It’s not that hard to follow up guys! You and Travis should have just kissed on the cheek when you were under the mistletoe!” she gestured to Dante and Travis who simply groaned and put out some excuse. Travis eventually began making kissy faces at Dante though.

Laurance laughed on though “...Merry Christmas, Zane.” he repeated back quietly. 

Chapter Text

The snow on MyStreet began to pile up, overnight the snow piled up from 5 inches to four feet. The residents peered out their windows and prepared for the long day ahead of them until the snow settled down.

Dante had an idea on how to pass one day, settling down in the living room that morning and switching the TV on to My Little Horsies .  He didn’t like the idea of watching the show at first but seeing as Zane Ro’Meave of all people was managing to attract both Aphmau AND Laurance? What kind of world was this? He pressed play on episode one, and unfortunately, he got wrapped up in it.

Garroth walked by, pausing when he heard a song coming from the TV that he heard Zane listening to “Isn’t that… oh it’s the horse cartoon that my baby brother watches.” he pointed out, Dante nodded “Yes of course!  Zane got a kiss on the cheek from Laurance of all people! The stiffest person we know! Not to mention Aphmau was acting all cozy with Zane too and she loves that cartoon too…” Garroth couldn’t help but notice the disdain Dante said Zane’s name with.

“I know I’m irresistible, but apparently something about this cartoon is making him irresistible.” he leans in, just as the Royalty horse starts singing something about making dresses. Garroth hums “...Maybe you have a point.” he walks around the couch “Last I knew Laurance and Zane hated each other- now they are… all buddy buddy! Maybe this is why, maybe Laurance likes this show.” he takes one look at the singing horses and sits down with a huff “Okay maybe I’ll watch just one episode and see what this uh whole thing is about!”

He didn’t just sit down for one episode, they watched the rest of the season when Travis finally walked in “Guys that snow is piled so high - uh are you watching My Little Horsies, without me???” 

They both shushed him, trying to pay attention to the show's intricacies. Travis held his hands up in surrender “Fine if you started watching the Horsies without me, then I will just… watch the other episodes some other time.” he joined them, blinking slowly when the ButterShy character started crying “Wait what’s she upset about?”

Dante shrugs “Something about… like… the Chimera yelling at her while Rainboom Flash did nothing but watch.” Travis nodded like he understood what those words meant “riiiiight… I’m making hot chocolate.” he slapped his hands down on the couch and got up. Garroth snorted “Well he lasted a good… 15 seconds.”

Dante snorted “That’s what she said.”

–

Aphmau sat staring out the window, the snowfall had slowed to a stop. This must be the last big storm before the slow start to spring, usually in Phoenix Drop the snow was really heavy and lasted longer than the warmth of summer. Aphmau found herself enjoying pretty much every season though.

Katelyn, however… “I HATE THIS SNOW!” she shouted with a cry “I just want… the beautiful green grass back…did you hear the news Aph? 3 feet of snow! 3!” she began to shake the shoulders of her friend who had to practically pusher her off “Actually it increased to 4 feet before it stopped a couple hours ago.” 

“Aphmau please tell me you are messing with me?”

She shook her head “Oh Aph no… I can’t be stuck inside all day! Nicole isn’t even here to keep me company.” she sat down on the couch next to her. Aphmau shrugs, looking back out at the scenery. Katelyn sighed heavily “...Well at least this will give us a chance to talk.”

“To.. talk? About what Kate?”

Katelyn takes Aphmau’s hands “Okay so I would never judge you for this so please, don’t lie to me.” she lets the pause hang in the air, causing Aphmau to frown a bit “Okay, I understand.” concern lacing her voice. Katelyn nods, before with complete seriousness she asked “Are you, Laurance, and Zane in a polyamorous relationship?”

Aphmau was absolutely flabbergasted, while both the boys were objectively handsome and she cared about them but she definitely was not dating them. “No!” she began to laugh just a bit “I am not in a throuple with Zane and Laurance!”

“Okay then- I get where the whole Laurance friendship came from but… all three of you? You have been acting so cozy with the two of them since Christmas! I’m pretty sure I haven’t even seen you and Zane interact and you two were hugging, and I’m pretty sure I saw you hold his hand-”

“Look I will say right no- No. You know what? think what you want Katelyn I will neither confirm nor deny anything you ask.” she sits straight, grinning smugly. Katelyn let out whine “No no you can’t do this to me! I’m going to be thinking about this all day, Aph-” Aphmau stood up “KC! I have an idea of what to do to kill some time!” The Miefwa bounded from around the corner with a smile, completely talking over Katelyn who was still begging Aphmau to spill the beans “Really? I was just writing fanfiction but I was losing motivation! There’s no inspiration in a quiet house with barely any internet.”

Aphmau nods “Yes, but what if- we have a girl's day! Like a sleepover! We all sleep in the living room and cuddle up while we watch our favorite movies and shows!”

“Aww, that’s quite the excuse to cuddle!” she wraps her arms around Aphmau, nuzzling into her. Aphmau hugs her back “While I love hugging my girls, that’s not the only reason I wanna do this! Ever since we all moved in together, we haven’t been hanging out as much and after work we just go to our rooms or scroll on our phones in the living room- when's the last time we just had some quality bonding time?”

Katelyn sighed “Fine. I’ll get my Once Upon A Time DVD-” She sat up, and the two of them cheered. KC grinned “I haven’t watched that show yet! We can binge it from the beginning.” she bounced in place, tail whipping back and forth as she tugged on her sleeve. “You heard the kitty, Katelyn.”

Katelyn chuckles a bit “Maybe this could be fun.” she admits, leaving the room to find her Once Upon A Time DVD Special set. She liked the show quite a bit.

The rest of the street… they didn’t have other people in the house with them. Laurance cleaned his house about five times, Zane tried to avoid triggering any vision, and Brendan well… he tried putting together a table- again. 

…

The heavy snow finally went down enough for the residents to leave their homes. It was still really cold outside, but at least everyone could freely walk around. 

Garroth and Dante, for example, dressed in their warmest clothes and began walking door to door to Invite everyone to a last-minute party with a couple of friends who were visiting from out of town. 

Laurance, with one look of Garroth’s puppy eyes, let out a sigh and reluctantly agreed to come to the party “Okay but if I come, you better make sure to invite Zane alright? He may not act like it but he likes to be invited to things.” 

Dante sighed, muttering “Seriously, him again?”

Garroth hesitated to say anything for a moment, but after glancing at Dante who stared at him with a questioning look he nodded “Yeah I was gonna invite him because he’s my baby brother, Anyway so it’s not a big deal. No promises he’ll come though. So if you’re going for him then it might not be the party for you.”

Dante interjected “But! Me and Garroth would love for you to come! I’m gonna make some ham, we got some good wine- it’ll be great! We even have a pool table.”

Laurance imagined a table that looked like a swimming pool.

“…I’m not gonna go just for Zane, I mean you’re my friends.” 

Dante frowns “But lately, you haven’t truly been hanging around. Ever since that day at the mall, you’ve been kinda… pulling away, even at the party you only really talked to the emo or Aph.  Even then that was only after the Christmas party.” 

Garroth placed a hand on Dante’s shoulder, voice softening to the point that it gave Laurance major deja vu. “Dante, maybe now isn’t the time to question him? We came here to invite him not to interrogate.” Laurance shivered, but not due to the cold “…look I’ll- I’ll try to reach out more I just, haven’t been great mentally and I’m trying to get a handle on it.”

Dante sighs “Right. Okay. Laurance I’ll… talk to you later, I’m not mad just concerned.” Dante had seen Laurance that night at the party, how sick and hurt he looked. He couldn’t help but worry about the man. 

After they left, Garroth was the first to speak “That’s two in a row that said to invite Zane… so we’d better go invite him in person.”

Dante groaned, kicking at a wayward pile of snow. “He literally hates me! He’s constantly making fun of my voice- He’s just a huge-! “  he bites his tongue “I’ll be amicable because he’s your bro, and probably dating either Aphmau or Laurance…. Or both.” 

Garroth huffs, walking farther ahead “It’ll be fine, they are not dating!” He sped up to the door and knocked. “Wait- Garroth!” Dante jogged behind him just as Zane answered, still dressed in pajamas and looking like he just woke up “What do you want, Garroth?” He asked, having barely slipped his mask on.

“we’re having a New Year’s party tonight, wanna come?” Keeping it simple.

Zane huffs, looking a bit frustrated “Why is it so last minute? I might have liked the extra time to get ready, or even prepare something.” He looked between the two, glaring at Dante for a moment. The man rolled his eyes, crossed his arms, and looked away “Hi to you too.”

“Alright you guys- shh. Emily and Kenmur are in town and we thought it’d be a good way for them to see everyone.” Garroth smiles kindly, trying to reassure his brother it wasn’t a prank of some sort. “Uh huh… okay maybe I’ll come. Are Aphmau and Laurance gonna be there?”

Dante rolls his eyes, elbowing Garroth who began struggling to form a sentence.

“-Hey! I mean. Yes, they both said yes, they are coming too. We even got Aaron to come, that guy hates parties.” Garroth smiles, though now strained. Zane nods “Okay well I guess I can come over, I should as the… neighborhood watch anyway.” 

“You’re still in that?” Dante asked skeptically, and Zane nodded “Yeah, not that it’s any of your business.”  The two entered a staredown with a flabbergasted Garroth in the middle, Dante the first to speak after the moment of tension “What do you mean my business? I live in the neighborhood, don’t I?”

“The lesser part of it.” 

“What!?” Dante gripped his fists “You are the one who is bringing us down! You are nothing but rude to everyone! I don’t even know how Aphmau and Laurance even tolerate  you- do they know about everything you did in high school?”

“Guys…” Garroth raised his hand in between them.

Zane scoffed “What, are you still on about that Dante? I came clean.”

“Well, it was too little, too late!” He turned towards his best friend “Garroth can’t you help me out here?”  The blonde tensed up, looking between his brother and his friend so close he might as well be his brother “Well um.”

He couldn’t find anything to say, he didn’t even know what they were squabbling on about.

“...I hope to see you at the party little brother!” Garroth turned to leave, gripping Dante by his sleeve and tugging him along “Come on Dante, you've been acting c hildish all day.” he whispered, making sure only Dante would hear it. Dante frowned, pushing past Garroth and going back toward his house” Me? Childish?” Garroth grabbed onto his arm before he made it past him “I didn’t mean it like that, you just need to-”

Dante tore his arm from Garroth's grip “I need to get started on cooking the ham or it won’t be ready on time.” and he went across the yard and back inside, leaving Garroth confused. “Dante!”

“what’s his deal-” he turned back to say sorry to Zane but he had already closed his door shut “Right.” he sighed softly and walked back to his house. Maybe after this, they could slow down on the parties because it’s causing all sorts of drama… or mostly just weird Zane-related drama. 

Ah. Well. Garroth wasn’t too bothered. His brother just seemed to be gaining all sorts of attention. Attention from both Aphmau and Laurance. Not that it bothered him, it didn’t bother him at all. No way. Not in the slightest. ‘Does Zane even find interest in guys? Or girls for that matter?’  

Zane dated Michi before back in high school, but there was that one goth guy too…  Maybe he’s bi but- he’d tell me wouldn’t he?’ Garroth had never thought about this that hard before, but if his little brother really was dating Aphmau or Laurance wouldn’t it be a good thing for him to know? Not that it was his business, he just was wondering what was going on with his friends.  Dante too was acting strange, he was always a hothead but he seemed aggravated at even the mention of Zane. Garroth headed back into his house and walked past a concerned-looking Travis and up to the basement where he kept his party feathers(he made sure to grab the nonexplosive ones.)

He didn’t have many purposes for them, but they were always fun to pull out his party tricks (thank you nature documentary.) He grabbed a package of some that were in a box and stuffed it in his jacket “Perfect.” and he needed a fun distraction, and for Laurance to actually look him in the eye for more than 3 seconds, and just maybe the feather dance would work for that. ‘ Not for any other reason.’  

He walked further into the basement where they kept their party decorations and dug around for the star-shaped garland, he found it and spent a good while untangling it before he had it freed of the other rarely used decorations “That oughta look pretty!!” he laughs to himself, bundling it in his arms. He heads back down the basement, slowing down when he sees what’s waiting for him at the bottom of the steps.

“Garroth, did you and Dante fight?” Travis asks with arms crossed like a mother who just caught her son sneaking back in after being gone all night. Garroth rolls his eyes “More like he fought with me.” He tried to walk past Travis but they moved to block his path “You must have made him mad somehow because he’s stirring the ham glaze like it killed his brother.” 

“Okay.”

“Okay? Can’t you tell me what happened?” Travis pried, stepping closer to Garroth in hopes he’d tell him. Garroth took a pause, before begrudgingly answering “he somehow built an even bigger grudge against Zane than I thought and I may have… called him childish- he rushed off before I could really say anything. He also thinks Zane is dating Aphmau or Laurance and I may have gotten a little bit frustrated with him.”

Travis let his shoulders sag, eyes pinched shut for a moment “So what… he acted a bit rude towards Zane and you called him childish? You know he really doesn’t like being treated like a kid, especially everything with…”

“Gene.” Garroth finished, but Dante had insisted it was all in the past not too long ago. Now all a sudden he’s acting like it’s a fresh wound? “I’ll go apologize.”

“Good, and make it before the party starts I don’t want to have to babysit you guys when I should be flirting with Katelyn  but Jeffory is coming over which means that I have steep competition tonight and I CANNOT be caught slacking because my roommates cannot get their acts together.” he spoke pointedly, boring into Garroth until he nodded in agreement “Yeah yeah I’ll do my best to make up with him.”

“Okay! Now if you’ll excuse me I need to wash my hair because my hair is full of stress-sweat and I am NOT HAVING IT!” he turned down the hall towards the bathroom, presumably to take a shower.

Garroth headed down to the first floor and into the kitchen.

Dante was currently violently splashing the glaze of the ham and whacking it with a glazing brush, the counter was a mess covered in sticky sweet glaze. He honestly looked like he was playing whack-a-mole but the only target was a ham, and the hammer was a glazing brush. “Hey, I think it’s already dead.”

Dante hit it harder “What, you want what he’s having?” he glanced at Garroth, who raised his arms up high in mock surrender, dropping the String lights on the floor  “No no, I’m all good keep going at it if you will.” he dramatically bowed down, gesturing back towards the ham. Dante snorted, a good sign that he wasn’t too far into his bad mood “...man I made a mess.” he muttered, finally realizing how much he had spilled “I don’t want to keep going, not because you wanted me to stop but because I felt like it.”

“Okay, I know you were- uh are mad! And I definitely didn’t do anything to help calm the tension. In my defense, though you were way more tense than usual, you usually keep your cool with Zane way better than that.” Dante grabs a serrated knife and begins to cut into the ham “I’m not hearing an apology.” 

“Okay look, I’m sorry for calling you childish. I know that brings up bad memories. However, that doesn’t mean you can act so out of character and not tell me why, I’m allowed to be concerned for you Dante.” He picked up the string lights and put them on top of the island counter “Can you tell me what’s wrong, please?” he absentmindedly began thumbing the wire to the star lights.

Dante cuts down a couple more pieces of ham in silence, Garroth stood by patiently. 

The sound of the knife hitting the cupboard was all that was heard until Dante ran out of ham to slice. He let out a gruff sigh “This coming year… it’s gonna be the tenth.” he set the knife aside, but didn’t turn to meet Garroth's eyes. “Tenth what?”

“The tenth year since Gene went missing.”  Dante breathed it out, barely able to say it. 

“Oh… Dante-” 

“That’s not all, my parents are going to declare him dead. Dead!   We got into a huge fight over it, but as always they just went over my head and treated me like-”  he waved his hands around in frustration “A child! They never even liked Gene, the only escape either of us had from their pressure and… just-  we had each other.”  Dante’s eyes well up.

“Bro, do you want a hug?” Garroth, ever the wordsmith, offered. Dante nodded and Garroth immediately wrapped his arms around Dante in a bear hug “I’m so sorry.” he gave him a squeeze and Dante gave him one back “Thank you.” he let out a soft sigh “Thank you, I feel a lot better now.” he tapped Garroth’s back as a signal to let go, and he did.

“I’m gonna finish decorating for the party, but let’s finish talking another day?” he rested his hands on Dante’s shoulder “And you can impress Nicole with your awesome cooking.”
Dante turned beet red “Whatttt? That was NOT my goal at all- Do you really think she’ll be impressed?”

“Hey they say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach so why can’t the ladies be the same?” he giggled, grabbing the lights from the counter “Wrap it in foil until it's ready!” Garroth suggested on his way out. With a heavy sigh, he grabs a ladder from the broom closet and begins to hang the string lights.

Chapter Text

Laurance stood in the middle of the small crowd of people who were currently occupying Garroth’s house with a drink in hand. The shadow knight had gotten the idea that it would be a much smaller affair but according to the many people in the house, it was not. “What kind of ‘last minute get together’ is this!? How many friends does he have that are willing to come at the last minute?” Laurance wasn’t even noticed coming in, except by KC who very excitedly opened the door for him and then ran off when she saw Reese and Michi acting too close for comfort. 

Laurance looked around for familiar faces, and to his great luck, all of them were familiar. All the people on the street were there. Nicole and Cadenza were deep in conversation with Katelyn reminiscing about prom where Cadenza came to prom with a hand-sewn dress (of course she would have.)  Brendan was trying and failing to flirt with KC, who was just giggling but looking behind him to glance at Reese every once in a while. Aphmau and Aaron were talking about their favorite game. Donna had just entered, with Emmalyn by her side.

Laurance felt a bit of an ache seeing the two of them, they were such a normal part of his life during his time as a guard at Phoenix Drop.  He would stop by the library and say hi to Emmalyn, and when he needed to know something she somehow always read his mind. Donna was always so friendly and kind- especially to Aphmau, she was like a mother to his lord. 

Not that either of them remembered. He frowned, trying not to let that familiar ache take over his already sour mood but it was difficult because of where he was and who he was with.  He heads to the fridge and grabs one of the bottles offered to drink.

“Hey, I haven’t seen you before, are you one of Garroth’s friends?” 

Laurance stopped in his tracks, the ache in his chest growing far heavier in that moment when he recognized the voice. He turned around, and there he was.

Kenmur. 

Kenmur hurt a lot to see, he too was a great friend who died way before his time and they lost Emmalyn soon after as a result of his death.  It was all because of Zane. Not his Zane, but Zane. He had killed him so easily, just as he had done to thousands of others with no remorse at all. 

“Uh. Sorry for… bothering you?” Kenmur mumbled awkwardly, and Laurance shook his head “No! No- No.  I um, you look a lot like someone I know that's all. I’m Garroth’s neighbor, we became good friends so… yeah I am a friend of his. Laurance. My name that’s… that’s it.” Laurance cringed. ‘My days as a suave smooth-talker are officially over.’

“Oh well- My name is Kenmur, it’s nice to meet you…” his line of sight moves to linger on Emmalyn and he lets out a soft sigh “If you’ll excuse me…” he mumbles. Walking away from the undoubtedly awkward interaction, and disappearing upstairs.  

“Don’t mind him darlin’ he’s just a bit lovesick.” Donna , was smiling at him kindly “He’s a real friendly fella, what’s yer name?” She had a deep southern drawl,  one that Laurance found comforting “Laurance, and what about you madam?”

“Well thank ya for askin, my name's Donna and you’d do well to remember it. Are you really a friend of Garroth and Dante?”

“Yeah I am, I’m their neighbor we met when they moved in and we just got along well.”

“Nothin’ like a good neighbor, me and Em actually grew up next to each other. My family were fosters so we were usually pretty crowded’ and her family liked it quiet so we were often opposing each other. Eventually, though we got along great, In high school we got real close- that’s actually where I met Garroth, I was his friend first before I met the rest of these fine folk. Brendan and Emmalyn I’ve known all my life though… oh sorry for dumping all that on ya I never even gave you a chance to speak during any of that.”

Laurance wasn’t bothered in the slightest, he wasn’t sure what he would have said to any of that without seeming like he knew too much. He was used to it anyway, Donna was always a huge talker, and hearing her talk like this he could probably close his eyes and forget the time he was in. If it weren’t for the party music going “Oh no, it doesn’t bother me at all. Hearing people tell their stories and stuff… it's nice.”

“Oh, a reserved fella are we? Well, I might bother ya a bit here but I always ask this with people I’m meeting to break the ice- if I haven’t already- What’s your life story, how’d you find your way here?”

Ah, there it is. Laurance went to scratch at the hairs on the nape of his neck “Well, there’s not much to it.  I grew up in…” What’s Meteli called now? “New Meteli, and I um… I was actually training to be a-” Guard, “-fireman, but after a while I decided to travel and I found Phoenix Drop. It’s become my favorite place to live, and meeting all these people made me decide it’d be worth staying. Now I’m… a freelancer of sorts. I also know a lot of history. ” He hordes antiques from over the years and sells them. 

Donna nods, frowning a little bit “New Meteli huh? So a big-city boy, this town isn’t small by any means but it is not anywhere near Meteli size.” 

“Yeah, it was an adjustment.”  Many decades of adjustment, actually. Donna nods “Your folks must miss you.” 

“No one from New Meteli misses me. No one is there to miss me.”  He didn’t mean to be a downer, but Donna was just so easy to talk to. 

“ Oh. I’m sorry I… I didn’t mean to pry, Laurance. Was just curious is’all.” She mumbled the last bit “Anyways, I’m gonna go talk with KC I haven’t seen her in a hot minute.” 

“Oh well- Bye Donna.” He smiled, and she smiled back “Talk to ya later.”  And she left him to go talk to the meif’wa.   He could stand there the rest of his night and be perfectly content, but knowing his friends they would be upset that he didn’t say hi to any of them. He sighed and resigned himself not to stay in a corner. He spotted Garroth heading up the stairs earlier so up the stairs, he went.

He heard Garroth’s familiar voice practically booming from behind a door. He approached it and lifted his hand to knock, stopping when he heard weird weird… weird words. “Puff out your feathers and do a little dance!” Laurance, with a look of discomfort slowly backed away from the door “Well, Maybe I can… uh… speak to Garroth later.”

She see’s Aphmau heading around the corner, she doesn’t look busy I’ll just talk to her . “Aphm-” he stops when he sees Emmalyn with her. And she is busy. “Okay then,” he mutters, he looks up at the clock…it was 6 minutes until midnight already. He heads down the stairs, stopping only when a purpled-haired meif'wa stops in front of him “Hey! You’re blocking the- Oooh , why hello~” she smiled like she just found a delicious meal, and smelled like she had just drank an entire wine bottle. 

‘ Fuck no. ’

“You know! I have actually seen you around like plenty of timesss, but I’ve never stopped to introduce myself! but now that I’m seeing you so up close I’m just wondering why I haven’t spoken to you already.”  Her voice became flirty, a clawed finger wrapping around a strand of her hair as she leaned a bit too close for comfort. Laurance couldn’t help but grimace “Yeah, I’m not doing this.”

He attempted to go around her, being stopped when she stepped in front of him. Every time he took a step, she mirrored it. Laurance felt his body shaking and he had to take a deep breath to keep from lashing out “Michi, I suggest you leave me alone.”

“Oh but being alone when the clock strikes midnight? Come on…” she purred, sending the gross kind of shivers down his spine that made him want to be literally anywhere but here “Why did they even invite you?” he muttered through cringing teeth. She shrugs “Me and KC are good friends so she invited me over, and I brought Reese but you know Reese just doesn’t treat me right! He wouldn’t even kiss me when we were under the mistletoe or for the midnight kiss!”

Laurance bit his tongue a bit too hard, her voice felt especially grating at the moment. It was too much, along with his increasing frustration “It was a rhetorical question, now if you’ll kindly let me down the-”

“ But can’t they understand? It’s just so rude to leave a girl with no one to kiss! Everyone is going to find a partner and I’ll be left here all alone!” She sighed so loud you could probably hear it downstairs, the dramatics of it all were really starting to get to Laurance “Okay. Not my problem.” He went past her while she leaned against the wall, she unfortunately started to follow him in a hurry “It’s rude to leave a girl behind! I am so subtly offering you the kiss of a lifetime! Come on you’re such a hunk you need-”

She grabbed onto his arm “To kiss me!” she got her toes, leaning up to try and lay one on him. Everything he had been trying to keep from invading his mind took over. 

p̸u̵s̸h̸ ̵h̸e̷r̷ ̵d̸o̷w̶n̵ ̵t̶h̴e̷ ̵s̸t̴a̵i̸r̵s̷

He gripped her wrist so fast she had no chance to move her hand from him, he was deathly still for a moment. Every ounce of his willpower was used to not immediately throw her down the rest of the way.  His other hand squeezed into a fist, his now sharpened nails digging crescent shapes into his palms “Please.” he grit his teeth “Let me go.” his voice had a slight echo to it

She looked up at him with wide eyes, her lips trembling a bit “Your eyes… they changed!” she looked down at the hand gripping her wrist “… what are you?!”

In the corner Emmalyn and Kenmur held hands, the clock behind them struck midnight. The chime of a clock was heard throughout the house, and cheering from downstairs was muffled.

Michi let go and so did Laurance “Don’t tell anyone.” he warned, she nodded shakily and ran off down the stairs but not without whispering “A monster…!”  

Laurance’s muscles all untensed at once, and his breaths became intense and repetitive.

“w̴h̵a̸t̴ ̸a̸r̵e̴ ̴y̸o̴u̷?!”

A m̴̺͐ö̴́͜n̵̫͑s̴͓͂ẗ̶̼́e̶͓̔r̵̘͗... 

He placed a hand over his chest, heart in his chest-beating far too fast for comfort. He twitches in place, forcing himself to stumble to a nearby wall and slide down to the ground. He could hear the blood pounding in his ears.

‘Whatareyouamonsterwhatareyouamonsterwhatareyouamonster-’

“Laurance~kun?” The softer, kinder Mief’wa appeared before him. She kept a reasonable distance from him, he couldn’t even look at her. To anyone else, it might look like he was spacing out but KC understood, at least to a point “Oh no… um… Laurance,” she offered her hand to him in case he ever wanted to take it  “Laurance, I need you to breathe with me- 1…” she took a deep breath, Laurance mimicked her “2, Hold it…”

“3, breathe out.” Laurance reached out to grip her hand, the warmth of it was welcome and more familiar. Grounding. They started repeating the process; Laurance focused on KC's voice, then the ticking of the clock, the murmur of people downstairs. The feeling of her hand, then the hardwood floor beneath him.

It took him a couple of minutes, KC patiently helped him settle down. When he finally felt his heart calm to a suitable pace he spoke up “...Thank you.” 

She nodded, giving his hand one last squeeze before letting go “Don’t even mention it, I have them too. Not as often as I used to, but I have them.”   she sat down next to him “Wanna tell me what happened?” she tucked her legs into herself. “I… Michi came up to me and just-” he choked on his words, ‘ I terrified her. She knows she knows she knows-’
“She was a bit too persistent. Tried to kiss me.” He took a deep breath, he wondered if he should continue but KC gave him an encouraging smile “I won’t tell anyone, I promise.” she reassured. Laurance nods, letting his head rest against the wall “The last person I kissed… died. I’ve had plenty of er- encounters but kissing was always off the table for me. It’s just too much.”

KC nodded “So kissing… it feels like you’re erasing them? Because if- if you're afraid of that you aren’t at all! Your memory of them keeps them alive, not um… holding yourself back. Besides, didn't you kiss Zane at the Christmas party?”

“That was on the cheek, and it’s not… it’s just… it’s hard, moving on is really hard for me. I wish I could but I can’t forget him, I just can’t.” he looked down at his bloody palm, squeezing his hand to let the blood drip down. She placed her palm on top of his “Why don’t we clean you up? It’s not good to let a wound fester like that.”

Zane said something similar once, though that experience was far different. “You and Zane are more alike than you think.” Maybe he was thinking of how kind the two of them were, both have an unexpected calmness to them that just feels so comforting. KC let out a bit of giggles like he just told her a funny joke as she pulled him to his feet.

Zane. Zane hadn’t even come to the party, did he? He wished he did, maybe he or Dante could have helped him out instead. They’d already seen him messed up so what’s one more time?

He glanced at the pink-haired girl in front of him.

 it’s comforting though, To have one more friend that understands.

Chapter Text

“Hey, Laurance!” Garroth greeted, plopping down on his bed. He waited for the other to answer, the phone’s slight crackle making it feel awkward when the other took a little too long to answer “Hey Garroth, sorry I was um- So what’s up?” 

Garroth grinned, kicking his feet just a bit “Well buddy, I know you and Travis have your cartoon night so I was thinking what if I showed you some of my favorite movies or- you know at least like one.” He fiddled with the comforter on his bed. There was shuffling on the other end of the phone “Oh really? I mean- I’m not sure I’d be the best company but maybe it’d be good for me so what time?”

“We could even meet up here right now if you really wanted.” Garroth froze in his spot while feeling slightly embarrassed over his own eagerness before relaxing again. Laurance let out a humming sound “Well… I’ll be over. I just need to get ready first I mean- I’m still tired over New Year's Eve so it’ll be a second.”

“Really but that was last year!”

“It was only 2-” The silence drew out for a moment before Laurance began to laugh, the sound pure music to the blonde’s ears.  “Funny one, Garroth.”  His voice was laced with amusement, a tone you don’t often hear Laurance use.  He giggles again “I know, aren’t I a funny guy? Anyway, I’ll get a movie ready just knock when you're here- or you can just come in I don’t mind.” 

“You’re that comfortable with me just barging into your house?”  He seemed shocked at the prospect. “Um yeah! As long as we’re home anyway, a lot of our friends barge in, not to mention I’ve broken many doors myself so I’d be a hypocrite.”

“Okay well just know I don’t like people barging in, I need to be ready for visitors. But okay, I’ll be there when I’m… there. Yeah.” Laurance sounded so awkward it was endearing.

“Okay Bye then, see you in a bit!”

“Yeah, see you.” he hung up. 

Garroth cheered to himself and headed back down into the living room “Travis, I’m claiming the living room today!” he shouted, gleefully leaning against the couch. Travis craned his head to look towards him “What? No way! Attack On Titan's new season is out! I’m not missing out on any more Levi scenes mkay?” He waved his hand, trying to send him away. “Well Laurance is coming over, and this is the first time in months it’s been for something other than your anime nights or a party- both things he committed to prior or it took a lot of convincing…” 

Travis looks up at him, narrowing his eyes “…Okay, but next time I get the TV for anime night- you don’t get to complain about it. Me and Laurance are only on episode 91 of 325!”

“That magical cat girl show thing has 325 episodes?!”  

“Not nearly as much as all that trash reality TV you watch.” Travis mumbled, Garroth leaned in closer with a glare “What was that Travis?”  For a moment, Travis was intimidated. The voice Garroth used was weirdly commanding but this was Garroth.  “ You heard me .     That isn’t nearly as bad, and I mean not even near One Piece-” Travis prepared to go on a long rant but he couldn’t when the man of the hour showed up.

“What’s One Piece?”

Travis and Garroth turned towards the voice, Laurance stood there with an awkward smile shuffling uncomfortably. “Laurance! Hey buddy!”  The other rushed up to him and crushed him in a hug. The other took a moment to reciprocate, but awkwardly pulled away “Hey, uh- buddy.” Laurance cringed, shoulders stiff.  Travis hopped up from the couch, going over to Laurance  “Heyyyy Laurance.” He winked, pulling him in for a side hug “How’s my man doing?”  Laurance laughed, returning it with a pat “Just great, Trav.”  He pulled away from them both, taking a couple of steps back but a bit more relaxed. “Where’s Dante?” 

“He’s around here somewhere,” Garroth mumbled, maybe once he could get a singular moment alone with his friend he could see why he acted strangely with him. Just get Travis away, and he could finally say something. Talk with him.  “Oh, well I was hoping to say hi…” Laurance pouted.

“Well maybe Travis can go look for him, and we can wait here.” at Garroth’s suggestion Travis rolled his eyes “Me? No no, why don’t you just call him?” he poked Garroth in the chest “You can’t get rid of me like that.” they looked like they were about to butt heads “I was simply asking you for a favor, can’t believe you accuse me of trying to get rid of you.”

“Come on, can’t we just sit down and watch a movie? I thought that’s what I was here for not arguing or whatever it is you’re doing.” 

“We aren’t arguing.” They denied, speaking at the same time.  Laurance raised his hands in surrender, backing away and resigning himself to the couch.  The two were about to start arguing but stopped when they heard the front door open and close. “Guys come here!!” It was Dante, at the front entrance.   The three of them went over to the door where Dante stood proudly “So you- oh hi Laurance- so you guys know how we need the extra cash since our… unfortunate spending?”

Travis mumbled “The pathetic attempt at getting a girlfriend fund?”  

Dante pointed at him “No, and shut up! I got the most brilliant idea-”

“Dante you aren’t going to become a YouTuber, I’m sorry.” Travis pats him on the shoulder “You just don’t have that IT factor, it’s a brutal landscape-“ Dante shrugged him off “What? No! ” He huffs “I was trying to say that-” Garroth sighed dramatically  “Okay buddy I know the feather fund hit us hard but streaming is even harder than yo-“

“I’m not trying to be a- let me finish!” 

Laurance’s nose scrunched up, not understanding either of what they were implying ‘ streaming like… TV?’ He needs to catch up on his lingo. Dante takes a deep breath “I found us a roommate and before you give me any shit he’s not some stranger it’s a friend from high school- he needs a place to live and he’s willing to pay rent.”

Garroth took a deep breath “....and you already said yes?” He pinches the bridge of his nose, Travis just looked bored “Yeah okay, are you gonna tell us who it is?”  Dante nods and opens the door where an excited man practically bursts into the room with wide arms.  “Gar Bro!!”
Garroth gasped, fully embracing the man in a hug “Blaze! It’s been forever, buddy!” Travis tensed up a little bit at the sudden loudness but relaxed when he realized who it was “Heyyyyy big guy, how we doing?”

“I’m doing so good you guys, Dante being my bro and all, heard of my dilemma and offered me your basement!!” He notices Laurance, who is looking at his ears and tail and overall strange appearance “Well who is this guy?” Blaze smiled at him. Laurance grinned “My name’s Laurance, I’m guessing you’re Blaze?”  to the shock of the other three, Laurance didn’t seem shy or awkward at all. No tensing as Blaze takes hold of his hand and shakes it  “You’d be right!

“I’m always right. Were you standing behind the door this whole time?”

“yep!”

“Do you need any help with your stuff?” Laurance offered, looking out on the porch decorated with suitcases and boxes. Blaze looked back “If you’re offering then sure! Be careful some of the boxes are really h-” Laurance leaned over and picked up two boxes with ease, one under each arm “Basement right?”

“Uh… yeah!” Blaze looked around, and back towards Dante “Where is the basement?” Dante grabbed him by the bicep and tugged him along to follow “Come on big guy.”

Garroth and Travis looked at each other before beginning to pick up some boxes themselves, resigned to the fate that Blaze would be living with them from now on. 

“Wait wait- so let me get this straight. G arroth tried to use feathers to do a dance ?”  Blaze asked, not even trying to hold in his laughter. Dante nodded through his giggles “Exotic feathers, we spent way too much on them! He watched a documentary about birds and how they mate and he got the bright idea to spend waaaay too much money and now we are crowded with boxes.”

Travis snickered, “He ordered all kinds, and while I appreciate some glamor, sequin feathers are a bit much for me he even has exploding feathers.”  Laurance sat between Blaze and Garroth “So at the party- I saw Kenmur and you talking was that the advice you gave him?”

Garroth turned a bit red “He refused to take any feathers from me though, just a good luck one.”  he murmured. Laurance and Blaze both laughed, the redhead of the two reaching over Laurance to ruffle Garroth’s hair “No worries Gar-Bro, I’ll gladly take some spare feathers.”
“Blaze,” Garroth reached out and wrapped his arms around him, effectively pinning Laurance against the couch to his mild annoyance.w “You are such a good friend!” he cried out. Laurance placed his hands between the two and pushed them apart “I’m here too.” he spoke.

“Oh so sorry!” Blaze moved his other arm and roughly pulled him into the hug “I know it’s not good to leave a bro out.” Laurance looked at Travis and Dante for help, pleading with his eyes to save him from the bro moment. Garroth barked out a laugh at his well-meaning friends' actions “Blaze I think he meant he didn’t want to be crushed.”
Travis had pulled out his phone to take a picture of the moment. Laurance spoke but it was muffled by Blaze’s arm. Dante leaned over to look at the picture and laughed “We need to show this to Aph.”

Blaze let go, his cuddly nature finally taking a break “Oh sorry! I didn’t realize.”  he released the two, and Laurance gasped for clean air.  “You’re a huggy guy aren’t you?” he asked with a breathy laugh. “I guess so- How is Aphmau anyway?” 

“Aphmau actually lives across from us now.” Travis points out “You wanna go pay her a visit?” 

“Oooh yeah! We all should be just like high school except we all have a new friend!” he gestured to Laurance, and despite his intentions, the former shadow knight still didn’t feel like he quite fit in. Blaze was a nice change of pace though, the redhead was kind and didn’t approach Laurance like he was a wounded animal.  He also wasn’t someone he had ever met in the past, and strangers whom he mutually didn’t know were much easier to deal with. “You consider me a friend already? This relationship might be moving a bit fast for me.” he winks.

Blaze laughs “Hey hey, I can be as slow as you like.”

“Tempting offer.”  Laurance’s smile becomes flirtatious, jokingly so. Blaze’s cheeks dusted with pink “An offer you can’t refuse?” he teased.  Garroth looked absolutely flabbergasted at the two, Travis and Dante both were just mildly shocked. “I always thought that he was way too socially awkward,” Dante mumbled to himself. Travis just laughed “Why won’t you flirt with me like that?” Garroth dramatically rolled his eyes “Oh please, you two are just unflirtable.”

Travis was the first to speak up “Woah woah woah! I am the best flirt out there!  Do you know how many fangirls I have? Not to mention the boys that like me too? In every play I’ve been in. I’m always cast as the male love interest.” He pushes his hair back “I’ve been Romeo five times, not to brag or anything.”

“Oh! AND I volunteer at a local puppy hospital! How could you possibly be any more irresistible than that?” Blaze let out a gasp “A puppy hospital??? I love taking care of puppies! I’ll volunteer too!” his tail began to thump against the couch. “See? Irresistible.” Travis pouted “And I’ll show you but just know I’ll always be the number one charmer.” Blaze nods enthusiastically “Gotcha Flirty-bro.”

Garroth stays quiet for a moment, beginning to pick at his nails before speaking up with a slight grin on his face  “You know who else volunteers at a puppy hospital? And has fangirls?”  Dante lets out an annoyed sigh “Oh Irene.”

Travis's eyes narrow at Garroth “Who?”

“Aaron. He has so many people lining up to flirt with him, I don’t think you could ever get more charming than him.” Garroth leans back casually, acting like he wasn’t just stirring the pot. “Aaron is- well- I can be way more charming!” Travis argued, pressing his hands into the couch. Blaze whistled “I haven’t seen Aaron in a long time- is he really that much of a charmer now?”

“Oh yeah, he uh… has Aphmau completely wrapped around his finger, and even Katelyn thinks he’s super handsome.” He taunts, Travis eyed Garroth “You’re messing with me.” he challenged. Garroth shrugged nonchalantly “Oh I mean I guess you could believe me, but don’t come crying to me when he steals your girl.”

Garroth was baiting Travis, and it was working. Laurance placed his face in his hands “Guys- Are we seriously going to go to Aaron's house? I don’t think-”
“Oh ho ho ho, we are totally going to Aaron's house!” Travis bolted upwards and Blaze went to follow excitedly “Let’s go see Aphmau too!” he suggested. Dante let out a whine “Guys… wait! We can’t just bother him out of nowhere-” He chased after the two.


Laurance sighed softly, standing up but stopped when a hand gently took hold of his wrist “No no, let them go.” he reassured. “…Aren’t you a little worried?” Laurance turned towards him, unable to look away from Garroth’s hand wrapped around his wrist.

Garroth shook his head “Nope, besides we got full reign of the tv now. Movie nighttt!!” He did jazz hands, and then it clicked “You started that whole conversation just to get them to leave ?” It wasn’t something he’d ever seen Garroth do, he’s always delayed conversations or switched topics suddenly but this is the first time he’s seen him straight-up lie . “Yes? Unless you’re mad then uh no.”  He released his grip on him, falling back down on the couch. Laurance shook his head “No I’m not really mad it just took me by surprise.” He sat down, leaving a cushion free between them “Doesn’t seem like you.” 

“It doesn’t? I do this a lot with them, it’s really funny to rile them up.” He giggles “I mean Travis and Dante always get me back so it doesn’t matter too much.” he denied, waving him off.

“Oh.” Laurance looked away “Guess I don’t really know you very well.”  he gripped his fists into the cushions, nails digging into the fabric and even popping a couple of seams. Garroth leaned forward to get a better look at his face but said nothing, the pitiful look on Laurance's face was enough.

Garroth gently rested his hand on top of his, having moved closer to him “Well there’s plenty of time for you to learn more.”

Laurance’s shoulders tensed.  He turned to look at Garroth’s earnest expression, and freckled cheeks and it reminded him exactly of the Garroth he once knew. In that moment he wanted nothing more than to take his face in his hands and kiss him.  He couldn’t, though.

He settled for interlacing his fingers with his, something that flooded his subconscious with doubt You’re just using him. You don’t deserve this. Why should you get to hold his hand? Laurance pushed that away, just this once he’d let himself be selfish.    “What movie did you want to watch?”  Laurance asked and Garroth beamed.   

Chapter Text

Aphmau sat on the floor of her bedroom, her various childhood horsies laid out in between her and Zane. Zane had only brought two Chaos figurines to play with, the one Laurance had given him at Christmas and the one he had bought off KC at the mall. Aphmau had arranged her horsies to look like they were having a tea party. “This looks cute, doesn't it? Maybe we should put Chaos next to Buttershy?”

Zane nods quietly, picking up the normal Chaos figure and setting it down next to the Buttershy toy. “How about this?” Aphmau brought out her phone “It’s like me and you!” she snapped the photo “And Laurance is….” she picked up the Princess Moon figure and set them between the two “This one!”

“Did you assign all your friends to a horsie?” Zane asks with a raised brow, head leaning against his palm. Aphmau nodded with a giggle, gesturing to Pinkie Cake “This one is obviously KC, and Rainbow Flash is Katelyn! Oh oh, Garroth is-” She was about to pick up another one but Travis of all people had walked through the already open door “Hey y- ooooh are you two playing ponies? ” he asked voice on the edge of excitement.

Zane froze up, and Aphmau stood between them “No no we were just.. Uh making out!” she froze up “No I- we weren’t doing that either! I was… showing him… my collection.”

Travis’ brows furrowed “Okay, so either you two were making out or you were playing with horsies… or both- and only two of those would confuse me. I am just gonna go back downstairs anddd pretend I never saw any of this.”

“Also, close your door.” Travis did so for her, and Aphmau let out a heaving sigh. Zane shot her a glare “Did you really tell him we were making out? We do not need those kinds of rumors going around when Garroth and Dante are in the same neighborhood.” he got up from the floor, sitting back on the bed.  Aphmau laughed nervously “It was in a panic! And besides Dante doesn’t even like me, he likes Nicole.”

“Uh huh, and Garroth? That blonde jock is obsessed with you.” he mutters bitterly, Aphmau sighs “I… know. I just-  I haven’t said no to him yet, I just… I pretend to be oblivious but I’m worried about breaking his heart! I just… I mean he hasn’t been that obvious lately.”

Zane huffs “Uh huh, right.”

Aphmau picked at the fabric of her jeans, and looked back up at him “Maybe instead of all this sneaking around… I could help you make friends with the other guys?”  he looked back up at her “Are you sure that would be a good idea Aph? They already have such an aversion towards me, I mean I get it after high school- and Dante… he still blames me over everything from High School.”

“Oh. Well, we can at least try with Travis! I think you two would really get along given the chance! KC also loves My Little Horsies, and Katelyn… she’s like emo in spirit so that’s something!” she stood up, pumping her fists in the air.

“Ugh, fine! I’ll try talking to them, what do I do?”

“Okay first you need to smile, it’s hard for people to want to be friends when you have such an unapproachable look.” she reached for his face, realizing he wore a mask “Maybe it’s all about your body language.” she pulled her hands away, putting one under her chin in a thinking position. “I can’t control that. It’s just how I am,” he argued.

“Well… just try to have an open mind and be kind, let’s go.” she grabbed him by his hand and began to drag him out of her room “Aph-” he resigned himself and let himself be pulled out her door and down the stairs. They turned into the kitchen where KC was currently turning a timer and humming a cutesy-sounding song.  “Kc!” she tried to catch her attention. The Mief’wa turned towards her, some sort of powder covering her apron “Aphmau! And… Zane?” her tail flicked and her eyes narrowed for a moment “Is… there something KC can help you with?”

“I was hoping you would hang out with Zane. I mean at least talk with him for a little while?” She looked at her with pleading eyes. KC looked over at him with a pout  “...He wasn’t very kind to KC in high school.”

His lip curled, brows taut together “Shouldn’t you be past that talking in third person phase?” he spoke bluntly and she let out an irritated growl “ Maybe later .” her teeth were clenched together  “When he can talk to me more kindly.” she jerked her head around, ears twitching with the motion “besides I need to finish my cookies first, maybe after that, we can see if he’s ready for conversation.”

Aphmau turned to him with a huff “Zane, you better apologize later.” she guided him out of the kitchen, trying to stay patient with him.  “Look, Trav is in the living room. Maybe you could try with him and I’ll go talk to Katelyn.” she guided him to sit down on the couch “Wow! An anime! Zane likes anime you two should totalllyyy bond!  Goodbye!”  she was in and out faster than anyone could blink or even process.

Travis and Zane looked at one another “...Have we ever been alone in the same room before?” Travis asked, seeming to genuinely be concerned about this. Zane shrugged “I don’t know… probably not since high school- we were always the last two out of class.”

“Oh right right, you always waited until everyone was gone because you wanted to see those shadow-jerks and I stayed behind because I was so shaky I could barely pack up my pencil case.” he barked out a laugh “Ohhhh man I used to be pathetic, good thing I had Aph and Dante or I never would have made it.” Zane solemnly nodded “I… had emo girls and… boys who crushed on me and Michi because I accidentally gave her a mouse. No real friends though.”

“Michi? That's rough. She will latch on to any cute boy she can find, she’s had an obsession with everyone on this street except Brendan.” he whistled “Guy is dodging a bullet, but who knows what levels she’ll resort too.”

“She only liked me for a week because of material reasons, and I would never do that again. Unless I had a gun pointed at my head.”

“Most people are the same way, she’s too… just eugh.” he shivered." She scares me sometimes, I don’t know why any of us tolerate her.” Travis clicks out of the anime “Do you actually like anime or was Aphmau just saying that?”  Zane nods “I mean, I like certain shows? That’s like asking if I like movies.”

“Fine, what’s your favorite show then?” he leans back against the couch, trying to be casual in the others' company  “Oh well, I think my favorite anime right now is Sailor Moon,” Zane admitted sheepishly. Travis let out a gasp “Shut up! I love Sailor Moon! It’s almost as good as Tokyo Princess love~love Cookie mew~Mew School Girl!!!!”  Zane slowly blinked, trying to process the name of that last one “That… sounds ridiculous.”

“...what? It is NOT ridiculous!!” he defended “It’s the best show ever made and you’ll do your best to respect it!” 

Zane sighed softly “I…” he heard a timer going off in the kitchen but ignored it “I’m going home, I don’t have enough energy for this.” he stood up from the couch and began to walk out of the house, just in time for Aphmau to come down the stairs and catch him leaving. Travis felt bad, he wasn’t truly mad but he didn’t wanna keep Zane from leaving if he wanted to.

“Zane wait-!” Aphmau called out, voice on the edge of panic. 

KC heard the timer from her room only after she had taken her headphones off, she frowned “Katelyn!!”

“What!?” she shouted, clearly wanting to be left alone.

“Did you check on the cookies??” She stood up from her chair, already worried about the answer.  “Uh noo? Check them yourself!”

“But you said you-! Oh no!” she burst out of her room and ran down the stairs into the kitchen. She had begun to smell smoke, crying as she let out a high-pitched scream “Fire!”

The oven was breathing flames that licked up from the edges of the opening and were spreading to the counter “No no no! It’s so hotttt!” she whined, grabbing a wet rag so she could begin uselessly beating it against the flames. Travis walked in “Did someone say hot because I am about to light the room on fire-! kachOOH MY GOD!”

The girl let out a whine “Travis you just made it worse!” The fire spread to the cabinet above it “It’s not my fault my natural hotness would create actual fire I can’t control it!” he grabbed an old cup of coffee from the sink and attempted to douse the fire out with the liquid inside.

Katelyn came down with an angered look “Guys what is all the commotion ab- IRENE! What are you idiots doing? Call 911!” she went to grab her phone but panicked and dropped it on the ground right next to the licking flames “PUT IT OUT! PUT IT OUT!” she screamed like her life absolutely depended on it.

Travis and KC both let out panicked screeches as they frantically searched for ways to put out the fire.


Meanwhile…


“Zane wait!”


“Aphmau I appreciate what you are trying to do but I don’t think friends are for me.” he didn’t look at her, he refused to. “Really?” she put her hand on his shoulder “But we’re friends aren’t we?” she grinned shyly. He flushed red “I mean- you’re different, you… I don’t think anyone else wants to, I ruined my chances.”

“Hey, you can change Zane. I mean you are not at all what people think you are when they give you a chance! You just need to give them that chance to… give you a chance.” Zane grabs her hand from his shoulder and releases it “I think I just need a break from it today, I got to have some time to myself.”

“Oh Zane… If that’s what you want.”

He nods “You’re… a sweetheart, thank you.” he turns around, eyes wide at what he saw  “Oh and um Aphmau?”

“Mhm?”

“Your house is on fire.”

“What!?” she jerked around, hearing the panicked screeches. She slowly brought out her phone in complete shock and dialed 9-1-1, Celestia ran out of the house and parked herself at Aphmau’s feet “We’ll just stay with Aaron or something…” Zane gave her a sympathetic pat on the back before walking away.

Laurance heard knocks at his door and sirens which usually did not mean anything good. He opened his door and found KC on his doorstep all teary-eyed “KC? Whats…” he saw the charred front of her house and soot dusting her shirt “Oh my… what happened?”

She walked inside when he moved away for her “There was a fire in the kitchen, and um… we tried to stop it but it completely destroyed the kitchen and part of the living room. They said it was too dangerous to stay in, and I have nowhere to stay and Brendan has Kiki over and… and the only other option is Garroth and them but they already have four people and…”

“You can stay here until they say it's safe, I don’t have a bed in the guest room but you're completely free to use mine or the couch. I’ll sleep wherever you don’t.” Laurance did not hesitate, the pink-haired girl had already helped him out once, how could he not help her in return?

“Where are Katelyn and Aph staying then?” he asked as she sat down on the couch “Katelyn is going to Nicole's house and Aphmau went to Aarons…” she whined softly, pulling her legs to her chest “It’s gonna cost a lot to repair so I’m going to have to pick up another job and Aphmau too.”

“I can help you with the repairs, I really don’t mind.” He pat her back and she leaned into him “Thank you, Laurance, that means a lot but… KC needs to learn to help herself instead of relying on other people all the time.” he nods, feeling a little awkward about the closeness. He tried relaxing and hugging the girl. “It’ll be okay, you can probably find another job and it might be something you really like, maybe baking? Or modeling, dressing up cute seems to be your thing…”

She jolts upwards “Dressing up cute AND baking! That maid cafe that opened up is looking for positions!” she pressed a friendly kiss to his cheek “Thank you I’ll go there right away!” she bolted out the door with renewed vigor. He placed his hand on his cheek and began to laugh “She’s one of a kind.”

The mief’wa bolted towards Aarons's house, frantically knocking on the door “Aphmau!!” she called out frantically.  Aaron answered the door with Aphmau right behind him “What is it KC?” She tilted her head, and Aaron just looked mildly confused. “There’s that new maid cafe that opened up and they were looking for maids so we both need to go and quick! It’ll be a good job for the both of us!! And with you here they’ll take me more seriously and consider me better!”

She took her friend's hands in her own and gave her friend the best puppy eyes she could before Aphmau could even begin to process her rushed words “I uh- sure?”

“Great!!” She pulled her by her arm and out the door. Aaron gave the smallest of waves “Let me know if there are any butler jobs.” He grinned and Aphmau huffed, waving him goodbye. 

“How many other weird things are gonna happen in my house? First Travis challenging me to flirt with him then this-“

Aphmau had to slow KC down physically by dragging her feet “Waiiit! Aren’t we gonna take the car or are you gonna make us walk the whole way there- and what was that earlier about me making them take you seriously?”

“Um. No one… ever takes me seriously but they take you seriously so thought maybe with you there it would help me look more serious and working there would be a dream job! Also yeah we can take the car I kind of… um forgot.” She smiled shyly, her hair falling in her face.

Aphmau reached out to tuck that hair behind her cheeks “It’s okay, and I’m absolutely glad to help but that won’t do much. People can be very judgmental but for this kind of job, I think your personality and attitude are already built for it.”

Kc practically beamed “You are… an amazing friend, let’s get to the car!”

Laurance brought out his phone and first texted Garroth 

[ Hey, what’s a maid cafe? ]

[ I have no idea, lemme ask Dante. ]

Dante soon texted Laurance, clearly very excited due to the slight misspellings  

[ Laurance I must thankk yoo for this opprtunity, you bettr suit up were going to the maid cafě ]

Ah. So it wasn’t a question, it was a ‘ we’re going and that’s that.’ Type of deal. He looked at his pajama clothes and decided that wouldn’t be a great thing to wear to a public outing. He sighed,  begrudgingly getting dressed for the day.

He picked out his green sweatshirt and blue jeans, if Garroth was going maybe he should wear blue… Laurance shook his head, he could NOT start thinking like that. He’s never dressed for another person, he’s always dressed for himself- well maybe a long time ago when he had feelings for his lord but there wasn’t very varied clothing back then.  He throws his shirt off and shoves on his green sweater.

Wait, Laurance doesn’t even own any blue sweaters! Idiot.   By the time he shoved his jeans and black boots on he already had someone knocking on his door.  He grabbed his side bag and opened it up “Hey man you ready?”

The entire group of guys- minus Aaron, Zane,  and Brendan- were currently standing outside his house all dressed pretty nicely. Garroth especially stood out to him in his complimentary blue bomber jacket and black shirt, his hair was combed neatly but it wasn’t flat on his head. He stared at him a bit too long, so he took in everyone else's appearance “You guys…all look nice. I didn’t have much time to get ready.”

“Dude you could avoid self-care for weeks and still be handsome chill out and we’re taking Blaze’s stupid minivan so we can all fit, come on.” Dante grabbed his hand and pulled him forward. Laurance pulled away with ease “Let me lock my door! For Irene's sake-” he fished his keys from his pocket and locked the door “Okay NOW you can drag me away.” Dante quickly snatched his hand and started pulling him along.

Laurance got stuck in the back seat between Garroth and Travis while Dante and Blaze sat at the front, Blaze reached for the radio and turned it on. Dante gasped when he heard the beginning instrumentals to a certain song “Oh oh oh!” He began to sing immediately “But tonight i’m letting it goooo-”

“Spend my coin for sure-” Blaze sang the next line with a laugh before beginning to drive off.
Laurance leaned up to look at the song’s title on the radio Faster Car?   He looked at Dante who was singing it loudly, Garroth and Travis who began to join it, and Blaze quietly humming and focusing on the road. Laurance found himself nodding along, the song had a subtle nice beat to it in the car surrounded by his friends singing this song so loudly it soon became a song he wouldn’t forget.

 Laurance laughed, smiling even more when Blaze let all the windows down and the wind started to blow on their hair. He shut his eyes and felt the moment, even with Garroth and Travis pinning him between them he felt comfortable.

The songs changed a couple of times but the energy faded away as they maid it (hah) to the Maid Cafe. Dante exited the car right as Blaze put it into park “Woo! Maids maids maids-”
The group huddled into the somewhat smaller cafe. At the entrance they saw KC dressed in a dark pink maid costume, she seemed very excited “Laurance hi! I got a trial run!” she ran over to him, pumping her fists “I’ll make sure to get this job.”

Laurance’s face softened, and he reached out and ruffled her hair “Good job, make sure you can keep it.” The outfit was somewhat ridiculous but it was cute and reminded him of what she was wearing when he first met her before she started wearing more traditional things. He squinted his eyes, the maids here were all so tall…


You know what a Maid Cafe is!! KC used to own so many before she was forced to close up shop. The vague memory of Laurance standing out of the boarded-up shop was there but so incredibly distant, before the mief’wa had opened up her own little tavern without her maids.  KC grabbed his hand from her head “Are you okay? You seem… um, distant.”

He nods “Yeah, you gonna show us to a table or what?”

She nods, hurrying the group over to a bigger table in the corner of the room “Come on you guys!” Dante looked her up and down “You look real nice KC, the outfit suits you.” he and the rest of the group took their seats.


Aphmau was stuck in the backroom, dressed in her own maid costume she felt way too nervous to be in. With all the boys out there it made things so much worse, it's not like they would be perverted or anything but she did not need their teasing or any compliments. She might just die. She peaked out the door and quickly shut herself back in.

“Aphmau?”

Aphmau jolted, jerking around “Zane!? What are you doing here??” she flattened her skirt, trying to feel a bit more comfortable in it. Zane looked her over but didn’t say anything about that “I got a job delivering packages, did you get a job here?”

The girl tensed, jaw clicking “I um… me and KC were suddenly rushed into working when we only came in for an interview and I am not even a little bit confident to go out like this.”

Zane looked at her and looked behind her at the crowd where the group of boys “...I got an idea.” he looked directly at her “Take off your clothes.”

Aphmau looked absolutely offended and as if she might smack him, he quickly raised his hands in defense “Wait wait! Not like that-” she stopped right before she would have hit him, with narrowed angered eyes. “I meant we should trade clothes,  I can go out there and scare them off… at least Garroth.”

“You couldn’t have phrased that any better way!?” She hugged her arms to herself and he let out a frustrated sound “I wasn’t thinking! Just, do you want to or not?”

“... I- fine. okay, okay that might work.”


Laurance couldn’t keep his eyes away from Garroth, the blonde had sat next to him and left no room for Irene between them. Their shoulders were pressed together, he kept talking on and on about the movie they had watched and the sequels he was excited to show him later. Laurance nodded along with a patient smile as the other ranted, he didn’t process much of what he actually said, a lot of it was very confusing involving strange lingo but it was cute regardless.

“Can I help you boys with something?”

Laurance looked up in curiosity and it was ZANE. Zane dressed in a purple cutesy maid outfit that fit him all too well and looked way too good on him, Garroth and Dante must have felt different because they let out similar shrieks of horror and bolted from their seats.  Blaze gasped “Scarfy bro!? Is that you!?”

“Nice legs.” Laurance complemented with a surprised laugh, Travis nodded in agreement “Surprisingly not hating that whole look on you.” he gestured to it. KC looked at him “Oh Zane you look so cute!!”

Zane let out an embarrassed groan as Aphmau, dressed as a delivery boy, patted his back.

Chapter Text

Jeffrey knocked on the door to Aphmau’s house,  he had let them know ahead of time he was showing up and he was ready to see Katelyn. An old ex and a great friend, Abby absolutely adored her to bits.

KC opened the door with a smile “Jeffory! It’s been a while!” She greeted him kindly with a big smile on her face.  He nodded “Hey KC! I haven’t seen you since New Year's… which was a month ago right? Not too long.” He headed inside when the girl stepped aside for him “Where’s Katelyn?”

“Oh! She’s in her room upstairs! She’s just been up there all morning, she wouldn’t even come down when I made gummy bear pancakes!! Not even when I mentioned the bacon…” She whined. Jeffory laughs “You might have to give me that gummy bear recipe later, sounds like something Abby would adore.”  KC shrugged “I can email it to you! I need to finish cleaning up the kitchen though, I’m sure she’s waiting for you.” She walked away back towards the kitchen “Oh!” She pivoted back around on her heel “I just made cupcakes so if you’d like to take some home for you and Abby feel free.”

Jeffory gives her a curt nod and a kind smile “Thank you.” 

He heads up the stairs and to Katelyn’s room. The door was left wide open and the girl was looking at her computer, practically gnawing on her bottom lip with her brows pushed together and pointed upwards. This was a face she made only when she was worried or thinking too hard about something.

“If you bite your lip any harder you won’t have one.”

She jolted around, immediately going to straighten her hair and wipe under her eyes clean and dry of eye booger “Jeffory! I um, I wasn’t expecting to see you yet. I’m happy to see you! Just wasn’t… how are you?” She folded her hands in her lap, unsure how to look more put together.

“I’m good, How are you though? Is there something on your mind?” He approached the chair, allowing Katelyn to click on a tab and scoot away “…are those public colleges? Are you going back to college?” Jeffory looked back towards her. The girl shrugged, “Not entirely, I just want to take theater classes, maybe.”

“Oh, but don’t you have severe stage fright?”

“Exactly why I want to take classes! I mean I’ve always wanted to be involved in theater. Directing or writing scripts…  acting I know isn’t something I could do.” She closed all the tabs, sighing softly. “Katelyn I think this is amazing! You should go for it!” He lightly pushed against her shoulder, trying to be encouraging.

“What? No, we only have one car, and Aphmau and Kc have jobs-“She clenched her fist against the desk, looking away from him and back down at the floor.

“I could drive you there on my way to drop Abby off at school, and she’d be happy to see you more often.”

“No! Just… no I can’t afford it.” She pressed her palms tightly against her face, shoulders hunched “Just go away Jeffory, please!”

Jeffory’s breath hitched “Fine. I know this cycle we don’t need to fight this out and I refuse to escalate things. I’ll tell Abby you said hi.” He quietly left her room, shutting the door behind him.  He adjusted the scarf hanging around his neck and walked down the stairs. He headed towards the door but stopped when he heard Aphmau and Zane talking in the other room.

The perfect opportunity to help Katelyn.  He heads in “Aphmau!” the girl in question flinches at her name being called. Jeffory watches and she scrambles for the remote and turns off the TV which had been playing some cartoon that he swears that he’s seen Abby watch. “Sorry didn’t mean to startle… you both, Zane? It’s been a while.” 

“Jeffory. How’s Abby?” His body language was loose, and was speaking somewhat with ease. Jeffory grins “Oh she’s precious as ever! I could show you pictures- Actually wait, I need to speak to Aphmau about something first.” 

Zane sighs, maybe in relief, maybe in disappointment. “Just show me next time.”

Aphmau stands up from the couch, gesturing to Zane to stay on the couch and when he gets her alone in the hallway Aphmau speaks first “Are you and Zane friends??”  Jeffory shrugs “We had jury duty together, anyways,  I need your help with something.”

“Well I’d love to help you, I just need to know what it is first.” she folded her arms, gesturing with one for him to keep going.  “Well, Katelyn was up there looking at theater classes, she really wants to start directing and playwriting a musical or a play.”

Aphmau nods “Uh huh…” her brows furrowed “Katelyn? The same Katelyn we both know?”  Jeffory nodded “Yes! She said she doesn’t have the money but I also think it's a confidence issue… maybe you could inspire her to do it? Like take her to a play or make your own?”

“I don’t know it sounds kind of like meddling…” She muttered.

“I’ll buy you all the Olive Garden you want.” He spoke, grinning softly knowing exactly how to bribe her. Aphmau fixed him with a hesitant gaze “...Okay, but like not as a date right…?”

“Not my intention no, and I’ll even bring Abby. She loves that place.” he lights up in pride at the mention of his daughter.  Aphmau laughs  “Sounds fun! I’ll see what I can do and try to help Katelyn meanwhile you better make some reservations.”

“Well, let’s hope! I’ll be seeing you Aphmau!” he waved goodbye, heading out of the house. She headed back to the living room and plopped down on the couch next to Zane “...what was that all about?” Before she could grace him with an answer Katelyn had appeared behind them on the couch, most likely trying to catch Jeffory before he left “Just you two in here?” she looked around the room “What are you guys up to?”

“Katelyn!” she shouted eagerly, Zane wincing at the shrillness. “Katelyn, Me, and Zane were just talking about the neighborhood play he’s sponsoring!”

“What I’m n-” Aphmau sharply elbowed him, “Just play along…. please?” she whispered, he nodded but grit his teeth “AHEM,  Yes I am sponsoring the neighborhood play.” he adjusted his posture, attempting to seem more professional. Katelyn looked up,  curious and a bit excited “Really?? What kind of play?”

“Well uh- that’s what we were deciding! Right now actually. Zane has no idea so we are just throwing ideas around to see what sticks. I’m sure it's not something you’re interested in so…” Her smile was a bit too forced, but the usually observant Katelyn was too eager about the potential of her involvement “...Wait um, do you guys need any help? I took theater in high school so I might be able to do some good.”

“Oh. What would you be able to do Katelyn?” Aphmau was treading a fine line, trying to make sure Katelyn didn’t think she was being given to it out of pity or for any other reason than she would be good for it. “I could… direct? If you need someone.”

“Aren’t I supposed to d-” Aphmau elbowed him once more, causing Zane to glare at her after groaning in pain “That’s perfect! You’re great at bossing people around and we need that. So what play did you have in mind, Miss Director?”

“I mean, it’s a bit cliche but I uh- I have always wanted to direct Romeo and Juliet.” 

“That’s perfect too! Why don’t you make preparations while Zane and I talk.” She grins, Zane grumbles under his breath “We do need to talk.” Aphmau glared at him that time and he shut up completely. Katelyn’s whole face lit up like a child on Christmas “Thank you! This is- You won’t be disappointed I swear!” she let out a squeal and practically bolted up the stairs.

“Aw look at how happy she is.”

“Aphmau! There is no such thing as a neighborhood play, where did this even come from?” he sounded genuinely frustrated and Aphmau began to feel guilty for springing this on him “You don’t actually have to be involved if you don’t want to be, but it’s… personal and I’m doing it for Katelyn.” she reached out and gently squeezed his hand “Can you trust me?”

Zane sighed, the tension in his shoulders easing “Fine. I trust you.”

“Okay… okay! Where do we even begin? Cadenza would be perfect for costumes, I’m sure she’d be happy to help! But what else?” she stood up, bringing out her phone and searching for Cadenza’s contact. Zane sighs “I can get the place to host the play, the community theater near the old high school is usually open and if I use my family name I can book the place no problem.”

“Oh really?” She asks, Zane nods and she throws her arms around “Thank you! That would be perfect.” Zane went completely rigid, and it took Aphmau a moment to realize this “Sorry- but- I am so very thankful- I’m gonna go talk to Katelyn if you’ll go do that for me.”

The man nods, standing up and grabbing his jacket from the coat rack. “I’ll let you know how it goes.” he leaves and Aphmau heads up the stairs to Katelyn’s room, knocking first and then entering when she gets called in. “Aphmau, I have so many ideas right now! It’s not even funny.” she’s currently jotting down many things on a word document, typing faster than she’d ever seen her type in her life “Really? Um.  Is there anything I could do to help?”


“Aphmau there is so much we need to do! We don’t even have any actors yet, and what about the location?” she turned to look at her, Aphmau stiffened up straight “The community theatre! You know, the one by our old high school…”

Katelyn clicked her jaw “That… well it will have to do um-” she turned around, opening another document that looked much more colorful. She typed out the location on the bottom and the presumed time she picked out “Okay,” she clicked something, and the printer on her desk hummed to life and began printing out several posters. Aphmau took the first one off the pile and read it over.

Actors are needed for our production of Romeo and Juliet!
Please arrive this Saturday at 5 pm, if you are not interested in auditioning you are allowed to sit in and watch. Backstage hands are needed as well.
Please email Kate1D@xxx.com for any questions.
Located at Phoenix Drop Community Theatre.

“I need you to take these and hand them out to our friends, I need you to persuade them. Use your puppy eyes if you have to." She grabbed the rest of the stack and practically shoved them into Aphmau’s arms. She took them in a hurry to keep from dropping the whole pile “I mean, I’ll try! I think you should post it online too-”

“Yeah, I will. I’ll go ahead and talk to KC and call Nicole, I’m sure she’ll jump at the chance to help make props.”

Aphmau nods, turning around and heading down the stairs.

She took a deep breath once outside, marching over to Brendan's house first (probably one of the easiest people to ask anything of- he loves being involved.) She knocks on his door, and from inside you can hear the loud clashing of several objects “Are you okay???” she asks through the door. Brendan shouts back “I’m f- I’m fine! I’m on my way!”  When he opened the door he was absolutely covered in soot and layered in a film of sweat “Hey Aphmau! How’s it- how’s it going?” he leaned against the doorway, trying to seem casual.

Aphmau looked over him in concern “I’m good, but are you okay? You look-” Brendan interrupted her “I promise I’m fine! Just… let’s just say you can find weird things in chimneys.” Aphmau tilted her head, pursing her lips together “Oh. ew. “

She shook her head, grabbing a paper from her stack and holding it out to him “Katelyn is directing a play, and we need actors and I thought you might like to try it out!” she offered. Brendan took it “Oh, Romeo and Juliet! I actually tried out for that in high school… I played the beginning narrator and that was it. Maybe I can get a better role this time.”

“So you’re in?”

“Oh yeah, tell Katelyn I’ll be there. Oh! And I can invite Kiki, she loves Romeo and Juliet” He folded the paper “I need to get back to it, and try not to fall off the ladder again.” he snorts, heading back inside “Bye Brendan!” she waved to him as he closed the door. She let out a small squeak “Success!” she giggled to herself, and now running off her high she ran towards the boy's house with no hesitation.  Travis was the one to open the door, dressed in comfy pajamas “Hey Aph.” He yawned, leaning against the doorway “What’s going on?”

Aphmau pulled out a couple of posters and handed them to Travis “We’re hosting a production of Romeo and Juliet, and we need some actors.” Travis looked over the paper, clicking his tongue “Ah, I’ve played Romeo so many times… I think this Romeo is retired but I’m sure the other three would be glad too-”

“Katelyn is gonna direct.”

Travis clicked his jaw, staring down the girl “Okay, playing dirty huh? Fine, I’ll pick up the sword again. I’m going to wipe the floor with the rest of them and prove to Katelyn how romantic I can be.” He ran his hand through his hair, smiling “I can’t wait.” he winked and Aphmau swore she saw him sparkle.

He shut the door,  shouting for his two friends. Aphmau sighed in relief, bouncing on her heels and hopping off the porch. Every ounce of confidence dissipated when she realized who she needed to ask next. He seemed like the type who hated attention, and she felt like trying to get him on board would be very difficult.

Standing outside Laurance’s house, she rapped her knuckles against the door. The boy peeked his head out of the door, before opening “Hey Aph, what’s going on?” he smiled kindly. Aphmau knew better though, Laurance had his usual dark circles and that smile had poor effort put into it. He must not have slept well. “Katelyn is going to be directing this play, Romeo and Juliet. I’m trying to gather people to audition and I was wondering if you would be willing to do so.”

Laurance took a pause, trying to weigh the options in his head “...I mean it’s just auditions..” he mumbled to himself “Are you and Zane going to be in it? Is Garroth?”

“The boys are supposed to all come, and I don’t know about Zane but he is the one sponsoring it so he’ll at least be helping set it up? As for me, I might try out just for fun.”

“Okay then. what time?” He fidgeted with the doorknob, his smile was bigger but now somewhat a bit forced.  Aphmau pouted “You know you don’t have to join us, as much as we’d love to have you.”

Laurance’s body loosens up, shoulders drooping “No I need to do more things, besides I have no real acting experience so it’s not like I’d get a big role or any. I can handle it.” He reassured. Aphmau nods, perking up once more “If you really want to know the time-“  her expression lit up as she handed him a flyer  “All the info you need is on this piece of paper.”  

He took it, looking it over “That’s… soon. I’d better make sure I have lines down before then.”

“Unfortunately it’s all a bit last minute, Katelyn is eager to get this thing going as soon as possible which is going to make things a bit more difficult to set up but… she seems really happy. Happiest I’ve seen her in a while.” Aphmau’s expression becomes distant, causing Laurance to wonder just how important this play was.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be there to support her even if I change my mind about auditioning.” He reached out, placing his hand on the top of her head and patting it. A reassuring gesture he does often with his friends “Thanks, Laur. Katelyn with be really happy to hear that.”

Laurance nodded, and after saying their goodbyes he retreated back into his house. Once inside the safety of his four walls, he retrieved his phone from his pocket “I would have thought Romeo and Juliet was lost to time…”

He looked through the many apps and finally found the internet app again. The last time he looked anything up it was to ask the internet for advice- which led to nothing but anger and potentially more depression but that’s a whole different issue. “Huh. So they made a more modern version of it…?” he clicked on the link, leading him to a pdf of the entire script which was 480 pages.  Laurance let out a sad sigh, letting his head fall against his phone.  

Chapter Text

Flyers that Katelyn printed that evening had been handed out the morning before to any and every person they passed on the street. She pinned them to every pole and corkboard she could hang it from. She was very excited and eager for the audition process.

Saturday afternoon and not many people outside of their friend group showed up to audition, a lot did sit in and watch the process out of curiosity or boredom.  Maybe to see if it’d be worth the watch but with little interest in being a part of it.

Dante and Nicole were sitting on a couple of chairs in the corner with their numbers, 7 and 8, pinned to their shirts.  “Nicole, are you sure you can handle being in the play too? I mean it’s a lot. ” he reached out and placed his hand on hers. She tutted “Dante, thank you but I can handle it. Besides, if I don’t she won’t have enough people.” she looked back down at the script “I know she said on the posters the audition was gonna be partially improv, I wonder if it’ll be difficult.”

Dante leaned back against the chair “Well, honestly it doesn’t matter- You’re her friend, and I can’t imagine Katelyn wouldn’t be biased.” he yawned, moving his hand away from hers causing Nicole to pout.

Garroth and Blaze sat back to back along a cushioned bench, practicing lines with each other  “Ah Romeo-Bro, thy pleasure of my joy- by measure of my joy-” he groaned “These lines are difficult! Can’t we read the translated version?”

“Blaze we already read the translated version, we need to read through both because Katelyn never said which version we were doing.” He rolled up the script into a tube and began to tap it against his leg. “I already have most of mine memorized, why don’t we just focus on the ones you’re having trouble with?”  Blaze sighed, nose wrinkling up “Okay, if you say so, bro.” 

Brendan looked over his script with trepidation “Kiki I’m not gonna get Romeo!  I don’t even want Romeo!” Kiki began to chastise him “You can’t just give up before you start! If you put in enough effort-“

Travis was currently reciting his lines out loud without so much as glancing at the script, having them memorized since he’d played the role so many times before. Aaron sat beside him, Aphmau had eventually convinced him to come despite Aaron not exactly being one to vie for attention, and it took a bit to wear him down

Aaron looked over the script, lazily mumbling lines to himself “This is exhausting.” he sighed leaning his head back and looking down at Travis “I guess you weren’t lying when you said you played Romeo before- how many times was it again?”

Travis glanced up at him “About five, and this isn’t that bad compared to some other auditions that require you to dance and sing.” He let out a soft groan and sat up, resting his arm on Aaron’s shoulder so he wouldn’t have to put the effort into sitting up. Aaron didn’t particularly mind it, simply looking back down at his crumpled script “Dancing and Singing, sounds like a nightmare to have to do all that- and learn it all in a week for an audition?”

“You’ve never been in theater have you?”

Aaron shrugged looking away “I wasn’t really… allowed to be in any extracurriculars "He admitted. “You weren’t allowed ? What does that mean, did the school not want you in clubs?” he looked towards him, concern on his face evident due to the frown on his face. “I.. no.. not-” He let out a short frustrated sigh “Anyway, do you have any advice on how to act?”

“Oh well yeah I do…” he trailed off, deciding if Aaron wanted to steer the conversation away that’s what he would do “I would say it's all in the tone!”

KC twirled in a circle, dramatically reciting the lines of Juliet's confession. She had somehow managed to rope Zane into feeding her the Romeo lines so she could properly practice. He only did it because Aphmau had encouraged him to do so.

Aphmau and Laurance stood across from one another near the doorway to the backstage area . Laurance was completely focused on Aphmau as he poured out his lines as passionately as he could manage. Aphmau had to take steady breaths to keep from getting distracted as she recited her Juliet lines with equal passion. Aphmau had challenged him to keep up with her and she proceeded to put on the performance of a lifetime for a practice just to get Laurance to put in more effort

Laurance stopped in his tracks, feeling a bit red at the ears from how passionately he tried delivering his lines, and looked up at Aphmau “How are you so good at this?” She smiled proudly, puffing her chest out “I was a theater kid! Plus I watched a lot of Broadway musicals, and I’ve played D&D!” Laurance only knew what one of those things was but it made enough sense “I feel like I’m making a fool of myself.”

“No, you are not! Laurance you’re actually very good, I can feel your anger and resentment after killing Tybolt for killing Mercutio!”  All Laurance did was channel his previous experiences, it really helped to make his performance feel real enough.

Through the door, Cadenza emerged “Hello loves! Katelyn wanted me to let you know, Aphmau you are first, and… you might want to prepare yourself, darling. I think she put you as 1 for a reason.” Aphmau looked towards Laurance, suddenly looking like she wanted to puke. He reached out and patted her back “Break a femur.”

“That’s not…” she huffed “Thanks I’ll do my best!” she took a deep breath, walking out throughout the backstage and out towards the stage. On the other end was a fake tower, it had been left behind by a different production and Katelyn got permission to reuse it. It was beaten up in some places but she was sure Nicole could probably fix it. She stepped out into the center “Hey Katelyn!” she waved.

The girl looked very serious, and sat in her chair with Teony of all people sitting next to her, “Aphmau!” she shouted with an enthusiastic wave. Aphmau smiled brightly “Teony hi!”

“She insisted on watching to support us, but she didn’t want to do it and I needed another person to help judge,” she spoke, an annoyed tone clear in her voice. There were a handful of people sitting in the audience, watching the auditions go down.”Well, it’s good to see you! How’s your girlfriend?”

“Oh, she’s good! They were too busy over in Falcon Klaw but they told me to say hi for them!”

  “GUYS! Sorry to interrupt but can we please catch up after? Aphmau, I need you to improvise a modern version of a Juliet dialogue- not chat it up with old friends and Teony I need you to be my unbiased judge.” Teony nodded determinedly. “Of course, I can do that.”

Aphmau was less confident at that word, she had never been good at making things up on the spot  “...Improvise? I studied all the lines for a reason and…” she sagged thinking before taking a deep breath.

“Okay.” Maybe she had a plan.

Aphmau closed her eyes, she thought about Juliet. How she must feel in such a situation where she was forced to choose between love and her duty. She chose love, obviously but even that was taken from her and she soon took her life after.   She thought of Irene, a woman so dutiful that she chose her duty above all else. She’s a goddess, but she was once just a girl. A girl who was treated so unfairly. 

“Why should I marry that man? I feel no love for him, as you never felt any love for me.” She channeled all that anger, all that resentment, and placed it in her words “I was placed in the role of princess without a choice, but can’t I at least have a choice on who I love? As I have been shown no love from you.”

“Why am I hated, why am I treated with such scorn in my own home? Do you regret my birth, simply because of looks? Do you feel undesirable, mother? You are as such.”

She took a breath “Fine! Lock me away, I will see Romeo again one day no matter how long I have to wait! If we must die and meet again then I’m willing to wait that long!”  

Katelyn and Teony were in awe, the blue-haired woman smoothed back her hair and combed it over her shoulder with her fingers “That was… you know what? You’re Juliet. I’ve decided.” Aphmau blushed, her cheeks turning a deep red “What!? I wasn’t that good was I?” Teony nodded enthusiastically “You were amazing! That was really good for improv especially! I say you should be Juliet!”

“...I mean, okay.” Katelyn gestured to the tower “Climb up the tower, you’re going to be practicing your chemistry with all the other actors.” 

“The girls too?” She asked, not upset just genuinely wondering. Katelyn nodded “Yes. I mean, even then it's good that they have someone to bounce off of anyway.” she waved her hand off towards the tower. Aphmau let out a sigh so heavy it could knock over a building “You were gonna make me do this from the beginning weren’t you?”

“No comment. Now get on the tower!”

Aphmau got on the tower and Teony clapped happily “You got this Aphmau!” She nods, looking down at the stage that seemed way too far away.  The audience followed the lead, awkwardly clapping along.

“Cadenza can you please go fetch number 2?” 

Moments later Aaron was dragged out, he looked very nauseated “Katelyn, uh what scene did you want me to do?” He blurted it out awkwardly. She gestured up to Aphmau “You’re going to improv Romeo and Juliet in the modern-day dialogue-“

“It took me forever to memorize scripts. Now I need to improv ?” He looked up at Aphmau, trying to think of the best way to go about it “Aaron, come on at least try.” Aphmau said with a groan.

“…okay I’m getting to it.”

Aphmau stuck her tongue down at him and he rolled his eyes “Juliet! Why are you so upset? Did something happen, you haven’t called in so long I’m worried.” He sighed “you truly are so stubborn, you don’t need to stay with your parents you are allowed to leave!”

“You need to be quiet Romeo. My parents might hear, perhaps we can call later?”

“That sounds um fun, and maybe while we’re at it we forget the marriage and stay friends! We don’t need marriage to be happy or something like that.”

“Oh, how nice Romeo! I hope we can stay that way.”

Katelyn and Teony look on in mild disappointment “Aaron has a lovely voice and he’s definitely got the look and the audience seems…” There was cheering and clapping and a couple more people had joined in to watch “To really like him but his chemistry with Aphmau is too…. Eh for Romeo. He’s also clearly not used to speaking in public, We’ll just have to see how everyone else does.”

“ Also Aphmau! I meant modern as is modern speech! Not modern day.”

“Bring in number 3!”  Aaron was guided off stage and next up was Brendan. The boy started getting nervous at the improv being mandatory “Uhhh, hello! Juliet! It’s me Friar, I was wondering why you had called me over but to hear that you want to get married!”

“I’m genuinely shocked at the idea, but to hear of such a rebellion against your parents while dangerous it's admirable you want to pursue your love.” Aphmau and him went back and forth for a moment and Teony marked him down.  They brought out Kiki next who gave a very sweet and gentle performance, though she was clearly very shy despite talking a big game about it earlier. They didn’t fault her for it though, they could help her push through.

Blaze was the next one out, walking with heavy footsteps and hearty confidence “Hey Katelow! Yo Teon-neon!” He waved enthusiastically, a toothy smile on his face. Teony waved with a smile “Blaze! I didn’t realize you moved back down here!” He nods excitedly “Dan the man, Trav-Dude, Gar-Bro, and I live together now! It’s really chill.” He spoke like such a typical surfer dude, just without the typical accent “Blaze, you don’t have to add bro or dude to the end of everyone’s names-“

“I added low to yours.”

“No more weird made-up suffixes, or prefixes! At least not while you’re in character okay? Alright, you’re doing an improv scene with Aphmau, get in character and choose whoever you want to do the scene as.”  Katelyn pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance. Blaze turned to look up at the girl, he waved at her enthusiastically. She waved back with equal vigor “Hey Blaze! I’m glad you’re trying out!” She called down to him. The redhead nodded “Yeah me too for sure- oh I’m supposed to be doing the improv thing.”

He smoothed his bangs out of the way, his entire demeanor changing “Julie, I miss you.” He looked up at her “I haven’t gone a minute without missing you, you remind me of the sun because of how out of reach you are or something.” He spoke the line as if it were genuine, but the dialogue itself was clunky “I mean my words may not be perfect but I do in fact love you!”

“Oh, Romeo! I love you too!” Aphmau spoke it in a way that sounded like Awww thank you or even as a rejection to the character “…Ohh, well- uh- wanna get married?”

“Hmm, well if we’re both single by 40 why not?”

“Damn, Romeo rejected mega hardcore.” He made a pained sound,  placing his hand in a fist over his heart. Katelyn groaned, rubbing her hands over her eyes “He’s so exhausting, he’s no Romeo.” Teony meanwhile was giggling to herself “You know there’s a character who does get rejected by Juliet…”

She hummed, writing Blaze down in her notes “I mean… maybe… Cadenza, next please!” She announced Blaze was practically dragged off stage as he waved enthusiastically to the small audience who mostly responded with laughter.

Garroth was brought out, he walked with an air of confidence and the look of disappointment when he was told that it was going to be improv “Oh all that practice for- okay, well.” He looked up at Aphmau, taking a deep breath “Juliet, my love, I long to see you once more.” His voice was deep, so much smoother than usual “We’re being torn apart and my heart aches, death would feel more appropriate than living without you. I want to see you, I want to hear all of your troubles, please. Please, may I hear your voice?”

Aphmau looked down at him, straightening up “Romeo, I’m scared. I’m scared. I want to be with you but I don’t think they’ll let us.” She stood straight up, looking over the edge of the prop tower. “I think we need to run away.”

“Yes, Lady Juliet. I’ll be here for you al-“

Aphmau had leaned too much against the edge of the tower and she slipped. Startled gasps and worried screams rang out as she fell, the fake bits of tower falling with her. Garroth bolted towards bet and managed to catch her before she hit the ground, his knees nearly buckled from the sudden weight but managed to remain sturdy.  the bits of tower fell around them, particles still slowly falling after them. “Aphmau! Are you okay?” Garroth had asked her in a near panic himself, legs aching. Loud cheers erupted from the audience after the dust settled.

Aphmau stared up at him in complete silence for a moment, a shiver ran up her spine as she looked up at his face. The audience was drowned out as for a moment the stage light behind him shone like the sun, and the air conditioning felt like a cool breeze. The remaining dust from the broken tower felt like leaves as they landed on her shoulder  “I…”  she quickly got to her feet “Thank you! I’m okay. I just…” she felt her throat tighten, making it hard to focus ‘ did the tower always look like a tree?’ 

Aphmau shook her head, distant murmurings in her head making it harder and harder to think clearly  “I…” the pounding against her chest from her racing heart, the rising panic. Everything seemed so loud, she darted her head around, and everything sounded so distant like she were underwater.

Then suddenly everything came back, Garroth was still asking if she were okay and Katelyn looked about ready to leap onstage. She took a deep breath, and with a still shaky voice and hands, she continued. “I just knew you’d catch me, Romeo I just missed you so and that’s the only way I knew to get out from my tower.” 

“But… that was reckless, you must be careful from now on My Lady, you shouldn’t stand so close to any ledges.” He looked concerned but he went along with her. Katelyn and Teony both looked concerned but Aphmau mouthed “I’m okay.”  

“Alright! How about you take five, Aph? Cadenza, bring in the next two. We can audition the rest in pairs.” Aphmau, with the strangest sense of Deja Vu, walked off the stage with Garroth. Katelyn brought out her phone and began to text her to make sure she was really ‘okay’

“Is she okay?”

Katelyn nodded with an air of hesitance “She’s a bit shaken but she says she’s okay, and she apologized for breaking the tower even though it was my fault for making her go on it without-” Teony shook her head “Katelyn, It’s not your fault- All that matters is that everyone is okay and we make sure the rest of that tower prop is stable.”

“Ugh should have done the Play That Goes Wrong, at least there things falling apart make sense.” she groaned into her hands as Dante and Nicole both walked out on the stage, causing Katelyn to groan louder “Why are they the pair- why-” Teony hums “umm… I’m just gonna write down where I think Garroth should be while you mope.”  Dante and Nicole stood by awkwardly, waiting for Katelyn to say literally anything. Teony spoke up first “Why don’t you two start off with an improv scene, of Romeo and Juliet? With modern dialogue, can take place whenever you want.”

“...why is there a chunk of tower on the stage?” Nicole leaned over and picked it up, Dante looked up at the tower “I think it-”

Katelyn slammed her hands on the table “Okayyy! How about we stop this topic, nothing bad happened we are good to go! Just please start.”

Dante shrugged, pulling out his phone and typing something out through text. Nicole’s phone goes off and she pulls it out, giggling after reading the text “Aw, that’s so sweet Romeo .” she teases. Katelyn looked confused as the two went on to exchange texts and let out sickly sweet cooing noises, it was mind-blowingly disturbing “What… What are you two doing?”

“Texting! What’s more modern than that?” Dante let out a snort, only adding to Katelyn’s frustration “Nope! Just- I’ve had enough, Nicole I love you but… Next, please! Just… just next.” Teony let out a frustrated sigh of her own “Katelyn you need to have more patience, I know its been a little rough but-”

Katelyn waved her off “Next pair… just please…”

KC and Zane were brought out together, much to their mutual dismay. KC had only wanted to use him for practice. Zane looked towards her, somewhat annoyed and somewhat apologetic (a weird mix)  “I don’t even want to be Romeo.”  KC pouted in response, indignantly muttering  “I think Zane is being rude.” she crossed her arms “And I don’t want him to be Romeo either.” she turned her head away.

“Then what role do you want?”

“Tybalt.” He said matter-of-factly. Katelyn hums, looking at him thoughtfully “Okay, Perfect you got the role! Congratulations! Fits you perfectly.”  Zane tilts his head “Wait, seriously? ”  Katelyn waves him off “Yep, you’re both villains! It’s great.”

“But who am I gonna do lines with?” She whined and Katelyn ushered KC to give her own improv, and she ended up making an impassioned speech about how perfect Romeo and Juliet were for each other. They sent in Travis and Laurance next, one looked way more nervous than the other and it showed. 

Travis waved his hand, and just like that a group of girls along with a couple of guys flooded the theater. “Where- where did all these people come from?” she asked with wide eyes, genuinely shocked. “Just my fan club, they like to come to all my performances,” he said, so lax like it was no big deal. Laurance sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose “Oh my god. He has a fan club.” 

There was a point in time when Laurance might have lavished the idea of having all this attention but now it was just nerve-wracking. Not to mention having to bare his soul out to an audience. Travis turned to Laurance “Juliet, my heart cannot take this loneliness for much longer…” his voice was soft, changed to seem so weak.  Katelyn seemed really zoned in and distracted by his side of the performance “For endless nights I dreamed of you, my name I toss away for a chance to dance in heaven with you.”

“Wow… Travis that was-” she interrupted herself, smoothing her hair back “Really good um- Laurance please I didn’t mean to interrupt you.” Laurance hadn’t even begun to say something, but he was left stricken with shock from Travis's more mellow and sad performance “I.. okay.”

“Is that really what you said to her?” He asked, trying to seem frustrated “It’s been mere days Romeo, why are you going to such lengths for a girl you just met? I’ve known you for many years and I have never seen you fall in love, are you sure it is love or is it nothing but infatuation?”

“Who are you to protest?” Travis argued back, playing well into the role “My love for her is true and I know it in my heart, we’re even getting married.”  Laurance placed his hand on his heart “Can you not trust me when I say this is a bad idea? I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“I will trust my love. You do not have a right.”

“We’ve known each other since we were babes- kids.  Have I not proven my loyalty?”

“That’s enough!” Katelyn announces, Laurance froze up thinking he may have messed up somehow but Katelyn goes on actually sounding like she was impressed “That was really good you guys, and it actually gave me an idea on how to freshen things up a little for some characters.” Teony responds by applauding and nodding her head. 

Katelyn stood up “Tell the others we’ll have the casting decided in an hour, Teony and I have to congregate first.” she held her papers tucked underneath her arm and Teony had her own little notes doodled into a notepad in her hands “Yeah! I’ll try and make sure Katelyn remains unbiased! Other than… the two choices she is so set on I couldn’t even begin to change her mind.” she mumbled that last part. The two girls left the group to themselves. Aphmau sat down in the corner with KC who went on and on about how cute Dante and Nicole would be as Romeo and Juliet, though it fell on mostly deaf ears.

Garroth was glancing at Aphmau, his eyes were soft and his lips were downturned into a frown. Laurance followed his line of sight, his stomach churning. Despite his own feelings, that kept coming back no matter how hard he tried to choke them down, he went over to Garroth “Is everything okay?”

The blonde turned towards him, while his eyes were still deep with worry he smiled when he saw the other “I’m okay. I’m just worried, is all.”  he risked another glance at Aphmau and based on her hazy eyes  “About Aphmau?”

“You noticed it too?” his gaze shot back at Laurance.  “No, I just noticed you staring at her the entire time we’ve been back here.” he crossed his arms, hugging himself. Garroth let out a startled laugh “Since when did you care about who I stare at?” Garroth eyed him, smile becoming more playful and dangerous . 

Laurance lightly hit him in the chest with the back of his hand, walking past him, and with all the snark he could muster he told him  “Ever since you started having a hard time keeping your eyes off me.”

Garroth was stunned into silence, his mouth hung ajar as if he were waiting for more to be said “I.. um…funny.  Aphmau- I’m still worried about her.” he looked away from Laurance, the tips of his ears tinted red. “Well, now that you mention it she does look incredibly distant… what happened?” Garroth, grateful for the change of subject chimed in  “When we were improvising together, she fell off that tower prop and after I had caught her she looked up at me like… Like I was a completely different person.”

“She fell off? She could have gotten seriously hurt-” he begins walking towards Aphmau, only for Garroth to take his hand and pull him back, “I think she might want to be left alone though… maybe we should talk to her about it later when she’s not surrounded by people.”

Cadenza walked into the room before anything else could be said “They finished deliberating, if you’ll follow me to the stage.” 

Zane stood up from his spot “That was far too quick.”  and followed her out with everyone else in tow. Aphmau was at the back of the pack, trying to steady herself and taking deep calm breaths. 
When on the stage Katelyn stood at the front end, Teony held a piece of paper and stayed quiet in favor of Katelyn speaking first “Alright you guys, I’m gonna say your name you’ll step forward then I’ll say your role.”

“Aaron, you got Lord Montague.”

Aaron stepped forward, sighing in relief that he didn’t get the more prominent roles. 

“Kiki, your Lady Montague.”

Kiki nodded, glancing over at Aaron and sighing as she stepped forward. Both of them needed to be more confident in their roles and that was clear.   “Nicole, you got Lady Capulet.” She clapped her hands excitedly “That sounds fun! whose lord Capulet?”

“Well… we were short on people so Teony volunteered to play Lord Capulet for us.” Teony waved shyly.  “Blaze, you’re gonna be Count Paris! It’s a fun role, be proud.”  Katelyn gestured for him to step forward.

“You mean the guy who loves Juliet and gets rejected and acts like a loser over it? Sounds fun enough I guess.” Blaze shrugged nonchalantly.

“Travis, me, and Teony decided you should be Prince Escalus based on audience reaction..” she mumbled.  Travis's mouth hung open and his eyes were wide  “I... I’m not Romeo? I… this is more shocking than when Zane walked up to our table in a maid dress.” 

“Hey! I told you to forget that ever happened!” Zane turned a bright shade of red, KC from next to him began giggling and spoke sweetly “Oh but you looked so pretty!”

“Speaking of Zane, you got Tybalt surprise surprise-“

“And KC! You got the nurse.”

Zane puffed his chat out, he got the role he wanted the most. KC meanwhile deflated like a balloon “Ohh… okay…”

“Brendan! You’re Friar Laurence.  And Dante you’re Benvolio, for some reason.” Katelyn muttered, Teony lightly elbowed her.

“Okay. Juliet is very clearly Aphmau! Which makes Laurance our Mercutio and Garroth our audience-loved Romeo.”

Garroth stood straighter, smiling excitedly “I got Romeo! Laurance, I got Romeo!” He turned to him of all people to express this.  Laurance’s smile became soft “And I’m Mercutio, I get to die in your arms, won’t that be fun?” 

“Not sure that’s something I would ever want to see, but we get to act with each other! Isn’t that great?” He rested his hand on Laurance’s shoulder, his stupid smile affecting Laurance far too much for it to be normal “You’re so stupid.” he mumbled fondly, digging himself a hole he soon wouldn’t be able to climb out of.

Zane caught his line of sight, frown taut at his lips “Laurance are you…?”

Katelyn interrupted them without realizing it, voice loud and cutthroat “I’ll have my version of scripts handed out at practice tomorrow.”

“Your version? ” Aphmau asked, she knew that Katelyn had intended to change some things about it but an entirely new version? “Yes Aphmau, my version.”

She grinned maniacally “Get ready to practice.”

Chapter Text

The changes that Katelyn had made were strange, to say the least. Not bad, but very strange.   

The nurse character was given a more prominent role and made into a much sweeter character to fit KC a bit better.   To appease Travis( and his fans) Escalus was given a bigger role in the story, and eventually, he accepted the idea of getting the chance to do something different.

Count Paris was remade into less of a jerk, and more into someone with unrequited feelings that were painful to bear.   Benvolio was made to be more like a brother to Mercutio and Romeo, and more devastated by Mercutio’s death. Mercutio was made to have unrequited feelings for Romeo, based on Laurance’s improv.

Laurance was not ecstatic at this change. He’s lived through that enough especially during childhood, too many crushes that he could not do anything about for fear of being killed or becoming the town pariah.  The worst part was Garroth being Romeo, Laurance couldn’t ignore his feelings for the blonde even if he wanted to (which he didn’t, despite the fact he needed to.)

He could pass off his flirting or compliments as jokes, friendly jests that seem all too common with most male friends comfortable in their own skin.  He’s not sure how everyone would react to him crying because of how much he related to this version of Mercutio.

One thing that made it worth it was to see Zane feeling bad for having to pretend to kill him, it was sweet “This feels crueler than the original script.” He looked a bit nervous “Are you sure that you want me to hit you with the fake sword?  Won’t that hurt?”

“Maybe a little bit I got thick skin.” In truth a plastic sword wouldn’t hurt him at all, maybe it’d make a bruise appear but bruises on him healed within minutes. Cuts and broken bones were a different process, but it really depends on which form he’s in and his emotional state.

“Thick skin doesn’t get rid of pain, little Laurance.” Zane huffed, leaning against a fake bush. “Come on, I bet if this were Garroth you’d swing as hard as you could don’t hold back for me- hit me with all you got.”

“What? Really?” Zane adjusted his grip on the prop sword “You can punch hard enough, but can you even hit me with a sword?”

Zane stood up straight, getting in a position that may have been proper for a knight from a fighting game. Laurance gestured towards himself, letting Zane charge and swing directly at him. Laurance’s hand shot up and caught the end of the plastic sword, his hands were calloused enough for it not to hurt he just felt the pressure of it.

Garroth watched from the side of the stage, eyes widening a bit at how easily Laurance had done that. Laurance let go, out of habit he had taken hold of it “…I got into a lot of fights growing up, anyone with no experience would be lucky to get a proper hit on me.” He quickly excused.
"Yeah but… you stopped that so-“

“Let’s choreograph our fight.” Another thing he was excited to do, he desperately missed sword fighting. It used to be a part of his everyday life,  and now it was just gone. Garroth chuckled “You seem very excited for your death scene .” He stepped out onto the stage, his smile as soft as ever.

“No, I'm excited for the fight before my death.” 

Zane and Garroth looked at him as if it were a strange thing to say. “I used to do fencing.” the lie was blatant but believable. More believable than him having a sword-collecting hobby which was his second choice. 

“ Really? How have you never told us this before?” Garroth asked with a light laugh, Zane huffed, stepping back as his brother went forward.  Laurance looked at his friend with a pout, you’d think they would have their shit figured out but even 1000 years(give or take, he stopped counting after a while)  later they still don't. He's not sure he’s ever even seen them interact, at least not directly.

Not for lack of Garroth’s effort. “Do you wanna practice your lines, baby brother?” Garroth tried, pouting when Zane huffed “I'm not a baby. I'll practice because we need to.”

“Maybe not, but you’ll always be my brother.” Garroth tried. “Just read your lines, Garroth.”

Laurance began heading down off the stage while the two devolved into passive-aggressive arguing (mostly on Zane’s part) “…Why can’t they just get along.”

“Oh, they’ve always been like that.” A smooth yet sweet voice spoke.  Laurance turned towards the direction it came from and he was so used to this by this point it wasn’t a shock anymore. “I’ve known them since high school, and Zane especially has never liked his brother.” The woman was as beautiful as ever and oozed confidence. “…Since you won’t ask, apparently,  my name’s Lucinda.”

As biting as ever too. “Laurance. I haven’t known them since high school but I figured as much.” He was too used to this, the witch was his friend once too and had been one of the last of his friends to die but still, Nothing beat the shock of seeing Zane across the street for the first time. Lucinda nodded slowly “You seem annoyed, as if you know them better than I do.”

Perceptive witch. Is she even still a witch?  “Never said anything like that. I know plenty, and seeing as I’m friends with both it’s like being a bridge between them.”

“What would you say is their main problem though?” Lucinda steps forward, lips quirked into a smile. “Communication.” Laurance answered curtly.

“Okay but more specifically . What makes them so dysfunctional?”

Weird conversation for her to have with what she thinks is a complete stranger. Laurance eyes her warily “Do you care about that? You don’t seem like you’re especially good friends with either.”

“Mhm, so you’re protective of them? Oh Relax, don't make that face. I’m just curious.”  She looked him up and down, causing Laurance to stand taller and cross his arms “Zane is like talking to a brick wall and Garroth is so dense he can’t realize what Zane’s real issues with him are.”

Lucinda looked at him curiously “You do know them well, strangely so.” She leaned over, staring directly into his eyes “Are you trying to read me or something? You just met me and you’re already invading my personal space.”

“Oh I’m curious about you, that’s all.” Her eyes narrowed “Are you a warlock?”

“Uh. No.”

“Shame.” She walked away, heading towards the stage where Garroth was currently acting with- more like acting at Zane “Garroth! Hey!”

“Lucinda! It’s been a while, how are you?” Garroth hopped off the stage. She grinned “oh just fine, I was in town and heard about Katelyn directing her very own play. I came to support her."

“That was nice of you, I thought you were rivals but I guess bygones huh? Did you get a chance to meet Laurance?” He gestured to the brunette who gave a half-hearted wave, before heading towards the exit. Lucinda hummed “He’s interesting, something off about him though. He’s not a werewolf or anything right?” 

“No, I’m pretty sure he’s just a regular guy. A… strong regular guy, but a regular guy.”  He thought about earlier, and how easily he carries most objects. Lucinda hums “Interesting, when did you all meet him?”

“Last November! He was the first one to move in on our street, Aphmau got us to meet and he’s been our buddy ever since.”  The blonde beamed and Lucinda nodded quietly. “Do you know anything about him?”

“Well yeah, we know enough. He likes to keep his business to himself…” The next part is spoken more melancholic. “You might wanna ask Zane or Aphmau, they know more than me…”

“Really? Guess I got the vibe wrong… Hey Zane!” She raised her hand to get his attention, going around to go up the steps to the stage. Zane took one look at her and sighed “Lucinda.” He greeted clear disdain in his voice from it. She rolls her eyes “At least you didn’t scoff and walk away this time, how are you doing?”

“Numb and bored.” He answered quickly and to the point.

“What’s up with Laurance?” She hums, cutting straight to the point since he seemed so weird. “What do you mean?” He glowered at her. She crossed her arms “He just seems… strange. Do you know anything about him?”

“Well, I’d suggest you ask him yourself.” He turned and left backstage, not willing to indulge the witch.  

Laurence made his way into the entrance hall, which was fully empty- which was good because he didn't want people to see him upset. Laurance couldn't stay in that area much longer, not with Lucinda interrogating everyone about him already.

She's always been like that, she doesn't easily trust but back then it was a way to protect herself from others this time… he has no idea.  He thinks about running out of the theater and going home but he doesn't wanna skip practice ( that and Katelyn would cut his head off)

“Hey, Mercutio.”

“Oh, if it isn't Juliet my love rival,” he spoke with heavy sarcasm. Said Juliet was also known as Aphmau, she looked absolutely tired while trying to cover it up with a saccharine sweet smile “Ooooh Love rival? So you admit you love Romeo?”

“I’m not admitting shit and what about you?I heard you had a moment with our Romeo.” 

Aphmau’s thinly veiled guise broke, her face sagging into an exhausted expression “You mean when I fell at auditions?” He did but didn't wanna push since it was all anyone asked of her.  He sat down along the center fountains edge and pat the spot next to him, so she followed slouching down as she sat.

“It wasn't the fall itself, or even then rumors but…” 

“It is something else?” He murmured, allowing the girl to rest her head against his shoulder. She nods quietly whispering “I feel like, while I was falling and right after, I saw something.”

“You didn't see someone push you did you?”  He turned to her worriedly. She shook her head “No, it was a… vision? Hallucination? Irene, it felt so real though.”

“Slow down,” he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, a comforting gesture meant to help ground her “What did you see?”

“It became outdoors, like… we were all in a forest all of these sudden and… I was falling from a tree. I thought of… well a life that wasn't mine and when I was caught all I saw was a knight! In reality, it was Garroth but I couldn't see his face- it was entirely weird and just… impossible!” she threw her arms out, hitting Laurance in the chest and nearly causing him to fall back into the fountain “Oh sorry!” she shouted, grabbing onto his sleeve.

“It's okay-” he scooted away from the edge and turned to face her “I don't think you're crazy, I just think… maybe it's a dream of a past life?” 

“Are you sure you aren't the one dreaming?” she laughed, sweet and genuine. She was well-meaning but Laurance had trouble laughing with her when it was a serious suggestion “Okay but what if I were serious about it?” 

Aphmau took in a sharp breath of air “I don't know. I like my life now anyway I don't need a past life coming in and… confusing me.” Aphmau’s phone suddenly began blowing up with text tones “Okay okay!'' She nearly dropped her phone because of how in a hurry she was to shut the sounds off and when the flurry of noises finally stopped she let out a sigh of relief “Alright- Oh. Katelyn needs us back in the theater and there are a lot of messages to read… Lucinda’s here?!” she stood up with a jolt “I haven't seen her in forever let's go!”

Laurence follows her and lags behind at a steady pace, not really excited to get back to practice after the two conversations he just had. The two entered the theater, watching as Katelyn ran all around the stage setting things up as Lucinda followed her around and was seemingly talking about something.  

“I don’t care about your intuition Lucinda! Just go talk to him for longer than two minutes than maybe you’ll actually know more.” Katelyn walked off the stage just as KC walked up it with Kiki and Aaron in tow. Lucinda sighed “I’m not trying to say it’s bad, it's just…  I feel like I met him before, he talked to me like he already knew me- didn’t even ask my name.” she tried. Katelyn stopped and looked up “Aphmau, finally! Get on stage you need to run lines with KC and Kiki.”

She grabbed Lucinda by her forearm and dragged her in front of her “Lucinda, here’s Laurance please just ask him directly for the love of Irene.” she took a deep breath, looking between them before running back with Aphmau to run lines.

“So, you find me suspicious?” Laurance asked, he always knew it was a possibility if he ran into a witch or someone else magically inclined might be able to figure him out. Lucinda nodded no trace of guilt on her face “Mostly curiosity though, you have such a strong aura it's hard not to be suspicious.”

“So humans can't have a strong aura?”

“Not as strong as yours. It's mythical in nature, so if you're not a warlock then what are you?” She stepped closer, leaving little room between them. He narrows his eyes “Figure it out, witch.” He challenged. “I never told you I was a witch.” 

“Lucinda! Laurence!” Katelyn shouted from the stage, looking very annoyed. Lucinda gave her an incredulous look “You asked us to talk- oh whatever we aren't done.” she warned before going up to the girl. “Lucinda we need you to play the apothecary that gives Juliet the temporary death potion.” She spoke as if she didn't have a choice “Really? Katelyn I don't act and even if I did it would be a bigger role.”

“Oh so by saying you’d do anything you can to help you actually meant you'll do nothing.”

Lucinda released a soft sigh “Katelyn, is there no one else you can rope into doing…” She froze when she saw the group of begging eyes all staring at her “Shit. Okay, I'll be in your play.”

“Good, now I have a few things to address and I want absolutely no interruptions out of any of you! Got it?”  there were murmurs of agreement.

“Laurance, you need to practice more than just the fight scenes! I have yet to see you properly get through a scene with mostly dialogue.”  She pointed to him and he conceded with a curt nod. 

“Kiki, Aaron, I understand you both have difficulties with crowds but you gotta learn to project yourselves louder because the back row would barely be able to hear you.” 

Aaron nodded and Blaze gently elbowed him from the side “Dude,” he spoke in a low whisper “I’ll help you with that if you'll help learn to say things more naturally-” Aaron smiled along with his response “I could use the help, I'm kind of new to this.”  Blaze barks out a laugh “Yeah me too.”

“ Looks like you already know your problem area, you need to speak more naturally and less you- you need to get into character more.” She points to KC “That goes for you too, even with our tweaks you're still struggling to keep it natural. Tone it down.”

“Travis-”

“Yes, blueberry?” He asked, laying on the charisma thick.

“… tone down the charm , you aren't Romeo you're Prince Escalus. “  Katelyn moved on quickly and Travis visibly deflated “I’ll try…”

“Zane you're perfect acting-wise but you're arguments with Garroth and the others are making it hard to practice- just learn to deal with everyone.”

“Garroth stop arguing with Zane, and actually practice the scenes with Aphmau. Speaking of Aphmau,” she placed her hands on her friend's shoulder “ Don't overwhelm yourself you need to take more breathers okay?”

Aphmau nodded, grasping the fabric of her skirt “Okay.”

“The rest of you are pretty much perfect. Dante and Nicole, you do need to turn off your phones while on stage though if they go off during the actual play it'll be a disaster.”  Katelyn moved on by talking with Lucinda.

Garroth leaned over towards Laurance, speaking in a low tone “That was almost as bad as being called out in class.” Laurence snorted, because despite it being so long ago he still had the embarrassing memories of school back in Old Meteli “I caused far too many problems though.”

“ You were a troublemaker? I'm not sure I believe that.”

“I know I believe it.” Zane spoke, having moved to be beside Laurance who just noticed his presence “Wow Zane I'm glad you have so much confidence in me.” 

“You may seem like an awkward mess but I think you're just emotionally stupid.” Zane shrugged his shoulders like he hadn't just insulted him to his face. Laurence felt small sparks of anger but snuffed it out with his concern because this was not Zane. “You okay?”

Zane ignores him, opting to glare at Garroth and snidely remarking “You know you’re perfect for Romeo, you're both full idiots.” 

“Hey! Romeo and I are romantics-”

Zane let out an annoyed groan “How do you tolerate him?” he looked towards Laurance fully expecting an answer “What do you expect me to say to that?” he crossed his arms, digging his fingernails into his  skin

“ Absolutely nothing,” he muttered.

Lucinda looked towards the three from over Katelyn's shoulder “That's interesting…” she murmured. “I'm glad! I was thinking of keeping the original untranslated dialogue for your character!”

“…Yeah that's great, whatever you want.” she hummed absentmindedly.  Katelyn clapped her hands together, causing everyone with more sensitive Mief'wa or Wolf ears to flinch and Aaron too, for some reason. With very strained cheer she turned to everyone “How about we end practice for today?”

Blaze deflated “Aww, I was excited to practice with Aaron…” Aaron nodded, tucking his hood back over his head “We can practice at my house, if you want.” 

“Wait actually???” Blaze asked, tail beginning to wag excitedly behind him and when Aaron nodded he was tackled in a hug by the other. “You’re probably the touchiest guy I’ve ever met.” He pat Blaze’s shoulder.

Garroth laughed at the two “I for one am taking a nap when I get home.”  He placed a hand on Laurance’s bicep for a brief moment “See you later?”

“…Yeah of course.”

Garroth cheekily grinned, then headed out with Dante and Travis.

Zane had already left before Laurance could try talking to him again and he didn’t spend much time lingering either, especially with Lucinda way too interested in him. He didn’t expect that from the witch but she’s always been one of the most intuitive people he’s ever known so maybe he should have. Either way, he needed to make sure this play wasn’t a total disaster because of him, it might be a little difficult to focus when Lucinda was acting suspicious of him, Garroth was making it increasingly difficult to ignore his feelings, and Aphmau might be remembering the past!

All completely normal things he definitely needs in his life right now!

Laurance fell onto his couch as soon as he got home, tossing his phone onto his table and ignoring the mass amounts of group texts in the group that Katelyn created. Which meant all of them had his number, including Lucinda. This was not how the reunion with the witch went in his head, they had always been sort of kindred spirits when they met. They often playfully flirted with one another and frequently talked about romance over tea, since they were both romantics at heart.

He sighed, reaching over and switching his notifications off because he was tired. He would practice his lines and maybe come up with something to fix all this...

After he takes a nap.

Chapter Text

The night of the play had come and everyone had a sense of anxiety and most were a bundle of nerves other than Travis who seemed entirely used to it “I’m ready, so incredibly ready.” he spoke confidently, oozing charm

“Yeesh If your head gets any bigger it’ll explode,” Dante remarked, dressed fully in costume. Travis ignored him as he recited his lines to perfection while looking in the dressing room's mirror.  Garroth was busy fixing his hair and ensuring his costume was perfectly in place.

Aaron held his arms out as Blaze struggled with fastening the sword strap for him “ This is way too complicated , how did she get ahold of these detailed costumes?” Blaze asked, sighing in relief when he finally had it fastened “No one's gonna see them up close.” 

“At least they look cool, I was a bit worried I’d look too awkward but Cadenza really knows what she’s doing with these costumes.” He flexes his arms, testing out the fit of his sleeves. “She even made room for my tail. Most brands don’t do that- she should be a professional designer.”

“She is, I think.”

Laurance had secluded himself to the corner, tapping his hand against his chest in the same rhythm as his heartbeat, trying to stay calm and collected before he had to go one stage. The guys respected him and let him do his thing, not wanting to break his ritual.

Zane watched him, face weighed down with worry. He thought of going to talk to him but decided it wouldn’t be in his best interest. ‘ Maybe I should go see how Aphmau is doing?’ Zane asked himself, getting up from his chair and heading out of the area and towards his friends' dressing room.

He gently knocked on the door, and when told he could come in he did “Hey, how are you doing?” He asked, noticing just how stressed she looked. “Uhm, not the best I could be but better than I thought I would be? If that makes sense.” She placed her hands on the counter, glancing at the vase of flowers left at her stand. 

“…Are you worried about having to kiss Garroth?” He asked, eyes narrowing and she shook her head “No I'm not, I mean maybe a little but he hasn’t shown interest in me in a while-  besides we had to practice the kiss during rehearsals so it’s not like it’ll be for the first time or something.” She waved her hands around and giggled to herself.

“Okay… but if it’s really not about him then what is it about?” 

Aphmau breathed in sharply through her teeth, sagging back into her chair “We only had a week to rehearse though, and we only ran through the whole thing twice and only one tech rehearsal- hardly seems like enough doesn’t it?” she looks at Zane who shrugs “We could only reserve it for a week so we’re just going to have to do the best we can with what we got.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful. I'm very happy that you got us a spot here! I just don’t think I’m as ready as I can be, I mean I practiced the scenes I have trouble with, and… maybe it’s just the usual jitters just worse than what I expected.”  she placed her head in her hands “I just… don’t wanna have another freakout.”
“Another freakout?” Zane asked in a hushed whisper. Aphmau nodded “During auditions, I had a mild panic attack after a weird vision-hallucination.” she looked up at him “Even though it hasn’t happened since I can’t stop thinking about it.”

“You saw a vision? Did you see any familiar faces?” Zane stood up straighter and his breath quickened. Aphmau shook her head “No… just Garroth why?” he placed her hands on her shoulder “Did you hear any voices?” he firmly squeezed her shoulders, and she looked up at him “Um… just… everyone else’s in the room- are you okay?”

Jeffory came in through the open door, face filled with joy  “Aphmau I saw the door was open and…. Oh. Zane.” He looked downright disturbed by what he was seeing. “I’m not interrupting you two am I? Do I need to come back later?”

Zane let out a low gruff sound “Well actually we were having an important conversa-”  Aphmau gently pushed him away, sending him a stern glare “Not at all Jeffory! What did you need?” Jeffory fixed Zane with a hard stare, looking back at the shorter girl “I cannot thank you enough for all you’re doing for Katelyn!”

Aphmau released a shaky sigh “She’s the whole reason I’m doing this…” she mumbled, then put on a small smile “Don’t think I forgot about the breadsticks.” 

“I knew you wouldn’t! I’ll take everyone out to dinner after.” He reassured her with soft laughter. Aphmau looked towards her more awkward friend “Can Zane come?” She asked, pulling her friend towards her so she could give Jeffory puppy eyes. “Oh. Sure you can let him know he’s invited if you want him there.” He did his best not to look towards the latter.

“I’m right here…” he muttered, and Aphmau cut in “Thank you Jeffory!” She nodded towards Zane who let out a frustrated groan. The announcements came on “10 minutes until we start! Make sure you’re ready people.” Jeffory looked up towards the speaker “I better go take my seat, break a leg Aph! You too Zane.”   Zane didn’t miss the tone that Jeffory had spoken to him in, he let out a growl of sorts. “ what’s going on with you two?” 

Aphmau looked at Zane expectantly but he shook his head “I don’t know. I thought we were… cool I guess, but he’s never liked me and I understand that but he’s so annoying about it.”

“Oh, so the other week when you acted nice and he seemed confused…?” 

“All I did was say hello. Plus he thought we were making out or something earlier which might have aggravated him more considering you two are such good friends.” He pointed out casually, causing the girls' cheeks to turn red“No he did not! He just… was being respectful of our privacy.”

“Sure he was.”

Aphmau crossed her arms, looking up at her friend “Speaking of earlier, you seemed… petu- perturbed? Yeah, perturbed!”  Zane shrugged “I was just worried that’s all.” 

Aphmau pouted, blinking her eyes innocently and when that didn’t work she decided she’d have to be direct “What is it you were gonna say? Just tell me.”

“ Aph ,” he took a pause, hesitantly opening his mouth “you’ll just think I’m crazy.”

“5 minutes until the curtain opens! Come on people.” Katelyn’s voice boomed through the speakers. Zane cursed to himself “I’ll tell you later but we need to get to our positions or Katelyn will have our heads.”

“Zane-” She tried and he shook his head “Later. Right now you need to get ready and do your best, Juliet. You’ll do fine.” he hurried away, not wanting to be late as he was in the first scene.  She followed him, she guessed she had no choice.   She drew in deep quivering breaths and released them, and got ready for her entrance.



Katelyn walked onto the stage, looking down at the audience while there were some familiar faces such as her dad and brothers; the majority of them were strangers to her who must have seen the play out of boredom or curiosity. She took a deep breath, and annunciated “In fair Verona where we set the scene, two households both alike in dignity hold a long-lasting grudge from which fighting breaks out. A pair of ill-fated lovers from the deadly bloodlines of these two feuding households then take their lives as a result of this vicious feud.”

She gestures to the curtains “For the next two hours in which they are on stage, we will present this story of love and tragedy and if you’ll be patient anything missed in this dialogue will be explained to open ears and observant eyes.”


The curtains began to draw open and she took her place just off stage where she could direct, the opening scene begins with people having to play multiple roles showing up in the opening quarrel. Dante takes center stage as Benvolio, draws his sword “Break it up you fools!” he demands “You do not know what you’re doing!”

Zane stepped in from stage right,  voice fierce “You’ve drawn your sword on simple servants? Why don’t you instead turn your sword to the man who shall kill you.”
Dante shook his head “I want nothing but peace, put away your sword or use it to help me maintain the peace.” Zane scoffed, lazily pointing the sword in his direction “You’ve drawn your sword yet you talk of ‘peace?’ I hate the word, just as I hate all of you Montagues. Have at you, coward!” 

A fight broke out between everyone on stage, chanting and fight among themselves “Down with the capulets!”

“Down with the Montagues!”

Teony and Nicole run out, both dressed as if they just got out of bed and began shouting for the fighting to stop. Kiki and Aaron run in from the opposite direction, armored up and the two pairs engage in an argument.

Laurance watched the scenes go by from the side, Garroth standing by still trying to make sure his hair looked alright. “Garroth you look fine, I promise. “ the blonde nods shakily, patting down the bits of his armor “Okay. Alright. I know my lines,” he reassured himself before going off to start his scene. Lucinda walked up next to him “You’re very eager to help him, and your other friends.”   Laurance didn’t say anything, electing to ignore her and watch Garroth and Dante interact on stage.

“Are you worried you’re going to mess up?” she tried breaking the ice again but Laurance just let out a heavy sigh. She harrumphed, growing more annoyed by the second “Laurance are you worried about your death scene, I know Katelyn added that one thing to it that-”

“ Lucinda, what is it you want?”

“I want you to talk to me, maybe we got off on the wrong foot but we can still talk civilly can we not?” she used her nails and picked off a hair from his clothes “Besides maybe I can give you a little something to make you less nervous.”

“If you pull out a mysterious pill in a bag I’m smacking it out of your hand.” 

“You really think I’d give you drugs? No I was simply going to offer a potion that changes your mindset and makes you- okay maybe it’s similar to drugs but it doesn’t have nearly as many bad effects.” She hums, trying to play it off smoothly. Laurance snorted “No way, I’m sorry but potions never really worked for me anyway.”

“Really? Immunity to potions is very rare.” She shoved her hands into her Jean pockets underneath the witchy robe that Katelyn told her to wear “Is there a reason for that or were you just born with that steel stomach of yours.”

“No need to interrogate me, Lucy.  Just ask me straight up and I’ll answer honestly.”  He turned his attention towards her fully, she narrowed her eyes “Laurance, are you a vampire?”

“No.” 

“Damn it.” She cursed, turning around and walking away. Laurance couldn’t help but laugh, darting his hands over his mouth to keep from distracting any of the people currently on stage. He watched the scene move on until it was finally his turn to walk in, he took a deep breath and marched onto the scene.

Laurance’s lines flowed out of his mouth, memorization and practice having made it second nature to him. The scene itself felt strange, Mercutio chastising Romeo for being so heartbroken over a woman and talking about how there are so many other women there… it felt a bit like “bro talk” which maybe he used to talk similarly at one point in his life but not anymore. 

After Benvolio left a later scene Dante rushed to the side to take a sip of water, and downing half the water in the bottle he noticed Nicole standing beside him who looked so happy “Dante you’re doing amazing out there.” she complimented, reaching out to wipe some of his hair out of his face. He laughs softly “Thanks, you’re doing even better though! I could barely keep my eyes off you during the scenes we’re together.”

She nods, humming playfully as she messes with his shirt collar. He looks down then back up at her “Is my shirt crooked or something?” he asked, placing his hand on her upper arm. “No.” she balances onto her toes, leaning up and giving him a chaste kiss on the lips and using the collar to keep herself steady. His hands place themselves on her waist, afraid she might tip them both over. Nicole fell back onto her heels, grinning ear to ear leaving Dante completely speechless “Better get back out there, your back on in the next scene.” 

“Huh? Oh, okay I will but we are definitely going out after this. You think about the restaurant you want to go to-“

“How about we just go to my house and I can cook?” 

“ Really? Okay- yeah! I gotta go-“ He gave her one last huge smile before running back towards the stage. She sighed fondly, giggling to herself before going around to the other side of the stage. KC stood by giggling to herself as Garroth and Aphmau retreated a scene beautifully.

Katelyn watched, eyes glancing to Travis who was in between scenes “I’m sorry you didn’t get Romeo, I know you wanted the part but we decided to give someone else a shot.”

Travis shrugged, running a hand through his lengthy hair “I don’t mind, I mean I’ve been him plenty of times before and I get some fun moments especially when Mercutio dies and at the end with his whole monologue.”

Katelyn nodded, still not looking away from Travis “Not that it means anything, but I think that you’re probably a great Romeo. Your audition was good we just wanted to give someone else a chance plus Garroth saved Aphmau from the fall-“

“ Katelyn , I get it. I didn’t want it that bad, I mean I did but not because of the role.”  He admitted, pushing his hair back to pull it into a ponytail. She frowned “Then what was the reason?”

Travis chuckled “I wanted to impress you.”

She sighed, not because it was annoying but because she was actually impressed by him “but I was impressed by your audition, and how well you’re doing with the role you do have.”  He gently nudged her, using his shoulder  “Look at you being all supportive, maybe I really was impressive.” 

“Yeah, just don’t let it get to your head.”  She scoffed, watching the scene in front of them move ahead as planned.  Travis took a bit longer to turn his attention back to the play.  

The scenes moved on, and eventually, it was time for Laurance’s big scene.  The big scene was the one he was the most nervous about despite his initial excitement over the fighting aspect.

Zane angrily pointed his sword towards Garroth “I challenge you, a duel to the death.” his voice commanded the room, immediately drawing in the audience. Garroth sheathed his sword “No, I won't fight you, Tybalt! This is a useless battle, why can't our sides just come together?”

Zane grinds his teeth, swinging his sword in a wide arc “Coward! You must not truly love her, you cannot love her! She’s meant to stay with us on the right side

Garroth took a couple of steps forward but Laurance stepped in between “I’ll be the one to accept your challenge, he will not fight you not in this state so have at you!” before giving him time to speak he swung, and Zane blocked just as practiced.

“You would throw your life on the line for him? What a pathetic display of loyalty and love, I shall cut some sense into you!” he pushed the sword off,  slicing at his feet in which Laurance jumped back and sliced it downward and Zane blocked it. The two engaged in a fight,  actual sweat beading at their brows.

Dante frantically ran onto the stage, Garroth turned towards him “Benvolio! Help me break them apart, we can't let them kill each other!” He nodded “Let us be civil!” He tried running between the two but ended up getting pushed from the scuffle.   

Garroth managed to pull Laurance away, giving Zane the opening to jab his sword through his stomach causing the both of them to stumble backward. Dante then managed to wrangle Zane to the ground “No!”

Laurence pushed Garroth away “No no, it's but a wound I'm..” he fell to his knees “No no, this cannot be I wanted to protect you but I didn't want this… Romeo!”

Garroth ran to catch him, holding the other in his arms “Mercutio, please don't die not here.” he begged, Dante stood still holding onto a struggling Zane completely wide-eyed.

“Im going to die here, and it is not a fault but your feud I cast a plague on both your houses! You solve this before more get caught in between.” he looked up at Romeo “I never meant…” Garroth wept.

 “You started this all for some girl, a girl you just met.” He looked up at him “You never once looked at me did you? I loved you, I truly… love you.”  he reached out, cupping his cheek “But you threw me away like trash, you killed me.”

“Yet I can't help but want to kiss you still, even now.”

Garroth acted speechless, all eyes remained on them and Laurance’s heart began racing far too fast. Garroth leaned down, and Laurance's face scrunched up and Garroth pressed a kiss to his forehead “I’m sorry for never noticing, my friend… I truly never meant for this.”

Laurance said nothing more, just going limp. 

Dante wept, Zane broke free and Garroth let out a rageful yell and they began fighting one another. By the end of it, the scene was done and had left the crowd speechless as the curtains closed for intermission. Katelyn walked up to both Garroth and Laurance who were both taking a break drinking some cold water.

“What happened you two? You guys did the scene wrong! You were supposed to actually kiss, as a farewell remember?”  she seemed frustrated, and it was understandable as she worked so hard on the play. Garroths looked over at Laurance who remained quiet “We talked about it Katelyn and he doesn't feel comfortable kissing anyone, and I decided to change it during the scene to not cause him any discomfort.”

She softened a bit “That's different. Now I feel like an ass, you're fine just take a breather you guys-” she pointed at Garroth “Especially you Romeo, you got a lot more play to get through.” she looked to Laurance “and if we ever do a play again you better damn well tell me if you're uncomfortable with something! We're friends okay?”

Laurence nodded, chuckling “About time you admitted we were friends.”

“Shut it pretty boy or I'm taking it back.” she complained with a small grin on her face, walking away “I'm gonna find Aphmau, enjoy the rest of the show until curtain call.” she grabbed onto Garroth and dragged him along. 

Laurance was about to retreat to the audience until KC managed to cut him off, literally putting her arms out to get his full attention “Laurance you were amazing!!” she reached out to grab his hands “You and Garroth had so much tension!!” she squealed, a little too loud for comfort “I gotta go but I had to tell you how amazing you were! 

“Uh yeah thank you.”

She hugged him one last time before spotting Zane “Oh! Zane you were so scary up there!” she let him know before further running off.  Zane ignored her, walking past the two of them “What's wrong with him…?” KC asked in a low whisper.  “I don't know, he’s seemed weird for a while.” Laurance murmurs, electing to go after him rather than stay behind. “Zane!” he called out.

Zane kept walking, heading into the changing rooms and Laurance followed him there “Zane what's wrong with you?” 

“Garroth.”

“What? Garroth, seriously? Why aren't you over that?.. seriously he is trying his best to reach out to you and-” 

“Garroth and you.” he clarified, voice unsteady. “Me and Garroth,” Laurance repeated, Zane nodded. “Me and Garroth? Why?” he sat down at one of the chairs but Zane didn't follow suit. “ Why ? Why?! Garroths is my brother who has overshadowed me my entire life and he’s liked by everyone more than anyone has liked me, people have deliberately become my friend just to get closer to him or have dated me so they could meet my brother!”

“Zane, I’m sorry but just because I’m friends with Garroth doesn’t mean that you and I aren’t still friends,” he reassured, trying to reach out to him which caused Zane to shy away.  “That's not the issue here, Laurance.” 

“Then what is?” He asked, Zane shook his head “Can you tell me the last time we hung out? Had a genuine conversation?” Laurance sat up straight, wracking his brain but the closest time he could remember was the last of December “I…” 

“You were the one thing I had that…”Zane began, his voice was soft and on the edge of breaking.  “That what?” Laurance prodded gently, realizing that Zane was trying so desperately not to cry. Zane shook his head “Just leave me alone, please.” He finally sat down, still not willing to look his way.   His heart ached but he knew better than to force his company onto Zane “I’ll give you some space.”

There’s still another half of play to go.

Chapter Text

Lucinda noticed how tense things had seemed as people came in and out from backstage. Dante and Nicole, she realized, desperately needed to get a room you could see how all over each other they were every second they got together (not in a gross way, just a tad bit too much PDA for her single self.)

Zane had secluded himself in his dressing room, and while he seemed like the brooding type he was usually more obnoxious so another weird thing. Travis seemed way more dopey than usual, and Blaze was very clingy with Aaron who didn't seem to mind it too much. KC was the only one acting normal, just squealing about the romantic chemistry between some of the people in the cast.

Laurance seemed emotionally distraught, which how she knew that without knowing him very well she wasn't sure. She thumbed the hair between her fingers, the singular strand she had taken off his costume while they were talking.

She almost felt bad for distrusting him, but something about him just felt off. She really wanted to be friends with him but that could wait until she knew exactly who he was, even if it was not supernatural people with auras like that were dangerous. She fished a cloth tie-off bag from her inner pocket and put the hair into it, tying it off and putting it back.

Something for later. She had her single scene and the curtain call to get through and she was home free! Back to her apartment, to her potions ( she really needed to get a house soon. ) where she could run tests and narrow down exactly who or what he was.

Lucinda started heading towards the girl's restroom, trying to ignore Laurance who was just staring all empty into space. She grimaced and contemplated leaving him be, but she just couldn't! She groaned and sat down next to him, gripping the edge of the bench with her fingers “So, what has you down? Did you eat too much garlic or something?”

“Garlic?” he took a moment before laughing lightly “ Yeah, and I got too much sunlight.” he leaned back against the bench “Did you seriously think I was a vampire?”

“Sprinkles and all.” She winked and Laurance did not understand in the slightest “…wait do you mean sparkles from Twilight?” She tilted her head, acting confused “Twilight? I was talking about Midnight, what are you on about” Laurance adjusted himself in his seat, he probably just got it wrong “Uh, nothing- “

“Well besides that, what is actually making you upset?”  

“All this joy and happiness is sucking the evil right out of me.” His voice was laced with sarcasm. “Ohhh so you're a demon?” She said, turning towards him with mild excitement.

“No… well- yeah no.” 

Lucinda was about to say something again but Laurance cut her off “One guess a day, and I’ll answer honestly. Got it?”

She nodded “Fair. Glad you’re not lying at least.” She stood from her spot, stretching out her arms “I need to pee then get ready for my single scene, and you need to get ready for curtain-call demon boy.” 

She clicked her teeth and turned into the bathroom. He let out a heavy sigh, sinking back into the bench. He took a moment to breathe and went to watch the rest of the play with Katelyn, who seemed very happy at the moment. “You seem happy.” She messed with her hair, tucking it behind her ear absentmindedly “I am..” she mumbled “I mean, everyone’s loving the play so far and Travis has dropped the desperate act and has been… really genuine lately.” 

“Travis is kind at heart, and I heard from Aph once he used to be the sweetest kid in high school?”

“Ohhh yeah,” she laughs “totally shy guy too, but he was nice for the longest day until Dante took him under his wing and turned him into a walking womanizer, and thank god they snapped out of that shit or I wouldn’t be friends with them anymore.”

“So basically, he’s changed a lot, and now that he’s bettered himself you’re looking at him differently?” 

She sagged her shoulders “Shut it, pretty boy.”

“Right on target then, I guess.” He laughs lightly, thoughts trailing off to Garroth- the Garroth of times past not new Garroth, and how he used to think of Laurance the same way; A womanizer who only wants his lord to use for sex, someone who wasn’t deserving of his trust. Perhaps at one point that was true but Garroth came to find out that Laurance truly did care.

His heart stung, he missed that version of Garroth but the one had had now was just so funny and sweet and happy.  Laurance absentmindedly pinched his skin, bringing himself back to reality. “Is the play almost over?”

“We’re coming up on the last scene, the crux of the whole thing… oh please don’t blow it guys.” She muttered.

Garroth pretended to pour back poison, weeping over his lost love. “I’ll see you, my love, I’ll see you and him. We can all be…” he trailed off, pretending to pass out next to her before he could finish his sentence.

Aphmau slowly sat up afterward, letting out a smile until she realized what happened to him. She let out a gasp, tugging Garroth’s head into her lap “Romeo no… no please.” She wept, caressing his face “

“Where is my Romeo…” she questioned somberly, brushing his hair back as if they were truly in love. 

Laurance's chest burned, sickening jealousy clawing at his heart. Katelyn nudged him “I’m surprised they agreed to kiss.”  He nodded, pushing the feeling down because it was irrational and stupid.

“I’ll wipe the poison from your lips… with a kiss, maybe then you’ll breathe.” She leaned down and pressed him with a kiss, and when nothing happened she gently moved him away and reached for a dagger hanging off of his belt.

“We’ll reunite with death, please dagger guide my heart back to him…” she stabbed it down onto her belly, dropping down to her knees and falling down against the altar she moved him too gripping his hand tightly until that too finally dropped.  

The rest of the cast came running in, mourning over the loss of the two lovers. 

Then everything ended. The curtains fell and gentle orchestral music began to play as curtain call began, he and Katelyn stood to the side as everyone began going to the front. Garroth gave an enthusiastic bow, running to the side after a moment grabbing both him and Katelyn by their forearms and dragging them out to the center stage.

Laurance laughed as people cheered for him, he bowed and then gestured to Katelyn who looked like she wanted to run before giving in and bowing.  Everyone seemed happy to stay and grin and wave at the audience but Zane left the stage as soon as the curtains closed.   Laurance almost went after him, but Garroth reached for his hand and squeezed it ever so gently. “He needs his space,” he whispered to him, and Laurance nodded looking up at his face shining with absolute brilliance.

Cadenza gave another quick bow, taking only a quick glance at Laurance before leaving soon after Zane.

Everyone parted, Nicole dragged Dante off the stage first and they left laughing and giggling to themselves. Aphmau gave Garroth and Laurance a brief hug, but ran off to meet with KC soon after.  Katelyn turned to leave, but stopped in her tracks when Travis held a hand out to her “I brought you something… if you’d like to see it, blueberry.” 

Katelyn scoffed “Okay, but we’re going to Olive Garden after okay?” she took his hand and he lit up like a Christmas tree “Did you actually just put your hand in mine? What did you do with Katelyn?”  She shushed him gently “Better hurry and show me what your gift is before I change my mind, Trav.” He nodded eagerly “Of course of course, come this way my lady.” He led her away, and she groaned “Don’t make me regret this with your cheesy-!” 

Aaron approached Garroth and Laurance “You guys did great, I didn’t really get a chance to talk in between scenes but I just wanted to tell you- uh yeah.” 

Garroth turned to Aaron, patting him on the shoulders “You did wonderful too! A great debut performance!” he shook him and laughed. Blaze from behind Aaron, leaped onto his back and the other barely kept from tumbling forward but made sure to carry him securely “You were awesome bro! You guys too, totally felt that tension like it was real.”

“Blaze, how about we head out?” Aaron suggested rather quickly, giving the two an apologetic smile “Everyone is getting Olive Garden with Aph and Jeffory.” He hooked his arms around Blaze’s legs to make sure that he didn’t fall over “Oooh really? I’m gonna eat so many breadsticks.” he laughs as Aaron walks away with him still on their back.  

The rest of them left one by one until it was just Garroth and Laurance left by themselves. Garroth looked around for a moment and headed back towards the altar prop “This was not as comfortable as it looks, quite stiff.” he ran his hand along the top of it “and I laid halfway against it which was even worse.”  Laurance laughs, leaning against the prop  “It had to have been better than the floor.”  The blonde playfully scoffs “You had my lap to lay on your entire scene, and at least the floor isn’t lumpy.”

“Your lap was the only comfortable part, I fell a bit too hard when I ‘died’ though.”he sat down on the altar, looking towards Garroth “You had your head in Aphmau’s lap, was that any better?”

“Oh.”  He stood up straight, looking up at the tower prop “I didn’t think anything of it, it’s weird you know…” he muttered. Laurance hummed lightly, tracing his fingers in patterns along the bumpy fabric “What’s weird?” 

“A year ago kissing Aphmau and laying in her lap was something I wanted more than anything but tonight I didn’t feel anything .” There was a softer lilt to his voice than usual “You don’t have a crush on her anymore?”

Garroth shook his head no, opting to sit on the floor with his legs crossed staring at the curtain in front of them. Warmth bloomed in his chest, a special sweet kind of ache that could only mean one thing hope. Laurance got up and walked over to Garroth, he gently ushered his hands away from his lap and laid his head onto Garroth’s.

Garroth quietly moved so that Laurance would be more comfortable, gently brushing his hair with his hands “Now what’s all this for?” He murmured fondly. Laurance looked upward at him,  eyes narrowing in on his face “You started this all for some girl, a girl you just met.”  

Garroth leaned over to get a good look at him “Laurance…?”

“You never once looked at me did you? I loved you, I truly… love you.” Laurance repeated the line, one he didn’t think he could forget. He reached out, cupping his cheek “But you threw me away like trash, you killed me.”

“Yet I can't help but want to kiss you still, even now.” Laurance didn’t drop his hand, however, he actually kept it there. Garroth’s eyes widened a bit, before leaning closer “I’m sorry for never noticing, Laurance, I truly never meant for this.” He hesitated, Laurance could feel his breath brush against his lips sending tingles down his spine.

“I won’t lie here dead forever.” 

Garroth closed the gap and pressed his lips against Laurance’s own. Laurance tensed, a weird strange flood of emotions hitting him. Kissing had been so forbidden to him for a long time and irene right now he felt like he was on cloud nine. The guilt would come later, but right now everything finally felt right.

.

   .

      .

Lucinda stood over her cauldron shoved in the corner of her apartment, thumbing Laurance’s hair strand between her slender fingers.

  Travis showed Katelyn the huge flower arrangement he had gotten her, topped off with a blue bow and a sweet card. She gently caressed one of the petals, eyes never leaving the beauty of it  

Nicole and Dante slept in Nicole’s bed with arms wrapped around one another, both sleeping contentedly underneath the pale moonlight.

Zane sat on his couch, holding his head in his hands. His phone had texts from Aphmau asking where he was.

Kiki, Brendan, Blaze, Aaron, and Aphmau sat at an Olive Garden table with Jeffory and Abby the group laughing amongst themselves except for Aphmau who was looking at her phone with concern.

Cadenza sat in her home, staring at a picture of a woman who looked similar to her holding a sickly-looking baby “Laurance…” she murmured.

Yeah, everything felt just right.

Chapter Text

Lucinda stared at the hair pressed between her fingers, and down at the cauldron way more moving boxes surrounded her now as she stood in her newly bought house on Mystreet, a week had gone by and she still hadn’t worked up the gall to actually use the hair yet.

She took a deep breath shoving it onto the first drawer of her kitchen counter. The girl gripped her fist tightly, slamming it on top of the counter “Damn it.”

While Lucinda mulled over her choices, Garroth was having his own emotional turmoil.

Dante stood, looking down at Garroth who sat on his bed crossed-legged, he took a deep breath “So… Laurance kissed you- well you kissed him and the reason you’re not together is…?”

“He wants to take it in baby steps! He said he’d ‘kiss me again’ when he was ready to be in a relationship after he laid his head in my lap and lured me in with his pretty eyes and sultry voice man’s a temptress Dante! A temptress-“ he released a muffled groan into his pillow.  Dante nodded, dragging his hands over his face “Pretty sure the male version of temptress is tempter.”

“Temptress sounds more dramatic.”  

Dante tilted his head upwards, as if praying to some god, then looked back at him “Are you reeling over the fact he’s a man or the fact he wants to take baby steps?”

“Neither? Sort of, I don’t mind him being a man it’s just a bit new, but what bothered me was he seemed so… angry with himself. Melancholic? Guilty? He’s so enigmatic sometimes!” He fell back dramatically, letting the pillow rest on his face.

“Way to go two big words in one day.”

“Dante this is serious!” He complained, very loudly. Travis sticks his head in the doorway “What’s serious?” He asked, Garroth glared at the blue-haired man who raised his hands “Woah woah! Dude, you’re the one that shouted not me. Quit it with that… weird glare.”

Garroth leveled Travis with the same look “Nothing Travis go away.“

“Oooo Kay, well I’m just going to go see Katelyn and ask her out for valentines. I mean she liked the flowers so maybe I have a chance-“ Dante shooed him away “Yeah yeah good for you or something we got real problems to sort out here.”

Travis rolls his eyes  “Yeesh! Sure! I’m going now!” He shouted as he walked down the hallway.   Dante walked over to the bedroom door and shut it, flicking the lock shut so Blaze wouldn’t come traipsing in next. “So despite how close the two of you seemed at dinner, I mean Laurance fell asleep on your shoulder after he finished eating- he barely hugs people he just likes to pat heads!”

Garroth sighed softly “I guess… it’s just complicated.”

“So a situationship?” Dante asked carefully and his friend tensed up “There’s not a better word to use? I mean it sounds so…” Dante placed his hand on their shoulders “It’s a situationship, Garroth.”

Garroth let out a cry of despair and Dante tensed up at the sound “That’s it, I’m gonna talk to him! My best friend is not gonna be stuck in some slow burn situationship!” He pulled at the door before Garroth wrapped his arms around his waist and lifted him “No Dante don’t! I have my own plan-!”

Dante tried prying out of his much stronger friend's grip “Oh yeah, what’s your plan genius?” 

“To be stuck in a slow-burn situationship!” He announced, a bit too loud because he heard Blaze in the distance scream “WITH WHO?!” as his heavy feet pounded against the hallway only to slide straight into the door causing a crack to form in the wooden frame.

While Garroth and Dante try to explain that, Travis has his plans, approaching Katelyn’s house he notices the girl standing slack-jawed with a little kid standing next to her legs and hugging her. “Heyyyy Katelyn! Hey Abby- right it’s Abby?”

Abby puffed her cheeks out and turned inside to run “Travis! You gotta help, you need to watch Abby or go get Aphmau to do it I’m just really in a hurry-“

“But- Katelyn-“

“Look, if you do this I’ll go on a.. Valentine's date with you! It’ll be worth just- bye!” She turned and bolted for her car. Travis looked out at her completely dumbfounded then down at the girl “Okay kid, let’s head inside and find Aphmau I’m not fit for babysitting.” He shooed the girl inside. She glared at him and walked inside begrudgingly “You don’t deserve Aunty Katelyn.”

“Hey, we've barely spoke! You don’t even know me-“

“You were giving her the EYES! You don’t look strong or tall enough, and Daddy told Aunty you’re a playboy!” She pointed at him “Leave her be!”

“ I’m getting Aphmau. What do you like, Horsies?” He heads to the living room and switches on the TV, luckily it was already on the MLH channel so he ushers her there and heads up the stairs. He stops at the door when he hears Zane and Aphmau talking, he raises his fist and debates whether or not to bother them.

“-on? Zane that’s so…”

“Crazy, I know.”

“And everything with Laurance? I’m so sorry… I know it must hurt Zane I mean you have me and together we can talk to him about-“

Travis, in a panic he was about to hear something he shouldn’t, knocked on the door in a hurry “Aphmau! Hey, I need your help!”

Aphmau opened the door “Travis? Can’t this wait-“

“Uh, Katelyn wanted you to babysit Abby she’s downstairs and-“ he started off babbling immediately, hoping Aphmau’s love of kids would take over. “Wait, you left Abby downstairs by herself?”

“Relax I put her in front of the TV with your horsie show to entertain her she’s fine for a few minutes-“ 

Aphmau let out the most heavy drawn-out sigh “Okay,  Zane could we pick this up later? I have a last-minute babysitting job that Travis is going to help me with or so help me, Irene-!”

“Uh, no way! I’m not good with kids.”

“Travis, please, for your not-alone-buddy or else face dire consequences.” She grabbed him by his collar and pulled him down to her eye level “Got it?”

Travis started pulling away voice strained due to nervousness “Yep, got it!” He let out a big breath as she let go and Zane grumbled after all that mess “Aph, I’ll talk to you later.” and left the two behind “Bye Zane…” she mumbled.

Travis spoke nonchalantly as Aphmau dragged him downstairs “Aph, she’s fine.”

“Maybe or maybe she’s digging in the kitchen knives right now!” She grabs Travis's wrist on her way past and rushes down the stairs towards the living room to find it empty “Shit!” Aphmau threw the couch pillows off in search of her “Look in the kitchen make sure she doesn’t have knives!”

Travis hurries to the kitchen “No wielding little girl in here!” 

“Oh- Travis the basement door is open!” She screamed in horror “We have to get here before she finds it.” She ran towards the basement door, darting down the stairs before Travis could even ask what it was. He caught up to her, she was looking through the maze of shelves in a panicked hurry and sighed in heavy relief when she saw the girl missing with a trunk of old toys.

“Abby! You shouldn’t be down here by yourself.”  She squats down next to her, picking up a horse(not horsie! Very important distinction) figurine “This isn’t mine… these must be Katelyn’s.” She murmured, and Abby nodded “She lets me play with them whenever I come over she has the best toys here!”

Travis leaned over at the toys, eyeing an old beat-up cat plushy “These were Katelyn’s?” He asked curiously with a smile, picking up the stuffed animal “Oh yeah, she couldn’t bring herself to part with them-“

“Abby why don’t you grab what you want from the chest and we go back upstairs? You can’t be in here by yourself.” Abby pouted but grabbed a couple of princess accessories and a toy castle with a mini-doll inside.  “Set the cat down, Katelyn might get mad.” Travis listened this time, putting the beat-up cat stuffie back in the toy chest.

“By the way what was it?” 

Aphmau cringes, she reaches out and guides him up the steps “You… don’t need to know.” she whispers, only fueling his curiosity.  When Abby gets upstairs she dumps her stuff in the center of the living room with a big smile “Okay I have the best idea for you two.”

Travis groaned as he sat back down on the couch, Aphmau smiled “Oh what is it, were you wanting to play something with us?”

“I want to get you guys to date! You’d be soooo perfect together!” She giggles, almost menacingly. Travis barks out a laugh “You heard the girl Aphmau, we should just skip everything and get married!” He laid back down on the couch cackling to himself. Abby lets out a gasp “Perfect idea! I’ll be the priest and you guys can dress like princesses!”

“You just had to say something didn’t you?”

“You’re just mad I’ll look better in a dress than you.” He grinned cheekily, seemingly unbothered by the entire thing “She just wants us to play pretend not like we’ll have to kiss or anything let the the kid have what she wants.”

One quick trip to Aphmau’s closet and they both came out wearing dresses, Aphmau with the Juliet dress on again and Travis wearing a princess Aurora dress from Aphmau’s last Halloween costume. It barely fit the man but he somehow made it work.   Abby grabbed their wrists and forced them to hold hands “The husband and wife need to hold hands, they always do in movies.”

Aphmau accepted it with a groan but Travis started looking a bit uncomfortable “Okay now I know I said pretend was cool and all but I feel like when you want to date someone you shouldn’t be all cuddly with their best friend-“

Abby pouted “With the power invested in me I now pronounce you husband and wife!” She shouted, and when neither of them actually kissed she let out a grumble and attempted shoving Travis into Aphmau which did little more than make him stumble “Hey!” He let go of Aphmau’s hands and moved away “No! We’re not kissing, and we’re not getting together.”

“Katelyn decides who she wants to date not you.” He pointed at her, trying not to raise his voice “You can’t just go pushing people- well pushing people!” The girl strengthens her resolve “You aren’t good enough for Aunty Katelyn! Only… only a supermodel with with- superpowers! Or a prince… just not you!”

Aphmau kneeled, making sure not to step on the end of her dress  “Abby, is there something else going on here?” She spoke in a low gentle voice, causing Abby to relax a bit on impulse “He’s… gonna take Katelyn away from me and Daddy!”  She fiddled with the pockets of her overalls as Aphmau let out a gentle laugh.

“Katelyn couldn’t be taken away from you guys for the world.” She spoke softly and Abby nodded “Are you sure?”

“Of course, I am, Abby she loves you! No boy is ever gonna stop her from loving you.” Aphmau pulled in Abby for a hug “Or caring for your dad, they’ll always be friends.”

Travis sighs softly “Okay now I get it, look I have no intention of making Katelyn stay away from you guys! I just want to make her happy I mean- you guys make her happy so keeping her away would not benefit me at all.” He offered, and Abby made a scrunched-up face but pulled away from the hug “Promise, no pinky promise that you won’t take Aunty Katelyn away from me.”

Travis raised his pinkie, and held it out “I, Travis, solemnly pinkie promise to make Katelyn happy and not take her away from you or Jeffory.” Abby reached out, her smaller pinkie squeezing around his “Okay you better not break it ‘cause it’s serious.”

“I won’t, we used the pinkies. I couldn’t break it if I wanted to.” 

She smiled “Okay but I gotta marry someone, I mean everyone is all dressed up! We got the wedding china out “ she pointed to a couple of plastic princess mugs that were scattered on the carpet. Aphmau grinned “I got an idea, CELESTIA!!” She called out,  the dog came running at her name and immediately jumped up on her legs “Woah woah, it’s not treat time yet!”

“Travis, there’s this plush in my closet on the top shelf, if you’ll bring it down for me?” 

“Oh ho ho! I think I see what’s going on here I’ll be right back.”  He ran up the stairs as best he could in a dress. Abby reached out and ran her hands along Celestia’s fur, laughing when she licked her face “Are we having a dog wedding?”

“The cutest dog wedding ever!” Aphmau squealed as she pulled her into another tight hug. Then releasing her to start helping her fix up the area, even using pillows to make a little wall fort behind them for a backdrop.  Travis made it downstairs with a huge round g looking husky-plush and a purple cat plush under his arm “There were two and you didn’t say which one so…”

Aphmau reached for the big one immediately “Woof! Hey!” She took it and made a high-pitched voice “Hey Aphmau! You kept me up there for so long it got DUSTY!” She did a fake cough “Now I have to get married to your dog that likes to chew on me?!”

“But Woof, it’s for Abby!” She pointed the plush to look at Abby “Hi Abby! I’m Woof, are you the one that’s supposed to marry me and Celestia?” 

“Yeah! I’m your ordinary priest!”

“You mean ordained-  oof!” Aphmau elbowed him and continued with the voice, shaking woof “Alright! Fine! Only because you’re so adorable!” Celestia jumped up, attempting to nibble at the stubby plush legs. “Hey! If we’re gonna get married you can’t do that! No!”

Celestia laid down on her belly, putting her snout between her paws and looking up at Aphmau with a wagging tail. Aphmau dropped Woof on the floor “Awww someone wants to be a bride, isn’t that right?” She squishes her face, peppering kisses along their head “Okay be good andddd sit!”

Celestia got in a sitting position and Aphmau set floof across from her “Travis!”

Travis bolted, now alert “what? Huh?”

“You’re the flower girl, be the flower girl real quick- I’m the maid of honor to Celestia and Floof!” She declared with a smile, standing to the side. “I don’t have any…” he looked at a potted plant on the table and plucked a leaf, tossing the cat plush on the ground (they needed an audience!) “All alright!”

“Congratulations!” He ripped the leaf in half and threw it on the ground “Boom, flower girl.” He declared. Abby smiled “The minister will now speak and marry the beautiful couple!”

“You two must love each other forever in the sick and healthy times and every other time! Until death you part! You guys agree?”

“Bark Celestia!” Celestia barked and then Aphmau quickly moved to make Floof shout “I do!!” 

“Alright! You may kiss the bride!” Aphmau held Floof up to Celestia and she licked its nose. Abby smiled brightly, bouncing on her toes “I now pronownce you guys Mr and Mrs Floof!”

Travis and Aphmau began to whoop and holler, clapping their hands as Celestia darted off to run around them and then towards the door just as Katelyn opened it “Celestia wait-!” Katelyn dropped her bag of books to catch the mischievous canine “Aphmau why is your dog…”
She clicked her jaw, looking around at the scene in front of her “Tell me why Travis is in a princess dress?” 

“He’s the ex-fiance, now flower girl.” Aphmau smiled, patting her legs until Celestia wriggled out of Katelyn’s grip and towards her owner. Katelyn nodded “Okay I’m seeing the picture, and that means Aphmau is…?” He looks towards Travis. “She’s the ex-bride and the new maid of honor and best man at the wedding.”

“So that must mean that Abby is the coolest priest ever am I right?” 

Abby grinned, running towards Katelyn as she picked up her lost bag  “I married Celestia and Floof, and now all of us and our fashionably late really cool guest, Princess Katelyn, Is gonna have tea with us!”

Travis hummed “Oh she is? Do I need to get the sugar bowl, Princess Abby?” He playfully bowed and the girl giggled, bowing back “It’s Queen Abby, Princess Travis! Don’t forget it.” 

Abby scoops up the plastic tea set and throws it on the living room coffee table and hurriedly sets it up, placing Floof at the end of the table “Okay, Princess Aphmau you sit next to Sir Floof!” She guided her to sit and so she did, she ran to Katelyn and Travis and dragged them to the left side, and sat them next to each other.

Katelyn and Travis brushed shoulders, each grabbing a teacup and clinking them together “So… that Valentine's date? I was thinking we could make it a group date so it was more comfortable.”

“A group date huh?” She clicks her teeth “I like it, more casual for a first date since we already know each other and… less stress.” She hums “Who are we gonna invite?”

“I was thinking… we invite Garroth, Laurance, Aphmau, Aaron, and KC to let them choose who to invite.” Aphmau tensed up “I don't know who I'd take…”

“You could always invite Zoey.” Katelyn took a long fake sip of her tea as Aphmau jolted at the sudden suggestion  “What? Where- where did that come from?”

“Zoey, really? I haven't seen her since college…” Travis trailed off, his memories of her were vague considering he never really hung out with her other than on group outings and borrowing her pencils. “I haven't seen her much since then either but she's back in town, and when I saw her at work she was asking about you…”

Aphmau fiddled with the cup in her hands, glancing at Abby who looked mighty confused “I don't know… We haven't talked in a while.” 

“Yet she still asked about you, just find her on Facebook or something,” she suggested. Aphmau suddenly stood up, slapping her hands on the table with a fierce expression  “We need to invite Zane too! We can't just leave him out.” Travis shrugs, looking towards Katelyn who nods quietly. “‘Kay, he can bring his plus one too.”

“Why don't we just set him up with Michi? KC has been wanting to take Reese out and Michi is desperate for a date it'd be convenient.”

Abby looked back and forth as the talk became more drawn out and boring, she let out a groaning sound letting it be known how she felt “Auntie Katelyn can we go play superheroes? Princess is boring now.”
Katelyn gave her a sly grin “Oh? Does the hero Abby need to fight off Katelyn The Fire Fist?!” She stood up and got into chase mode, Abby let out an excited scream and began to run around the living room.

Lucinda stepped outside into her backyard, the leftover chill in the air making her sneeze much like a kitten. She reached into her pocket, pulled out the thin strand of brown hair, and held it “Uro.” the hair burst into flames, shrinking and curling up itself until there was nothing left but a small line of soot on her hand.

She wiggled her fingers and then scraped her hands together to get rid of the mark. If you asked Lucinda why she burned up the hair, she’d say that she simply decided that this wouldn’t be a good idea. If she gave a real answer, she’d tell you she didn’t want to break her friend's trust.

She’d just have to keep asking him.

Chapter Text

Garroth sat cross-legged on the couch, his thumb tracing the base of a snowglobe- the snowglobe. The one Laurance had gone out of his way to get him around Christmas. He shook it, watching as the snow inside settled around the gallant-looking knight trapped inside of it.

Ever since he'd received it he felt a strange connection to it. At the time he had wanted to ask Laurance about the meaning since Garroth never really expressed loving knights or anything like that in the past. He gives it another shake, and watched the snow inside settle down again. He had been repeating this same process for the better part of an hour, thoughts drifting to days training with knights and praying at an irene statue.

Garroth was always imaginative, but every time he imagined while looking at this it was so vivid. He felt the couch dip to his left, but he didn’t bother looking

“…Have you found someone to bring on the group date yet?” It was Travis, looking over at the snow globe curiously. Garroth shakes his head “No, I don’t really want to bring anyone on the date.”  

“No?” Travis asked incredulously.

“No.” Garroth confirmed, setting the snow globe down with a clink. Travis eyed it, looking slowly back at him “That’s the snow globe Laurance got you at Christmas isn’t it?”

The blonde nodded, getting up from his seat “Yeah it is.”  Travis frowned, something about Garroth had seemed off to him “Garroth, my man, what’s going on with you?” He propped his feet on the coffee table, watching as Garroth snatched the snowglobe away because of it.

“You seem possessive over that thing.”

“Travis.” He warned.

“Garroth.”

The blonde said nothing, just grumbling annoyances under his breath as he walked upstairs. Travis huffs “Sure, stomp away like a bratty teenage girl!” He called after him, not moving from his spot on the couch.

Blaze moves to the side as Garroth nearly runs into him on his way to the kitchen. Blaze’s ears flattened against his head “Is Gar-Bro okay?” 

Travis tilts his head back far enough to see Blaze before shrugging “I dunno, but he has a stick up his butt.”  

…

Laurance looked over the message on his phone, tapping his foot against the hardwood floor. “A group date?” He muttered, what was he supposed to do, ask Garroth?   The boy had seemed so awkward since the kiss, they haven’t even seen eachother in person since then.

Don’t get him wrong, he enjoyed the kiss itself and the idea of being with him but he didn’t feel it was fair to Garroth. He still couldn’t be sure he loved him, or loved a man that looked like him- he didn’t want him to live in the shadow of someone that’s been gone for thousands of years.

However, he did really enjoy things about him that his old love didn’t have. The stupid jokes, goofy attitude, and even rough voice. It all had such an impossible charm to it, and maybe Laurance just got caught up in the moment but it was… in a very enjoyable moment.   Garroth at least didn’t seem too upset by it, until Laurance told him that he wanted to wait- or take it slow. The kiss might have been a bad way to start off taking it slow.

Was a Valentine's date too soon? A group date no less? A group date that Zane was attending? After what Zane had told him, or at least heavily implied, it felt a bit cruel. 

Laurance tossed his phone back on the couch, deciding to leave the problem for later and to continue avoiding his problems like the rational adult he is.

The doorbell rang just in time for him not to have to dwell too long on it. He walked over to it, mildly surprised to see Lucinda at his doorstep wrapped up in a black peacoat “Hey, are you a siren?”

“Nope.”

“All right, onto the next question, may I come in?” She brought her hands out of her pocket looking up at him expectantly. He moved to the side still holding the door open for her  “Yeah, sure.”

She headed in immediately, falling over onto his couch with a heavy sigh “Laurance, I'm having a problem here.” 

Laurance lets the door shut, walking over and sitting on the arm of the couch since Lucinda made good work of leaving him no room. “What problem?”

“Well, I need a date for the group… valentines outing and I was hoping you’d go with me.” She didn’t sit up right away, instead creating a small shimmer of light to dance in between her fingers “Before you freak out , it’d be as friends.”

“I wouldn’t agree if it wasn’t, but even then why do you even need a date at all?” 

She huffed, leaning her head back so she could lock eyes with him “My EX is a jerk, and still thinks we’re together- I just want to have pictures of our date and to have a fun time with someone I know won’t read too much into it.” 

It didn’t sound like the worst idea in the world, he just needed to talk to Garroth about it first. He was doing his friend a favor, really “I'll have to think about it.”

Lucinda huffs, but leaps up from the couch letting out a dramatic sigh “If you don't want to I'll just ask Brendan or maybe call Teony or something.” she looked up at him “See you later. *Kappa.*”

“… That was a pathetic guess.”

“I’m running out of ideas, alright? I'll get you soon Zvhal.” she gave him a curt wave,  smiling as left his house.

Lucinda paused on his front step, watching from across the way where Travis and Aphmau seemed to be in some sort of kerfuffle. “Uh oh, " she mumbled, clicking her tongue. It looks like there’s some arguing about the group date… honestly, it might as well be a group outing.” She muttered that last bit and flipped her hair over her shoulder, leaving the other behind.

Laurance turned to watch her leave, just barely missing it as Aphmau fainted on the front step. When he sees the commotion he practically sprints over “What happened!?” He leaned down next to her and her face was very flush. He pressed his hand against her forehead, but she didn’t feel feverish in any manner.

Travis sheepishly turned over a phone in his hand and showed a text message screen to Zoey .  

Oh.

The message sent to her was very flirty in nature, asking her to come over and calling her hot stuff . The response was… eager enough “Yeah, I wouldn’t mind coming over.”

“Oh… wow, Aphmau sent this?”


“Well, I told her I would text Zoey for her so she could have a date for our double date-  and uh… she passed out when Zoey responded.” He laughed nervously, pocketing the phone. Laurance rolled his eyes, and squatted to pick her up “Wet a washcloth with cold water.” He shoulders the door open and moves to set the girl on the couch.

“If we’re trying to wake her up shouldn’t I just get a glass of water?”

“What? No, we can be gentle with the way we wake her up! We don’t have to get her hair or shirt wet.” He treated her with care, even setting the couch pillow under her head. Travis whistled “Okay damn, I got it.”

Travis left and came back with the wet cloth and Laurance took it and pressed it gently over her face. Laurance pat it over her flushed cheeks and then folded it to rest over her forehead “We’ll just let her lay down for now.” 

“Travis, why did you send that in the first place?”

“Aphmau asked me too!”

Laurance leveled him with his gaze. Travis grimaced “She really did! She just… I guess she’d thought I’d send a less flirty message. I don’t know what she expected from me but Zoey did seem eager.”

“Zoey…” Laurance mumbled absentmindedly. “Yeah, Zoey- do you know her?”

“Uh, I’ve known multiple Zoey’s and Zoe’s whose nickname was Zoey.” He waved his hand in dismissal. “You and Garroth are both terrible at hiding your emotions! Why do you sound like-“

A series of hurried knocks at the door followed by the doorbell echoed through the house. “Should we answer it…?” Travis asked with concern. “If it were one of the guys they probably would have just entered… and it’s not our house so probably not.”

“I’ll gehh it…” Aphmau slurred, wiping at her face as she got up off the couch with her feet padding against the floor. She threw the door open “ohmygodzoeyohmygod!!” and immediately slammed it in Zoey’s face before booking it to the nearest bathroom.

Travis and Laurance looked at each other and then back at the door in tandem. Travis was the first to open it, there stood a girl with curly thick blonde hair, dark brown skin, and bright blue colored eyes “Did... did I spook her?”

“No of course not Zoe, anyways it’s been forever how have you been?” He allowed her in, despite Laurance feeling it might be a bad idea.  Zoey looked so much less somber than she had back in the day,  bright expression filled with life and a rounded pair of ears on her head.

“I’m good! How are you?” She asked, looking towards Laurance “Laurance?” She questioned, and for a moment he felt hopeful but that was crushed faster than it could manifest too bad.

 “I saw you in videos of Katelyn’s play! You were really good!” She smiled brightly. He remembered Zoey when her bones started to shrink and her skin began to crease, so filled with sadness and solemn acceptance of what was to come.

Laurance’s smile stretched unnaturally as he held a hand out towards her “Nice to meet you Zoey,  Aphmau talks a lot about you.” She took his hand and shook it “Nice to meet you!”

Aphmau came back from the bathroom, looking much more refreshed and like she combed her hair properly “Zoey! It’s so good to see you!” She walked up to her and the two embraced in a lovingly tight hug.  Travis looked between the two and with a glance at Laurance as he spoke up “I think, me and old Laur should leave you two to talk.”

“Aph, remember what we talked about mkay? Mkay.”  He grabbed Laurance by the crook of his elbow and began to drag him out the door “What are you- Travis!” 

“C’mon buddy.” 

Laurance planted his feet, leaving Travis nearly falling back from the sudden tautness  “I can walk on my own, you can let go now.”  Travis let his fingers slip from his arm “Yeah… sorry… dude I don’t think I’ve asked this but how ripped are you? I know you have to have muscle but you look so slender. ”

“Oh. I was just cursed with supernatural strength.” He crossed his arms, snark on full display with his crooked smile.  Travis looked at him with furrowed brows “Okay fine, just keep your workout routine to yourself.” He drew his hand back “Sorry for dragging you away but, I wanted to give Zoey and Aph some space they have a…”

“Complicated relationship?”

Travis snapped his fingers “Complicated relationship. I just think the best thing to give them is space.”  

Laurance’s mind drifted back to Garroth, blue-eyed and pretty… complicated.

Chapter Text

“How could you do this to me?”

Zane sat with shoulders hunched, a plush of pinkie cake cradled in his arms as Aphmau sat across from him with quite literally the worst news he’s ever heard.

“Look, it’s not like you’ll be dating her, it’s just a group hang out where we happen to be in pairs…” she explained carefully, hands gestured out towards Zane like he might take off running. “Yes, but you paired me with a woman I went on one date with in high school that went really bad really quickly.”

“Oh come on! You and her are actually pretty similar, and High school was a long time ago.  You might enjoy her company now!”  She tried but Zane’s fingers dug into the felt of his plush “Maybe I just… I think it might be awkward, Aph.” Not just because of Michi, but because of Laurance and Lucinda.

Lucinda still really did not like him, and he hadn’t seen Laurance since that very embarrassing night of the play. 

He allowed himself to be emotionally open, vulnerable, and weak. It got him nothing in return except a pitiful look in Laurance’s eyes and a gut-deep embarrassment that still lingered.  “…Zane, I know how you’re feeling-“

“Aphmau, don’t.”  

“Zane, just… give it a chance? You could have fun even if you don’t like her.” She offered, a softness taking over her expression, and damn it Zane couldn’t refuse that.

 “…Fine.” He grumbled and Aphmau lit up, her voice growing louder with excitement  “Oh thank you so much!” She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed tightly “it means a lot to me!”

“Aphmauuuu!” A familiar cheery voice broke through as KC opened the door “Oh. Oh! I’m sorry I forgot to knock!”

Aphmau and Zane pushed away from each other, Aphmau snatching the plush from him in an instant “Thanks for holding that on to me, I was worried Celestia would chew it up while I was gone.”  

Zane nodded appreciatively, “Yes, of course.” He barely glanced at KC before heading out to leave “Oh Zane! Wait!” KC darted to be right in front of him “I heard you’re going to the group date with Michi!”

“Only because Aphmau wants me to go.” He crossed his arms indignantly. KC tilted her head, her tail flicking behind her “Hmm, okay, but I was just going to warn you Michi might just be agreeing to go because she wants to date Laurance or steal Travis… she likes trying to steal boyfriends.”

Zane looked to Aphmau with a deadpan expression “Still think I might have fun with Michi?” 

Aphmau stretched a smile across her face. “She might surprise you, " she offered, and Zane sighed. “Thanks for the warning, " he muttered, turning back around and side-stepping KC to leave.

KC pouted when he left “I didn’t mean to upset him…” she was quiet, her voice near a whine. Aphmau shook her head  “No, he doesn’t even like Michi like that, he’s just going because… well to support me.” 

The miefwa hummed in thought “I didn’t realize Zane could be that kind-hearted.”  Aphmau laughed light and fond.  “You’d be amazed how gentle he is when you get to know him. He’s kind of like… a wounded cat.” 

“A wounded cat? Zane?” She looked towards the doorway where he had left from “...I feel bad he has to go on a date with Michi but maybe it could be good for them?”

That’s what KC hoped for anyway. ( even though Michi had been tugging at her last straw a lot these days)

…

Michi seemed to have good intentions but after the situation with Reese, at least as she waited with Michi outside of the mall. She seemed lackadaisical, face neutral as picked at her nails “Hey has Zane gotten hotter since high school?” 

KC turned to her with a start, that was a bit of a sudden question. Maybe not unexpected from Michi but it wasn’t something KC typically thought about. She didn’t interact too much with Zane until they both ended up working at the same coffee place in college.

He definitely has grown since then, and he’s lanky and not muscular in the slightest but he has a pretty face with sharp eyes.. really nice hair too. KC would say he has prettier hair than either of his brothers “Mmm… I think so? He has really nice eyes.”

“…Has he tanned any?” 

Oh.

He was as pale as ever, but KC always found it more comparable to Snow White than a deathly kind of pale “Um. I think maybe a little.”  Michi clicked her tongue “Hmph,”  KC winced, the sound of Michi’s hmphs were very annoying. “I’ll just have to see for myself, then.”

KC felt really bad for Zane, this was who she brought to be his Valentine's buddy?  Zane may be a jerk and a bully at times but…

No. No Michi isn’t that bad, she’s friends with her for a reason. Her phone rings from inside her purse and she reaches in to pull it out. Aphmau just texted her. 

“They’re waiting for us inside, come on.” 

Michi scoffed, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she followed KC inside. She went towards the centermost fountain where the group had mostly met up, even Laurance was here on standby with a very awkward Garroth. 

KC thought they were cute, obvious, but really cute. She smiled brightly “Hey everyone!” She waved wildly,  and the first thing Michi did was approach Zane apprehensively, circling him “Hmm I don’t think you are quite my type, and you're pale but… you do have alright eyes… or eye.”

Zane hugged himself and KC couldn’t help it, she felt far too guilty and Zane looked so uncomfortable with her. She darted over and got between the two “Michi, there’s been a mistake here. Zane is my Valentine's buddy, I set you up with Reese.” 

Michi paused “The cute bubblegum hunk? You set me up with him?” She asked excitedly, clapping her hands together “Ooohoo! I just have to wait for him to show up and I’ll have all the time I can-“

KC sighed and turned towards Zane, whose eyes were wide with shock “Since when were we paired together for this…?” He questioned suddenly, eyes narrowing with suspicion. “Ever since Michi decided to be a butt about being paired with you for the day.” She puffs her chest out proudly, resting her hands on her hips “Besides I still owe you for the mall incident.” 

“Oh,” Zane muttered, relaxing his shoulders. “Well, thank you then, KC.” He spoke well-manneredly, easing more. “No problem!” 

From next to her Lucinda smiled “Well that’s one pair of buddies put together, Laurance?” She asked expectantly, and he nodded nearly a bow of his head “I’ll be a fine Valentine's buddy for you.” He pat Garroth on the shoulder as he passed by him to be next to her. Michi stood distant from the two, pupils turned to slits that carefully followed his movement. Reese frowned from next to her “Uh, Michi are you alright?”

“Mmm yeah, that slice of hunk-cake Laurance just seems off doesn’t he?” 

Aphmau and Zoey stood right next to the fountain, a fresh flower tucked behind Aphmau’s ear shimmering like it had been enchanted. The two stood closely together, their shoulders brushing. It was something that didn’t go unnoticed by KC. “Oh, look at Zoey and Aphmau, they’re so cute!” she whispered to Zane, who nodded in turn. “Yeah. They are.” he agreed, smiling just a little for his friend.

Cadenza who stood on the outer rim of the group approached Garroth “So that makes us Valentine buddies for the day, Garroth!”  He smiled, and offered an arm out “I’ll be a good date for today, promise.” he winked at the girl who laughed boisterously in turn.

Nicole and Dante held hands, whispering to each other giddily. Nicole at one point said something that made Dante’s face turn a bright shade of red. Travis and Katelyn were the last to join the group. Katelyn’s face was still clean of makeup, but she wore a rather pretty dark blue top and leather pants. For her, this was uncharacteristically dolled up for the occasion “Hey guys.” she greeted as Travis smiled from beside her, also dressed to the nines but that was as expected from him.

“Wow, Katelyn you look so pretty!!” KC piped up. “Thanks, all of you guys look really nice too.” KC looked down at her dress and then returned to where Michi and Reese were chatting. Michi looked far too beautiful- more than KC felt.

Zane followed her line of sight “…I think your outfit is nice.” He offered, though awkwardly. KC smiled appreciatively at the effort “Thank you, you cleaned up pretty well too! I mean you usually only wear plain long sleeves so… its a nice change.”

Travis offered his hand out for Katelyn “I picked out the first place for us to go, come on!” Katelyn took his hand, her grip in his awkwardness as she followed his lead up the escalators to the mall's second floor.  The rest followed in tandem, pausing a bit in confusion when they stopped in front of an arcade.

Lucinda's lip twitched into a near sneer  “I dressed fancy for this? I mean sure, arcades are fun and all but why was this the dress code we were given?” she looked down at her heels, which would not be comfortable for Dancey Dance War (or something like that.) Travis looked at everyone’s hesitant faces “Woah woah! This is just one part of it! This is just for us to get some downtime before we go to the very fancy reservations that I made for us at that new restaurant in town.”

Katelyn's lips morphed into something mischievous “I think Lucinda is just scared she won’t be able to beat anyone at any of the games.”  Lucinda gasped “Oh no, honey, I can game.” She crossed her arms defiantly. Aphmau snorts “Lucinda, have you even held a game controller before?”

“That doesn’t matter! I bet I could still do better than-

Miss the-only-games-I-play-are-mobile-games.”  

Aphmau gasped out loud “What! No! I… I mean… I used to play MMOs all the time!”  she defended, Zoey chuckled softly from next to her “Weren’t you addicted to that Mystic Messenger game that came out a few years ago?”   Aphmau flushed and turned to her “Zoey, don’t tell them that!” 

“Oooh yes! I remember you would set alarms and stuff and you’d text me about it at the weirdest times-” KC piped up, clapping her hands together “KC! No need to tell them all of that! I mean, you got me into it anyway.”  She spoke accusatively.  

“…Isn’t Mystic Messenger that Korean dating game?” Zane mumbled, and KC’s expression brightened “You know it?!”

“I heard of it.”

Lucinda looked between the two and then glanced at Aphmau “You know ladies I think I need to use the restroom.” She turned and Cadenza was right behind her “Oh right! I could freshen up real quick.”

KC and Michi followed instinctively, leaving their dates behind and Katelyn followed without a word. Dante frowned as Nicole left his side to head into the bathroom, now he was left with the rest of the girls. The only ones left were Zoey and Aphmau “…Let’s not go in there, for our own health Zoe.”

Zoey nodded carefully “Yeah I think we know better, come on let’s go to coin machines.” She took Aphmau by the hand, and they walked further into the arcade. 

Travis whistled “Well while we wait I say we play some games, head off in pairs-“

“I’ll go with you.” Zane piped up, strangely eager to choose him. “Wait what? Why Me?” Travis looked around at the others. Zane scoffed  “The choices besides you are a stranger I don’t know, my annoying brother, A man who can’t stand to be around me, and Laurance who would rather hang out with said annoying brother.”

Laurance winced at the pointed remark.

“Don’t tell me we’re just gonna hang with each other the whole time, isn’t that kind of lame?” Dante looked to Reese “And I barely know this guy either- uh no offense.”

Reese shrugged “Oh none taken, I’m not sure what I’m doing here now that I’ve been paired with Michi who I’m pretty sure is more interested in Laurance there than me.”

Laurance winced again but this time a scowl followed “Well I’m definitely not interested in her.” Garroth giggles from next to him “Yeah, I don’t think anyone wants to date someone as mean as her- it’s a wonder KC is still friends with her.”

KC wondered why she was still friends with Michi. Especially now as she began to gossip about Laurance instead of the topic they originally wanted to discuss. 

“Yeah on New Year's when I asked him to be my New Year's kiss he went all ballistic! I mean you can reject a girl and be kind, and he even had an evil look in his eye-”

“Wait a minute,” KC interrupted because she remembered seeing Laurance that night. He looked downright horrified, and now she felt a bit of righteous anger. “You were the one that tried to force a kiss on him?” 

Katelyn made a disgusted groan “You tried to kiss him all of the sudden and you wonder why he got ballistic? What the hell did you expect? If it were me you’d have left with a black eye.”  Katelyn turned back to Lucinda as she hummed in thought “So he reacted strongly based on his emotions.” She looked up at Michi “but more importantly, you can’t act like you’re in the right here.”

Michi let out a low growl “But he looked literally evil-” she tried but Cadenza interrupted her “Darling, I’m sorry but did you ask to kiss him or did you say you were?”  Michi stayed silent, eyes narrowed. KC huffed, she promised him she wouldn’t say anything but shouldn’t she defend him…? She bit the bottom of her lip as Michi opened her mouth to deny and lie like usual certainly.

“Well I did ask-”


“No. No, you didn’t. I can’t believe I tolerated you for this long, I should have dumped you as a friend right after that.” She pinched the bridge of her nose, closing her eyes “For the sake of having fun today, We’ll play nice but after today don’t bother calling me again.” She didn’t wait for an answer before leaving.  Nicole crossed her arms “KC is far too nice sometimes.” she muttered, knowing she’d had been far harsher.

KC walked out of the bathroom and found that the guys were not right outside waiting like she hoped, she frowned “Helloooo?” she shuffled forward through the small crowd and found that Zane was awkwardly standing behind Travis as he launched basketballs into a basket.  Laurance was with Garroth, brushing shoulders as they tried their hand at Ski Ball.

Dante and Reese were playing air hockey and very clearly Reese was winning, leaving Dante shocked. She tried finding Aphmau but found the girl was drinking a soda with Zoey at one of the tables. She didn’t want to interrupt them.

She would go to where Garroth and Laurance were but she also felt they needed space, at least based on how they were acting just then. No matter how her curiosity burned and her shipping heart ached.  Reese and Dante were in an intense game and Reese looked really hot the way he hit the pucks back perfectly but he was also very focused and not her date anymore (She’s still very much mourning the loss)

Zane and Travis it is then.  She ran to the two and grabbed a basketball from Zane, then did her best to toss it into the basket “KC shoots!” Then it hit and Zane got a point “she scores!” She cheered. Zane tutted, and grabbed the next basketball “How’d you have such good aim?”

Travis grinned “Woahhh, great aim KC!” He clapped his hands. KC turned cheekily to Zane and Travis  “I love games almost as much as I love baking.” 

“Keep shooting then,” Zane suggested, and KC turned and grabbed another ball to throw, ending up as a match between her and Travis.

The rest of the girls had all left the bathroom except for one pink-faced, angry miefwa.

“No… no this isn’t over, I’m not gonna be some friendless loser.” Michi retreated into a stall and carefully pulled out a small glass vial filled with a sparkling purple liquid from her purse. Her clawed fingers carefully twisted it around in her fingers “I’ll show them who he really is, and I’ll show Laurance who he messed with.” she murmured bitterly and took the cap off, and slammed it down like she would a shot of tequila. She choked momentarily, not caring as the vial shattered upon hitting the tile underneath her feet.

She braced her hands against the sides of the stall as she felt her body shift and change in mass, tendon and muscle stretching as muscle forcibly expanded, her hair feeling lighter as it shortened and changed color. In the end she took on a completely different appearance.

When she stumbled from the bathroom stall and made it to the mirror her mouth widened into a Cheshire grin or should she say Garroths grin

Chapter Text

Cadenza thought Garroth was a fine date, of course she wasn’t really into men but he was admittedly handsome even if only viewed through a aesthetic lense and even though his personality could be a bit boisterous she knew for a fact he wasn’t the kind of guy to enter a women’s restroom without reason.

She was at the counter looking to see how many tickets she’d need for a bracelet when she saw it. The confusion was strong, she had just left him at the claw machine and now he was here?

She furrowed her brows together and snuck into the bathroom where he came from, and there she saw Michi’s purse left by itself at the end stall. She stepped into the stall and retrieved it. The loud crunch of glass underneath her heel drew her attention down towards the remnants of a broken glass vial with purple staining the area around it.

 She only took a few potions classes in college and high school but she never got into it enough to be able to identify whether this was one or not from one look. She got out her phone and shot a text to Lucinda to meet her in the bathroom.

Michi stepped out onto the arcade floor, cautiously looking around for any signs of the man she was imitating. Throughout the games, she caught signs of couples but tried not to draw attention to herself. She had two goals, both mainly about revenge.

She needed to make Laurance angry enough to show off those blood-red eyes. She ducked behind a row of arcade cabinets, looking a little ridiculous due to her new height.

She peered over, eyes narrowed when she spot Laurance and Lucinda discussing something real interesting.  

“You know, I tried to think of what like romantic-creatures there might be since its the holiday for it, so… Succubus?” she asked teasingly. Laurance laughed, giddily replying “No!”

“Damn, you mean you don't use magic powers to look attractive?” she teased him, bumping her shoulder against his. Laurance rolled his eyes but suddenly paused, he darted his head around and looked straight at Michi eyes turning red for a split second before calming back to a light blue “Garroth, what are you doing behind there?”

Michi jolted, a chill traveling down her spine. “Laurance, sorry I was just…” she struggled. Everything felt so weird in this body, especially her voice. She cringed. Lucinda looked between the two and mistook Michi’s nerves for something else entirely. “You guys wait here. I'm gonna go..” her phone let off a small chime and she checked it with furrowed brows “I’mmm gonna get a drink.” She smoothed her hair over her shoulder and walked away, leaving the two alone.

“Gar is something strong? You're slouching.” he sounded so earnestly concerned, and lovey to the point it made her sick and opened her eyes a bit more to the true nature of Garroth and Laurance’s relationship.

“And now you have a weird look on your face.”

What the hell, does he like keep a notebook on Garroths mannerisms or something? Michi straightened up and smiled, leaning against the arcade cabinet “I wanted to talk to you about something.”

Laurance’s brows furrowed together, more concern weaving across his face “Garroth, if it's about us could we wait until we're back home?” he reached out and rested a hand on her forearm “Besides, you can't just leave Cadenza waiting.” he drew his hand back and attempted to move past her. Michi shot her arm out, gripping him by the wrist, not bothering with  gentleness. Laurance stopped as soon as he felt any resistance, not wanting to drag the other. He turned towards her, tilting his head  “Hey.” he spoke, voice on edge “whatever’s up with you, it better stop right now.” 

Michi smiled, but vehemently refused tolet go “What? Are you gonna hurt me if I don't?”   Her grip on him slowly tightened. Laurance clenched his fist, eyes zeroed in on her like she was prey  “Let. Go.” His voice was dangerous, a threat in every sense of the word. Michi didn't quite understand nor care “Answer the question first Laur, Would you hurt me?”

Laurance pulled his arm forward, using the leverage to pull the other in, his fist immediately wrapping itself in the collar of her shirt “who are you?” his narrowed red-eyes and gravelly deep voice all only showed his anger, an unbridled silent rage even worse than what Michi had caused last time.

“I knew it!” she laughed incredulously, I knew I wasn’t making things up in my head-“ she yelped when Laurance tugged her closer “what?” he questioned.

“So, what are you? A demon? Some sort of vile monster?” She put both her hands around his wrist, the disguise partway melting away to reveal her clawed slender fingers which she used to dig into his skin with great effort, it took all her strength to cut even a little into him “I should really let everyone know right now who you are.”

Laurance had enough and violently shoved her away, glowering as she stumbled back into the arcade cabinet  “Stop wearing his face, and get out of mine before you regret it.” 

The disguise was melting more, skin at her feet and climbing up her elbows revealing her real self. She growled and took the moment to run at him, pulling him down by the collar in a surprising move so she could kiss him before he could even process it. Laurance considered himself partially lucky that this wasn’t a battlefield where he would have been killed for letting his guard down like this.

The rest of her disguise fell, revealing her full self and to Laurance’s horror she had kissed him just as Garroth walked by, looking for Cadenza. He stepped back, eyes wide. Laurance shoved the girl away in an instant, all anger evaporating in favor of panic as he ran after Garroth. 

Michi was left on the ground, hair a mess with a sneer of a smile on her face. Reese must have seen her and approached apprehensive “Are you.. Alright?” Michi latched onto his arm and pulled herself up before he could even offer “Just wait until I tell you what just happened.” 

Garroth couldn’t bear to look behind him, the man was trying to rush out some explanation but the hurt of it all made him feel sick to his stomach “I don’t want to hear it, I saw you kissing her.” He dismissed, denying the tears threatening to spill over. He couldn't allow himself to cry, he just couldn't.

“Garroth, I would never-“ 

Cadenza interrupted him, Lucinda catching up behind her with bated breath “He didn’t do anything!” Cadenza shouted, Lucinda from next to her held something in her hands “Garroth, Look.” In her hands was a paper towel with shards of glass shards and a lid. “What am I looking at here?”

“Oh of course.” Laurance sighed heavily “of course those types of potions still exist.” Garroth looked between them all, like a confused puppy might “potion?”

“It’s a disguise potion, Michi made herself look like you!” Cadenza smiled and Garroth slouched  “of… of course she did.”

He turned to Laurance turned to him “I… I’m sorry, I apologize I should have realized that wasn’t… that you wouldn’t-“ Laurance shushed him gently “It’s okay, I would have been just as angry.”

“I wasn't angry I was…hurt.” Garroth smiled softly at him but that fond look turned to concern when he saw the trickle of blood down his arm “Laurance your arm!” 

Laurance shook his head “It’s nothing, I uh,” he swiped it away, revealing that behind the blood there was nothing but slight indents no sign that he'd even been hurt “I had a nose bleed and I wiped it away with my arm, no injuries see?”

Garroth sighed in relief, turning his attention back to the girls “Thank you guys, for clearing the misunderstanding.” Cadenza smiled “Of course, I don’t like happy couples getting broken up.” Lucinda snickered from next to her “I didn't say anything.” she assured. 

They both froze up and it took a moment before either one spoke up. Laurance ended up chuckling “Of course you’d figure it out, Cadenza.  We’re not really a couple just… seeing how things are going to go I  guess.” 

She nodded “Ooh right, of course love.” she pat him on the side of the face much like a mother would “You can always talk to me alright, both of you, I can keep a secret.” 

“I've been keeping it because I've been in the know, so I can keep it even longer. No pressure.” 

KC and Zane had been making a good time out of the situation, playing most of the two-player arcades they could find and taking turns on others. For the most part KC was better at him than all the games, except for the little beat-em ups where you chose a character and battled it out with one another.

For example, right now, he was completely in the zone as his character delivered a flurry of magic spells at the scantily clad cat girl(why did all these games have them dress like that?) and when he won he bellowed the deepest of laughs in pride. She giggled because of it “Zane, I think you may have the deepest laugh I've ever heard.” 

He scoffed, running his hands through his bangs which gave her the slightest peak at the faint scar that covered his other eye “Every villain needs a good evil laugh.”

“Pffft, you’re not a villain, and you don't need to be one to have a good evil laugh.”

“Oh yeah? Prove it.”

“What?” Her ears twitched.

“Give me your best villainous laugh.” 

“I don't know… um… it might hurt your ears.” she whined a bit “I have a pretty… pitchy voice.”

“Oh come on, I can handle it, just try.”  He challenged.

KC puffed out her cheeks, and crossed her arms “ okay but you can’t laugh.” Zane nodded and she took a deep breath and then let out the highest pitcher most conniving little giggle.  Zane snorted before bursting into giggled of his own. KC pouted “Heyyy! You agreed you wouldn't laugh!”

As Zane kept laughing though, her pout morphed to a soft smile before she began to giggle herself.

Zane really was a bit different than she thought he’d be, he was not nearly as competitive as she assumed and seemed mostly okay with her winning things (a lot of guys got sensitive about that sort of thing and Zane just didn’t care! Imagine that!!)

He sighed as his laughter subsided and reached down to pluck the two tickets that spat from the machine “I feel like we’ve exhausted most of the games here, so what if we combined our tickets I think that we’d be able to get a pretty good prize to share.”

She hummed, tail flicking back and forth before nodding with perked ears  “Hmmm… Okay! Afterwards, we can sit and get something to drink while we wait for the others!”  He handed his tickets to her that she shoveled into her purse with hers.

“Sure, I can do that.” As they moved away from the crowded part of the arcade , KC noticed a still-seething Michi looking at her angrily from her spot near the counter with a disappointed looking Reese standing across from her. Both deep in discussion “She’s still here…?”

“Seems like it.” Zane muttered with a sneer on his face, something about her always annoyed him since the minute they met. 

Michi pushed past her date and began to match forward, her hair disheveled. Zane moved to stand in front of KC protectively, to her completely surprise but Michi barely stalled for a second before continuing “Move it, Emo boy.” She threatened.

Zane shook his head and KC pouted “I can handle her-“  Zane sighed “Yes I know, but clearly she’s not… right.”  Michi scoffed, rolling her eyes “I can hear you, you know.” 

Zane said nothing, just nastily glared at her. Michi gripped her fist and began to say something but this time completely froze when Reese stood between the two and Michi. Reese in all his muscled six-foot glory “Good heavens, I don’t know what’s gotten into you but just leave. Clearly you’re not as into me as you have been claiming so just go.”

Michi took a step back and began muttering nonsensical phrases under her breath before taking off.  Reese turned around and smiled at the two “I believe that’s my queue to leave then.”  

“…No, I’ll leave.” Zane suggested with crossed arms  “KC was looking forward to being your date, and… I didn’t want to come today much anyway so I’ll go and you stay here with her.” 

Reese eyed him for a moment “…are you sure?” he questioned warily, KC looked up at Zane “Zane… you really would do that for me?”

“You were kind enough to me, I’m just returning the favor. I… had fun, so it’s your turn. Both of you.”

“That’s very kind of you, thank you Zane.” Reese acknowledged with a bow of his head and a polite smile. KC nodded, she turned to him and gave him the lightest, most gentle of hugs, her hands resting on his upper back from under his arms “Yeah… it was. Thank you, so much.” 

Zane barely reached his hands up to hug her back when she pulled away leaving his hands awkwardly suspended in the air before resting at his sides “Yes of course, you two have fun then.” he gave the smallest of waves to KC and with a nod to Reese he left.

Zoey and Aphmau held hands as they watched the exchange, Zoey’s soft eyes trailing Zane as he left “I know you said he changed but… that was still a bit surprising to see.” Aphmau nodded with a proud smile “I’m proud of him… I think he’s come really far.” 

Cadenza, Garroth, Laurance, and Lucinda joined the group at the entrance bundles of tickets in each of their arms. Lucinda grinning “Look at you two, you’re acting so casual about it now.”

Aphmau turned red “Well um, I mean, it’s a date? Of course we’re going to hold hands and um stuff.” she defended uselessly. Zoey playfully rolled her eyes, not bringing it up as Nicole and Dante joined them with Travis and Katelyn.

Travis whistled “Once we claim our prizes we’re off to the restaurant!”

“Actually… me and Garroth were going to leave early.” Laurance announced, and Travis deflated “What really? What about Cadenza and Lucinda?”

“Me and Caddy were just gonna be valentines buddies for the dinner, we got dressed up so we’re still going we just thought that it’d be best since… it’s a lot to explain really.” Lucinda waved her hand in dismissal. Travis frowned “Well alright… that’s fine! The rest of us can… where’s Zane and Michi?”

“Oh um… she stormed off, and Zane decided to go home.”  

“Oh. That’s… also fine I guess. Well then, bye you two we’ll rearrange our carpool a bit you two be safe getting home yeah?” 

Garroth and Laurance both nodded, and after everyone said their goodbyes and brief hugs were shared they left for home with Laurance driving them.

When they pulled into his driveway they both headed up to Garroth’s doorstep underneath the starry sky. “I really am sorry, for not realizing it was a trick.” Garroth looked entirely guilty and Laurance couldn’t take it. He took his face in his hands. “It is not your fault.”

“I… it just hurt a lot you know? I guess I just got blinded by it.” 

Laurance understood that more than most, his emotions could be dangerously hard to control and there’s no telling how he’d react in that situation. He swiped his thumbs across his cheeks and pulled Garroth in for a gentle kiss “Don’t worry, I would have been in the same boat okay?”

Garroth nodded, and leaned down to meet him for a second kiss “Next valentines… maybe we should just go on a date?”

“I’d like that Garroth, really.” He whispered back with a smile.

Zane himself had a good ending to his night too,  a text from KC “This is our plushy, we get shared custody!” and an attached image of a pinkie-cake plush she bought with the tickets.

Zane rolled his eyes and shot a text back

“As long as I get visitation rights, the plush can stay with you.” 

Chapter Text

Aphmau saw herself in a forest, dressed in white with strange tattoos shaped like crescents on her arms. She stared at them, for far too long before dragging herself to her feet.

Around her was endless forest, lush with green leaves and beautiful flowers that surrounded her from the spot she was laid in.  She stood to her feet shakily, her eyes looked around her vision blurred causing a disorienting view.  

Every step felt heavier than the last, feeling like her legs were casted in cement. The breeze felt cold against her bare skin, the white cloth covering her not doing much to keep her warm. Upon looking down she noticed the tattoos along her arms and was kept in a trance as they shone. She heard rustling, and  looked up. 

Among the dense trees, a short distance away stood a man clad in medieval armor, but the green of his eyes were strikingly familiar. Brown bangs stuck out from his hood, but it was difficult to see the entirety of his face, especially as he was partially hidden by a tree.  When the two locked eye’s he turned to run, and for whatever reason she felt compelled to chase “Hey wait!”

Her bare feet pounded against dirt, bits of rock and twig dug into her soles. She pushed branches out of her face, but doesn’t let it stop her. She couldn’t let him get away, she just couldn’t.

Then she had to stop when a sudden dizzy spell washed over her, she stumbled and tripped onto her knees. She tried to keep herself held up by her hands but that couldn’t last, she fell into her side. She couldn’t move, her limbs heavy like led.

The man stopped running by this point and watched her for a beat before walking back over to her. The man kneeled next to her, brushing her hair back from her face “I’m sorry, My Lady.” He whispered “I promise this time you’ll wake up somewhere safe.” Aphmau tried looking at his face but her vision was far too fuzzy to make anything out.

When she woke up again she was no longer in a forest, just home, but weirdly enough that forest felt like home too… the same feeling as being in her moms house gave her.  She sat up, pinching the bridge of her nose as the doorbell rang downstairs. With Katelyn and KC both at work that left Aphmau the one solely responsible for answering the door. She gathered herself to her feet, and slipped out of her sweatpants into a pair of jeans.

She trodded downstairs and opened the front door. To her surprise it was someone she hadn’t seen in a couple of years. Called, texted, but seeing him is something else.

“Aphmau!” he grinned, throwing himself around her in a hug, Aphmau met him in the middle rather enthusiastically  “Vylad, It’s so good to see you!”

“It’s been so long, how are you?” He asked with a bright smile.

“I’m good but- oh my irene, what are you doing here?” When they pulled away they were both still smiling excitedly, her hands lingering on his shoulders “I flew back to town and my brother let me know you guys lived here so…”

“So you came to see us?” She let go of him.

He nodded, moving to brush his hair out of his face, a habit he’s had since high school. “Yeah, I was gonna stay with Garroth while in town but his house is really full between him, Dante, Travis, and that… Blaze fellow.” 

Vylad has never spoke with Blaze has he? “Fellow? What are you, 50?” She snorted, and Vylad rolled his eyes “I just came back from the UK, it may have affected my speech just a bit.”  Aphmau hums, looking over at him “That sounds fun, The UK?” she questioned.

“It was until I started to miss home, I mean… I still intend on traveling but  I think I’m going to officially settle down back here in Phoenix Drop.  At least for a little while.” He mumbled the last bit, looking back towards the door and finally closing it behind him. “I also just… had a feeling that I needed to come home.”

Aphmau tilted her head, eyeing him curiously “What feeling did you have?” 

“Just a random urge I suppose? But it might just be an excuse to see everyone.” There was a beat “Not that… I’ve told them I’m here.”

“Vylad, What do you mean by not that I’ve told them I’m here? Does your family not even know?”

Vylad shook his head “Garroth knows I’m coming to visit but not necessarily that I’m going to live here. Zane doesn’t know, and neither do our parents, I haven’t even talked to them since I’ve been back yet.”  

Aphmau pouted and took him by the arm “Come on, we’re sitting down while we’re having this conversation.” she dragged him towards her living room, Vylad doing little to fight back, then they plopped down on the couch.

“Now, slowly, I need you to explain why none of them know.” 

Vylad clenched his hands in his laps “…I’m not as financially stable as I may have told them.” He stared at her awkwardly and Aphmau gave a heavy sigh then gestured for him to continue. "They think I got this fancy job that allowed me to travel everywhere but I actually hopped from part time job to part time job and did some freelancing.” 

“Oh but…”

“And this is the part where I ask you a favor, and you’re free to say no obviously, but can I stay with you? My application for an apartment was accepted it’s just going to take a week to process and get me set up… so is it possible that I could stay with you?” 

“Of course!!” She answered immediately, clapping her hands together  “I would just need to check in with KC and Katelyn, but we have a futon in the basement so you can stay down there.” She offered, and he smiled “Thank you, it means a lot to me Aph.” He pulled her in for another hug “and… if possible could you not tell my family?”

“If that's what you really want, sure, but they're your *family* and worried! rightfully so!”

Vlyad hesitated for a moment before nodding “I know, I will eventually but I really want to try doing things without their help- I mean they’ve been doing it my whole life and while I appreciate it I really just need to prove I can do this.”

Aphmau could understand that, her mom had always been protective of her since she was little “Alright… how about we set up a spot in the basement? You can choose where we move the futon… we just gotta dust and stuff and it’ll work.” she ushered him further and made sure the door was locked before leading him to the basement doors.

Vylad opened it and peered down the stairs, he walked down them just as Garroth knocked on the door “Aphmau! You home?”

Vylad cursed and slammed the door shut behind him, leaving Aphmau to deal with the situation. She scoffed in utter disbelief, muttering underneath her breath about how the Ro’meaves needed to solve their issues. She hurried to the door and opened it “Hey Garroth! What’s up?”

“I need to make a copy of some tax return papers, I was hoping you had a printer I could use real quick?” 

“Oh sure! KC has one in her room, as long as you only touch the computer you can use the printer.” She hurried up the stairs and practically pushed him into the bright pink room “alright here you go! Have fun!” She shut the door behind her, and began heading back towards the basement when another knock at the door appeared.

Aphmau groaned and hurried to the door, and opened it “What??”

It was Zane, in his arms was a Pinkie Cake plushy hidden underneath a blanket but it was different one than he usually brought “Aph…? Did something come up I thought we were hanging out today?”

Aphmau looked at the clock and cursed, because yeah this was the time they usually came “…Yes! I’m free, just go wait in my room alright? I’ll get out the tea set here in a minute-“

Zane rose his brow but nodded “Uh, okay.” He mumbled “We got a lot to talk about today, so make a lot of it.” He slogged up the stairs and Aphmau really wanted to hurry and see what was up with him but she had a lot of things to deal with today.

She walked down to the basement where she saw Vylad hiding at the bottom of the steps “Okay, Vylad can you please just tell them? This is like five minutes into you staying here and it’s already getting difficult- me and Zane have a lot of hang outs so really it’s unavoidable…”

“Hey Aphmau?” Garroth asked, popping up behind her “her printer is out of ink… by chance do you- VYLAD!” Garroth rushed past her, dropping the papers he was trying to make a copy of and tackled Vylad in a hug. Vylad, despite avoiding him, hugged him back immediately “Garroth!”

“It’s so good to see you-!”

“Aph did I just hear…” Zane appeared at the top of the steps next, eyes going wide “Vylad? What are you doing here?”

“Zane enough of that! Give your baby brother a hug.”he pushed Vylad towards Zane. Zane took a step back  “What? Garroth no. I wanna know why he’s-“

“Yeah Zane! Come give me a hug!” Vylad begged next, opening his arms expectantly.  Zane looked at judgmentally, narrowing his eyes.

“No. I don’t do hugs.” Zane refused

“Come onnn big brother, give me a hug I haven’t been in town for sooo long!”

“See he wants one!” Garroth gestured to him emphatically.

“Only because you put the thoughts in his head!” he defended as Vylad laughed “Guys it’s okay, I was joking you don’t have to hug me Zane.” he looked over him for a moment, and sighed “I’m… glad we can all be together like this.”

Zane frowned, brows taut “What do you mean…? Vylad, is everything alright?” he approached the other and Vylad nodded “I’m fine, don’t worry about me.” Zane huffed, crossing his arms “I may be socially inept but I’m still your brother, you can come to me for help if you need it.”

“I know!” he winced “I… know, but you guys have been there helping me all my life- I just want to try and help myself I guess.”

Before the brothers could say anything more there was yet again another knock on the door. Aphmau cursed “I’ll go get it one second.” She hurried away and opened the door and what do you know it’s Laurance on the other side.

“Aph I left my sweater here, I was hoping I could go get it?” 

Vylad’s head whipped around, almost violently towards the door. It was jerky “who is-“ 

“Oh yeah sure! Go ahead!”

Zane scowled and Garroth absolutely beamed like a lovestruck puppy, which gave two reactions that somewhat threw him off more. Vylad took a hesitant step forward “Is that… um, who is it?”

He headed up the stairs of the basement and just barely looked around the corner. 

“Oh Vylad!” She saw him right away “You haven’t met him yet-!”  Aphmau grabbed a wide-eyed Laurance by the crook of his arm and tugged him through. Laurance stood stock still for a moment before forcing himself to relax and look towards the source “…Vylad right? It's nice to meet you.” 

“Oh.” Vylad had the briefest look of disappointment on his face, but it was quickly hidden by a charming smile “Yeah, I guess my brothers must talk about me.” 

He held his hand out towards him and Laurance shook it “…Yeah, I’ve seen pictures too.”  Laurance looked at him for a beat longer, then moved past him to grab his jacket hanging off the coat rack.

“I gotta go.” He gave Garroth a smile, and at his attempt to give Zane one the other looked away. Vylad took a step back “…He seems a bit awkward.” 

Zane rolled his eyes “Give it more than one chat.” He left them behind and went upstairs.

“Aaaand now Zane is irritable again.” Garroth huffs, watching his brother leave.

“That’s just Laurance, he’ll loosen up around you eventually.” She assured, eyes trailing up the stairs. Vylad’s shoulders sagged and he nodded, but that didn’t do much for comfort. 

After all, he’s known Laurance far longer than any of them.

Chapter Text

The grace of death has been taking far too long for his liking, by now he's witnessed the death of his brothers by the hands of another.  

Laurance had killed the priest in a fit of rage after he’d slain our Garroth, not that Vylad stopped him. The brother he once knew when they were kids was long gone by then, but it didn’t make it hurt any less to watch and allow him to be struck down.

The aftermath of that day led Laurance to stay behind in Phoenix Drop, to protect the village that Garroth cared for so much and for Vylad to leave for Okasis to fix the wrongs his brother and father left behind and to give his mother some much needed rest. 

The people despised that he was allowed to take over the throne, or at least rule from behind his ailing mother. 

His stint as a ruler ended as soon as he found a worthy enough successor that he trusted, Vylad’s involvement as a ruler would be removed from any history books, he was rewritten to have died the first time. In a way, he did. 

Vylad waited until his mother passed of old age at Eve of her 98th  birthday, and then he finally fully left Okasis. The kingdom that never loved him.

He returned to Phoenix Drop and by then the town grew tenfold. There were vendors and stalls decorated with various unique items from different parts of the region. Strong scents of oils, perfumes, candles, and baked goods filled the air.

He went Aphmau’s house, and when expecting to see Aphmau he instead he saw Levin- now looking older than both him and Laurance.

“Vylad? It’s been a very long time since you dropped by!” Levin looked scarily like his brother now, even though there wasn’t a drop of blood between them that was shared. Perhaps it was due to Levin’s desire to be just like his father figure that led him to act so similarly. (Not to discredit Zoey, she did everything right by him.)

“Hello Levin, I heard that you became the new lord? Did Dante finally retire?”

“Not of his own accord, he was forced too due to his health decline and he decided I’d be best fit.” He looked down at the stack of papers on his desk and shoved them to the side “A lot has changed since you left, but there are many things still the same.”

Vylad nodded quietly “…What of Lady Alina?” He asked quietly. Levin laughed softly “She… she’s stubborn as ever- she’s just like mom.” He huffed “Since the last time you’ve seen her, she’s healed a lot.”

“And before you ask, Laurance is still here.” Levin smiled knowingly.

“I was curious, I suppose… he’s one thing that wouldn’t ever change. Where could I find him?”  Friendships like that were precious to their kind.

“Right now, he’s probably at Ungrths grave site- if not there… Garroth’s maybe.” Even after so many years the sound of his name feels sad.

“…Right I remember where that is, thank you Levin.” He looked at him fondly for a moment then reached out to ruffle his hair  “You’re doing a great job as lord.”

“Irene, it’s been a long time since someone’s done that.” Levin swatted at his hand. Vylad drew himself back “Tell you you're doing a good job?”

“No, pat my head like I’m a child.” He snorted “Go see Laurance, I’m sure he’d be happy to see you.” Vylad huffed, and left the lord to his work.  

The streets were rather busy, filled with merchants and plenty of new faces he couldn’t recognize. There were some new children that looked similar to those he knew. He thought of stopping by one of the earlier stalls, but decided against it.

“Vylad?” A voice broke through the crowd, he turned and it was Malachi. He was wearing the head-guards uniform and he too looked so much older.  “Malachi, you look… like an old man.” 

“Says the 70 something year old.” Malachi snorts “It’s been some odd years since you been here, what draws you back?”

“As you may have heard my mother has passed, and as I thought to find some familiar faces.” Vylad smiled “and I thought to see how Laurance was doing.”

Malachi sighed softly, shaking his head “He’s… he’s visiting ungrth right now.” Malachi gestured with a tilt of his head “Come on, I’ll show you.” 

He led Vylad down a more withered cobbled path that led up to a secluded part of the hill. The trees' bark were cracked and the limbs weighed heavy, overgrowth taking over the surrounding area.  Underneath a tilting tree sat Laurance, a cracked headstone with Ungrths name etched into its surface. 

Malachi approached first, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder “Sorry to bother you, Laur, but we got a victory.” Laurance looked up at Malachi putting on a melancholic smile “Someone want to see the famous immortal soldier?”

That moment Laurance saw Vylad and paused, he then smiled  “…I see, thanks Mal.” 

Malachi nodded “Of course I’ll… leave you be.” He looked between them and like that the two shadow knights were left alone. 

“I didn’t think I’d see you anytime soon.” Laurance gestured to the other to spot in the grass next to him.  Vlyad took care to be gentle with his steps, not wanting to show any disrespect to the wyvern that saved Laurance.

He sat next to him “It’s been a couple of decades though, not so soon.”

“Soon enough in the grand scheme of things, isn’t it?”   Laurance ran his hand across the grass. “I suppose you’re right.” he murmured.  Vylad looked past him at Ungrth’s headstone “…When you first escaped, I had no idea how you managed it.” 

“I owe him the fact I’m still even a little bit myself, any longer in there and I probably would have ended up just as bad as Gene.” He looked down at his lap “Not that I’m free of my bad actions.”

“…It’s hard to control the impulses, the drive for blood, the temper. It took me a while to get a handle on it.”  Vylad turned to him, and Laurance met his eyes.

For just a flicker, they were red.

“You are still far more in control than I ever could be, you’re not even a full-blooded shadow knight are you?” The slightest hint of anger, jealousy even.

Vylad cast his gaze away “I spent too much time in the overworld, and I never got in a situation where I could lose that part of myself.” He looked down at his hands “I’m glad for it, but I’m not as strong. No healing factor quite like a full shadow knight.”

“It’s a miserable existence Vylad, you still have a chance.”

“For a cure?” Vylad looked at him with furrowed brows.

“Yes, what else?”

“…Don’t want it.” Vylad refuted, Laurance chuckled “Not even a little bit?”

“No. My family are all gone, I have no interest in romance.” 

Laurance tilted his head, looking at him fondly “So you’re the only friend that can’t leave me behind.”

“I’ll always be here.” 

Vylad sat with him for another hour or so before the two of them decided to pay a visit to the graveyard. It was the easiest way for Vylad to see what has changed, in terms of people.

The graveyard had grown quite a bit since Vylad had last looked through it. Kneeling over a grave decorated with pink flowers, was a girl with light blue hair dressed in a white guard uniform and a pair of white fluffy ears and tail to match.

“Nekoette?”

The girl turned, ears perking “Oh Laurance, hello! I was just…” Vylad peered past her “Visiting your mother?” 

Nekoette nodded slowly, turning back to the headstone “…Yeah, I've been taking care of it since Levin became lord.” she picked herself up, hand on the edge of her sword. 

“Trying to see who's died since your last visit to Vylad?”

Vylad nodded.

“I'll leave you two to it.” She left, striding away. Vylad huffed, and turned back to Laurance who stayed staring at the grave. “I only knew her name was Nana for the last 15 years of her life.” he murmured, placing his hand atop the grave for a moment “Come on I'll show you the others.”

There were many names he recognized, but None he was quite close to. Like Dale, Brendan, Donna, and a few others but when he saw Katelyn’s name he genuinely was thrown back. 

That woman had seemed so immortal, so invincible. She hadn't even gone out in a magnificent blaze of glory, or some huge battle. She'd simply passed in her sleep, it hit him a bit too. Laurance nudged his shoulder “The rest that are missing have either moved away, or just…died somewhere else.”

“Such as Nicole? Do you have any clue what happened to her?”

“…I’m not sure, last Dimitri visited she was alright.”

Vylad nodded, looking towards him “Where’s my brother?” Laurance was suddenly stricken with muteness. His sorrowful gaze turned towards a separate gated grave “…Being royalty and head guard he was placed into a separate plot from everyone. It was also my own personal request.”

Vylad walked ahead of him wordlessly and went through the gate. The headstone itself was simple, but dug into the dirt in front of it was a rusted blue sword with a discolored gold handle.  There were flowers planted around it, marigolds.

Vylad kneeled down, there was a memorial built for Garroth in Okasis but it wasn’t quite the same as his gravesite. Vylad brushed off a leaf from the stone and stared at his blurred reflection in the blade, he clasped his hands together and spoke a quiet prayer to Irene to tell his brother he said hello and that he was sorry he took forever to visit.

Laurance watched him with a hollow look, hands rested at his sides “He’s been waiting for you, for a long time.” 

“I know.” He waited there for a while, shoulder-to-shoulder with Laurance.

Vylad decided he’d stay after that, maybe he and Laurance wouldn’t have to feel so alone and isolated. At least if they were isolated, it’d be together. 

After that the two headed back into the town, where Laurance led him to the guard tower “They’ll let you stay.”

The head of the guard stood at the bottom steps, a tall woman with pitch black hair behind streaks of gray and sharp green eyes. Her pale skin and more chiseled features were all O’khasian, and if it weren't for the fluffy ears and tail he’d have thought she was.

Her face struck familiar.

“…Leona?” 

The girl smiled with a flick of her ears, the black fur mixed with white hairs “Vylad, it’s… good to see you.” She tilted her head “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Laurance looked between them “…He needs a room, if you don’t mind setting him up with one.” 

“I can do that, Vylad if you’ll just… and you’re looking like you’re seeing something upsetting .” She reached out a hand and waved it in front of his face.

“My apologies.” He snapped out of it. “You just… you snuck up on me. How are you? you look rather well.” He grinned at her, painfully. “…Am I that difficult for you to look at?” Her smile turned sad. Vylad looked at her apologetically “I really don’t mean to offend, you represent what little good he put out in the world.”

“Thank you then,” the subject change was quick “ Shall I show you your quarters? At least until we get you a home built.” She gestured up the steps and Vylad followed her, waving a goodbye to Laurance “Our guards have grown in number as Phoenix Drop has, but we still have a spare up on the third floor.”  She opened the door for him at the end of the hall “Here you go.”

Vylad entered the area, it was very quaint and rustic. The bed looked rather thin and the lighting was only a single lantern.

Still better than the nether.

Leona stood back at the door, not taking another step into the space  “…Do you have means to get food? Clothing?” Vylad shook his head “Not as of now.”

“You might think about joining our guard, it does pay a pretty good wage.”

Vylad looked to her, placing a hand on the hilt of his sword with a curious edge to his voice  “How good?” 

—

Vylad put sheets over the futon granted to him in the basement of Aphmau’s home. It was an alright space, the only bad thing he could say about it was the dust. 

There was a lot on the beams of the basements ceiling coated in a thick layer of dust that fell every so often and made his allergies act up.

It was cold too. He actually preferred the cold though, so he didn’t mind.

It was way better than the nether.

After that he moved his suitcases and set them in the corner of the room and walked back up the stairs to the living-room.  KC and Katelyn were stood in the hallway just outside of it talking with Aphmau. Katelyn was the first to notice him “…Vylad, hey it’s been a minute.” 

“Katelyn hi!! It’s good to see you, how’ve you been?” He fully smiled at her and she snorted but grinned “I’m good, V.” She reached out and delivered a punch to his shoulder “You’re free to stay here but just be honest with your family next time, alright?” 

Vylad huffs amusedly “Alright, I getcha.” KC put her hands on Katelyn’s shoulders and peered at him from behind her back “You better visit them too!” she chastised “okay.” He emphasized “I will, promise.”

“I might go say hi to the other neighbors, maybe get a better introduction with Laurance.” 

Aphmau looked apprehensive at best “Be careful with him, Laurance is a kind man but not the most social with new people and he can come off as rude.”  If Vylad hadn’t grown to be so good at disguising his emotions he might have laughed at that but instead he nodded seriously “Of course, i’ll be back soon.”

Vylad left and headed towards Laurance’s house, not bothering to keep up the pretense that he was gonna visit any of the other neighbors. 

There he would knock on the door and on the other side stood Laurance with wide eyes “Of all people you’re visiting me? I thought you’d be with one of your brothers.”

“But it’s been even longer than I’ve seen you.”  He tried, but Laurance didn’t take the bait “What, did we go to the same kindergarten?”

Vylad huffed, and decided to just rip the bandage off.

“Laurance, I know you’re a Shadow Knight.”

Laurance grabbed Vylad by his arm and pulled him inside, slamming the door shut behind him before pinning Vylad by his shoulders against the wall.  Okay bad idea. 

“How do you know? Are you really Vylad?” Vylad grimaced, looking up at the other “Didn’t even try to deny it, I’m surprised- have you lost your keen instincts over the years?” he gave the other a cocky grin.

“I’m not an idiot, you reacted to me strangely back at Aphmau’s house and then you actively seek me out by coming to my home and all you can say is shadow knight.” Laurance’s eyes burned red, sending chills down Vylads spine “I’m not some imp in disguise, Laur.” he smiled, despite the effects of his anger he wasn’t actually scared like a human would be- at least a normal one.

Laurance tightened his grip for a moment before relenting “You aren’t lying about that at least, if it’s…” he took a deep breath “If it’s you how did… how did you survive?”

“I didn’t.”


……….


Vylad’s sword clashed with another, he and Laurance were the last standing force between the army and Phoenix Drop. They had waited until the better half of their army had left to meet another force.

Laurance swung his transformed sword in a wide arc, taking out several knights and decorating the field in red. He leaped up, jabbing another through the back “Aghhh!” Laurance let out a war cry. Vylad jumped, avoiding a swing meant for his legs but unable to avoid an arrow to the shoulder.

He let out a growl, ducking back into the frey and jabbing the closest knight in the stomach. One managed to cut into his thigh and another, he fell forward, throwing his sword forward to deflect a spear aimed for his chest. It was directed into his stomach, piercing what felt like his liver.

He screamed, hands moving to the spear’s shaft when his sword was kicked aside. He struggled fighting against the other as they dug the spear in further. He curled his knees up and kicked his attacker in the abdomen.

He stood up quickly, gripping the spear and tugging it out. He spun it and jabbed it into their head, effectively killing them.

He tore it out, taking deep shallowed breaths.  His hands went to his wound, attempting to keep pressure as he fell to his knees.  As a large amount of invaders began to swarm him, Laurance leapt at them, swinging madly and killing the rest of them like he was their executioner.

Laurance took care of the rest of them, then grass surrounding Phoenix drop was covered in red. By his side Leona kneeled, a deep gash going over her cheek.

She felt his face, and her eyes widened “Laurance!!” Laurance looked over at the two, and dismissed his sword to run towards them. He slid to a stop over him “Leona what-“

She picked up the spear that Vylad had dropped earlier “The spear, it… must have been covered in poison he’s… he’s dying. Can you heal another Shadow Knight?”

“No, it’s… it’s not in our nature.” Laurance knelt by his side and gripped his friend’s hand “Vylad, you said you could never leave but I- but I understand if you’d take this chance.”

Vylad’s vision was getting blurrier, dots swam in his vision. His vision became a vignette, eyes falling shut. Then there was the warmth.

He was able to feel a soft hand brushing through his hair, There was nothing but a bright white light, and a calming deep feminine voice.  

“Vylad, it’s nice to see you.”

Vylad looks around but he can't see anyone “You can see me?”

“I’m gonna send you ahead alright? I’ll even wipe your memories, you’ll be happy-“

“My Lady, I’d prefer to keep them if it’s all the same to you.”

“How come?”

“I don’t want to forget my hardships. They’re apart of me, no matter where I go.”

“If that is truly what you wish, than I’ll grant it.”

Then there was nothing, darkness and blood rushing through his ears and suddenly he was in the warm embrace of his mother. He couldn’t open his eyes but her heartbeat remained familiar even after so long.

He couldn’t grip well but he did his best to hold onto her, and cried. 

Chapter Text

Vylad figured out what was going on pretty quickly, seeing his family young (and alive) again and entirely happy with technology surrounding them that wasn't at all familiar.

What solidified this even more so was Zane, who actually seemed excited to meet his younger brother with Garroth right next to him. In all fairness Zane still looked like a toddler, and had plenty of room to fester hate.  Garroth a year more than that and seemed excitable, eagerly reaching for Vylad whenever he could.

He was excited for when his muscles developed enough for him to move. He wanted to hug Garroth, wanted to see what a loving Zane could be like, have his mother hug him again.

He was confused though as he saw a woman who looked strangely like Aphmau looking over him, just with darker skin holding a girl tucked in her arms the same age as Zane.  He had never seen Aphmau’s mother but if he had to guess, this was her.

This was different, but a good different.

..

Laurance looked at Vylad strangely, a sense of disbelief clear on his visage. “You… you were reincarnated? You kept your memories?” 

Vylad smiled sheepishly, “I was getting worried I wouldn't see you again.” He held his arms out, and Laurance fell into them, hugging his old friend tightly. It was him; it was truly his friend—not just them reincarnated but truly them. 

Vylad wrapped his arms around his back. “I took over whoever this Vylad was going to be, but however selfish it is, I'm glad I did.” He squeezed him. Laurance lingered for a moment before letting go. “I wished I had known that was a possibility for me.”

“Well, don’t think about enacting that anytime soon. Magic has progressed a lot since our time, so there might just be a way to get that cured,” he offered, leaving a hand on his shoulder.

Laurance severely doubted that, but he nodded anyway. Vylad's smile didn't waver. “I thought you may have died sometime throughout the years, but I couldn't find you. When I met Cadenza and she said she didn't have any brothers, that's when I knew you were out there.”

“So I decided I'd become a traveler, and travel the world.”

“To look for me?”

“I said I would never leave you, I meant it.” 

Laurance barreled into him with another hug. How much he missed his friend, he had been so dreadfully alone with this pain, and there was someone who finally understood.  

Vylad’s phone went off, buzzing in his pocket. “Your mom is calling, your mom is calling.” 

Vylad laughed, backing away. “Sorry, I really need to take this, I mean… You understand.” he clicked, pressing it to his ear. “Hey mom, what's up?” After a beat, he turned to Laurance with a clearly annoyed expression, “So Garroth told you I'm living with Aphmau with a selfie?”

Laurance gave him a confused look back as Vylad turned away, “What, why are you bringing Zane into this?”  

“Oh… yeah, he was with Aphmau in that one picture?  She’s really grown up since I last saw her- really sweet girl.” He nodded, making little noises of acknowledgement. “Hah!” 

He snorted, “No, no no, he is not dating Aphmau, trust me, there is no way that…” he trailed off, the cries from the phone were loud enough for Laurance to hear clearly.   Poor Vylad had a terrible sweet spot for his mom.

“Oh no, fine! I was just jealous of their relationship, they are dating mom!”

Laurance shook his head, whispering, “Vylad, no, you can't just-”  Laurance got interrupted.

Vylad’s face entirely dropped, and the conversation was only getting worse. “You’re going to come over?”

“Vylad, you have to tell her the truth-”  Laurance clicked his jaw as Vylad gestured him to hush.

“Oh, that's just my new friend, you hear, yes mom, just a friend, which speaking of this is our first hangout, so it'd be rude…. He might have been in the picture… No, you can't just come into town right-”

“My phone died shit-”

Vylad clicked his phone off, pocketing it. “Now she also wants to meet our new friend, too, man, I can't stand it when she cries, especially now that she's so happy all the time.”

“Still a big mess you've gotten yourself into.” Laurance actually found it quite amusing, unable to fight back the grin on his face.

“You're in this now too, you have to meet her.”

“She also has to see the cute new couple you told her about.” Laurance teased, Vylad jolted, “Oh, no.” he wrung his fingers into his hair. “Zane and Aphmau aren't going to be happy about this- god, I gotta talk to Garroth, maybe he can-”

He grabbed Laurance by the wrist and ran out. “You're a part of this, so you’re coming with me.” 

Vylad ran next door, letting go of Laurance to frantically knock on his brother's door. It was very soon that Garroth opened it, “Vylad, what’s going on?”

“It's- I need a charger-”

“Oh yeah, sure…. What are you doing with Laurance?”

“We were talking and then I ended up dragging him into- look-”

Garroth’s phone rang, and he took it out. “Oh, it's Mom-” he lifted it to his ear, “Hi Momma!” He greeted her so cheerfully. Laurance’s heart melted, and Garroth was just so sweet.

“…Vylad told you what- but mom, no, there's no way those two are dating!” He put his hand on his hips. “… and you want to meet the new friend that Vylad mentioned? Uh huh… that's… oh that would be too soon-  I mean- you…”

Laurance didn't think about that; he and Garroth weren't actually official, but this would technically be him meeting his parents, or at least his mother. Suddenly, Laurance was a whole lot less amused and way more nervous.

The crying on the phone was loud again, “Oh Momma… don't cry please-”

“Garroth, stay strong-!” Vylad encouraged, voice low.   Laurance nodded in agreement.

“Agh… agh… I was just joking! Please come over as soon as you want! I'm sure… the lovebirds would be happy to see you! Oh yeah yeah… uh huh.”

“We'd better get to Zane and quick,” Garroth said after turning off his phone. Vylad and Laurance nodded, then the three of them ran for it. Vylad knocked until Zane opened the door. “What… why… Why are you guys here, and why is Laurance with you? Is this some sort of mushy business? I don't want a part in it.”

“No, Zane, it's not that! We really need to talk to 

Zane’s phone with a Linkin Park ringtone began to ring. Vylad grabbed his phone and tossed it behind him onto the lawn. “Hey, my phone!”

“Trust me, you may want to hear this from us first.”

Zane’s eyes narrowed. “Fine, but one of you are getting my phone for me, and if it's so much as scratched, you’re all chipping in to get me a new one.” 

“Er-yeah, yeah, I'll go get it.” Vylad awkwardly stalked back to get it. Laurance broke out into snickers, mouthing off, “That's what you get for throwing it in the first place.”  

Vylad rolled his eyes, picking up the phone. “Hah hah, yeah, I know.” 

Garroth stared at the two quietly, wondering why the two of them seemed friendly at all before following them inside, where they sat along Zane’s couch. 

…

Zane did not react well.

“How on earth did you both manage to mess up this badly?”  His voice was teetering on the verge of anger, holding back from shouting. “She’s my best friend. How could you do this to me?!” 

“Well, we didn’t start it! Mom just saw the selfie Aphmau posted of you guys, and um… she asked me about it, then she started crying, and it kind of went downhill from there.”

Zane looked at him warily. “What selfie?” 

Garroth handed his phone to him, and all four leaned over to see the picture. It was of Aphmau, Zane, and Laurance back at Christmas.  Aphmau was holding up a Christmas tree cupcake in one hand and had another arm slung around a blushing Zane. Laurance was on the other side, smiling almost shyly but clearly happy. 

Zane was quiet as he took the phone to get a closer look, sighing softly and handing it back to Garroth. “… This photo is months old. Did mom go snooping around on profiles again?” 

Laurance turned away, a queasy feeling resting in his gut. Vylad hummed, “It does look like you're blushing an awful lot, but you could easily explain it as being camera shy.”

“Maybe you should just call your mom and explain it to her? I'm sure she'd understand, wouldn't she?” Laurance offered.

Zane agreed; he wasn’t one for these types of shenanigans. “You're right, I'm not about to drag Aphmau into this.”

Garroth bolted upright suddenly. “We need to tell her before Mom gets here!”

“Right, come on!” Vylad gasped, leaning fully into the dramatics.

They left Laurance and Zane alone

“They're ridiculous, right?”  Laurance offered with a smile thrown his way. Zane smiled back for just a moment before jerking his head away, muttering under his breath, “Come on, we’d better stop this before they somehow make Aphmau agree to it.”

Zane walked out of the house first, and Laurance was careful to close the door behind him.

They watched as Garroth grabbed a ladder and climbed up to Aphmau’s window. 

“… You’re attracted to that?” Zane asked incredulously.

Laurance looked up at Garroth wistfully, “I don’t know why, but I guess I find it charming.”  Zane made sounds of disgust, faking a gagging sound. Laurance turned to him, “Oh, come on, you're acting childish-”

“You are too saccharine for me not to gag, I guess I just find it charming! Give me a break.” He did his best impersonation of Laurance, and really, it sounded nothing like him, but it made Laurance laugh regardless.

“Hey, I could argue you're just as sweet sometimes, and that's just for Aphmau!”

Zane rolled his eyes. “Oh, whatever, I don't treat her that differently from everyone else.”

“Mhm sure-”

“Oh, come on, you give her special treatment t-”

The sound of glass shattering drew both of their attention towards the window that Garroth had just accidentally broken. “Now I'm not so charmed by that, as I am very concerned.”  Laurance watched as Vylad and Garroth just casually walked in. 

Zane let out the most annoyed groans. “Come on, let's go.” he went towards the ladder and climbed up after them. 

Laurance, at the point, just joined in instead of taking the normal route and climbed up the ladder lastly with a roll of his eyes.

Aphmau stared at Laurance in shock, “Not you too! Did no one want to just go through the door?!”

Laurance shrugged, stepping carefully into the girl's bedroom. “The ladder was already right there, no point in not using it.” 

“I can't believe this, actually, I just fixed my door and Garroth comes barging in, breaking my window just when I think he's run out of things to break!!”

Garroth looked apologetic, “I'll buy you whatever kind of window you want-”

“And a cute curtain to go with it.”

“Deal!”

“Alright now, I'm used to Garroth doing these things, but why are the rest of you involved?” She spoke sternly with crossed arms, a true vision of her mother. 

“They want you and me to pretend to date for my mother.”

Laurance raised his hand, “For the record, I don’t think this is a good idea.” 

Aphmau stared blankly back before loudly sighing, “Okay… okay! Maybe my ears are still just ringing from shattering glass, so could you please repeat that?”

“They want us to pretend to date, our mom… is coming today to see us. As a couple all because these dolts let her think we were since they’re too chicken to tell her we’re not!”

Vylad scoffed pointedly, “Okay, fine, if you’re so much better than you, call mom and tell her the truth.” Zane pulled out his phone, the screen cracked, and made a show of clicking on the contact clearly labeled mother.

The phone ringing was the loudest sound in the room. Garroth gasped, “You’re willing to make mom cry?!”

“What?!”

Aphmau hissed out, “Katelyn’s napping, keep your voice down!”

“What?” Zane repeated quietly than before, pressing the end call button. Garroth and Vylad both let out breaths of relief, but at one look at Zane’s impatient glare and they sprang into explanation. “Zane, she began to cry. Me and Garroth tried to tell her the truth and… she was just so excited that you had someone to love.”

“Tcht.” Zane clicked his teeth, falling back onto Aphmau’s nearby bed. “I hate it when she does that, I can’t stand it.” 

Aphmau moved to sit by her best friend. “…if it's only for one day, and… we tell her later we broke things off admirably, then I don’t mind playing along. Just this once.” Zane looked up at her with a smile that just barely reached his eyes.

“I guess, if… It’s that important to my mom, then just this once.”

Laurance felt his gut sink. “Well, you know, this has nothing to do with me, so I’ll just leave you to. “ Vylad shot out an arm and grabbed him by his bicep. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Home, Vylad.”

“Well, you see, Mom was very interested in meeting our new close friend, Laurance!  Isn’t that right, Garroth?”

Garroth looked between the two, somewhat horrified, “What? No, no, no, we can’t just drag him into this- I mean- she didn’t bring that up in my call! Wait- why did she bring him up in your call?”

“He’s also in the picture, that’s why… also we need some support to sell the story, don’t we? Maybe Laurance is the one who pushed them together.”

“There’s no way out of this, is there?”

“Nope.” 

Laurance let out the softest of groans, looking at Aphmau and the three Ro’Meave brothers. “Fine, fine… I’ll help sell the story.”

Chapter Text

“Closer.” Vylad ushered.

Zane and Aphmau scooted closer together awkwardly. They usually didn't think much of being so close in proximity, but the added context of how they were supposed to be acting made things a lot more unusual, especially with all of these eyes on them.

Garroth and Laurance's heads were in different spaces, though Laurance was nervous about how Zianna might react to him. He never got to meet the her of the past properly, even then there's no telling how different this one might react to him.

Garroth was more scared, not only about his mother meeting his situationship but also about her meeting his gay… or Bi situationship. Yes, she was supportive of gay couples, and he really should have no reason to be worried about her. 

It's just the fact that he hasn't told anyone. Cadenza and Lucinda just happened to stumble into the truth because of the incident back in February with Michi.  His mom was the most important person to him, so maybe that contributed to it.

“Okay, now hold hands!” Vylad clasped his own hands together as a demonstration.  Aphmau rolled her eyes but grinned “Now this is something we can do, come on, Zane.” She took his hand rather easily, despite Zane’s slight hesitation.  “Okay, now what?” Zane asked, voice slightly shaken.

Vylad clicked his tongue “We wait! She’ll be here any minute, so I guess just… stay posed like that for now.”  He framed them using his fingers, like an artist might do for a painting “Perfect!”

The room fell into a very unpleasant sort of silence. Vylad had begun to pace back and forth across the foyer, Zane and Aphmau held their position on the loveseat, and all the while Garrorth pondered every possible scenario he could think of.

Laurance raised his hand, as a way to ease out of the silence. “Vylad, am I going to have to do anything in particular, or can I just stand there and be polite?”

Vylad hummed, giving Laurance a once-over before shrugging, “Well, other than saying you got them together, but… there's nothing else I can think of.”

Garroth let out a breath of relief. “Alright, nothing too dramatic then.” Laurance found comfort in the fact that he could at least act as himself while meeting her.

And right on cue, Zianna was knocking on the door. Garroth rushed to open it, any prior nerves tossed to the wind. “Mom!” he greeted. Zianna grinned, immediately wrapping her arms around her son. “GarGar!!” she sounded extremely happy.

Laurance giggled, “GarGar huh? Cute.” he teased the blonde who turned to him lightly flushed as his mom ran to greet her other boys “Oh, ZuZu and my little Vylad!  I'm so happy to see my sweet boys… and Aphmau! My future Daughter in law!!”

Vylad beamed at her and hugged Zianna before they both pulled away.

“Zianna, it's good to see… what?” Aphmau asked, eyes going blank in shock as Zianna rushed to her side and took her hand in hers. “Oh, Aphmau, look how grown you are! I remember when you were just a little girl, and now you're going to officially be a part of the family!”

“Part of the f- family?” She asked, completely stunned.

Zane rushed to her side, gently trying to gain his mom's full attention. “You know we're just dating, Mom, right? It hasn't even been that long.”

Zianna made an ahem sound and clarified, “Like the great prophet Beyonce said! If you like it, you should put a ring on it!”

“I thought Beyonce was a singer?” Laurance had the complete audacity to ask. Vylad looked at him with an equally confused expression. “I was about to ask when she became a prophet.”

“Just let her have this,” Garroth murmured. 

Zianna whipped her head towards Laurance, greeting him kindly, “I’m so sorry, you're that new friend he mentioned, what's your name sweetheart?”  

“Laurance Zvahl, it's lovely to meet you, ma’am- Garroth talks about you a lot.” he nodded his head respectfully, remarkably keeping it together despite the nerves buzzing beneath his skin. 

“Oh, my GarGar talks about me? I'm glad my son thinks about his mom enough to talk about her.” She shook his hand. “Nice to meet a new friend of my sons, which speaking of! I was hoping I could take you guys out to dinner!”

Zane and Aphmau jolted in their spot. “Dinner?!” they both exclaimed. Zianna mistook it for excitement and clapped her hands together.

Garroth looked to Laurance and back to his mom, “Laurance actually got them together, so maybe we should bring him along so he can tell us all about it.”

“Oh, well, of course! I’d love to hear all about it- come on, I still have the family van so we can all fit.”  She adjusted her purse over her shoulder. “There’s this new restaurant attached to the mall I’d like to see.” 

She gestured sweetly to the door, and  Laurance lagged behind so he could ask Garroth why he had done that. Garroth leaned over and whispered, “It’s just so she can get to know you, alright? Just tell her the truth about how you bonded with Zane and Aphmau, and all you gotta say is you told them to get together. Okay?”

Laurance nodded. It really was sweet of Garroth. He could lie, he could seem like a better person than he is.  He’s charmed people hundreds of times in the past, he’s just gotta dig that back out of him.

He took a deep breath and sat in the seat furthest in the back before the group headed to the mall. 

When they got there, Zianna’s first pit stop was dragging Zane and Aphmau in front of a fountain and taking a picture of the darling couple. The two posed; they were comfortable enough with each other. “And there! Now if Zuzu will just take off his mask for the next one…”

“Mom. I’m not taking off the mask.” 

Zianna pouted “Do you never take that thing off sweetheart? I can't see your lovely face.” she reached out to brush his bangs back but Zane shied away “I don't ever take it off.” Zane stated defensively. 

Zianna whipped her head to Aphmau “Oh good grief,  Aphmau, I have no idea how you managed to kiss him through that mask of his.”

Aphmau looked at her rather blankly. “I’m sorry, kiss? We haven’t um…”

Garroth shook his head, mouthing “Aphmau don’t.” 

“You guys haven’t kissed? It’s been months, hasn’t it?” She asked curiously. Laurance could see where this was going and stepped in. “At Christmas, they kissed, actually, under the mistletoe.” He didn’t have to specify what kind of kiss, though, did he?

Zianna gasped loudly, forgetting about the girls’ off-kilter reaction “Oh, how sweet!! That’s so romantic… reminds me of Garte, but he was shy for so long, twirling that pretty blonde hair of his and blushing until one day he just grabbed me by the hips and kissed me!”

Garroth, Vylad, and Zane all made sounds of disgust, but Aphmau was awed, and Laurance smiled. “What a sweet story, when did you meet him?”

Zianna genuinely leaped at  the opportunity to tell someone new about her personal love story. she got closer to Laurance in her excitement and recited it  “We were in high school, where we met doing student council, according to everyone he was the best student body council president they ever had and…”

She had begun to go on about the entire Garte and Zianna love story, walking down the mall as she eventually stopped around Vylad’s birth and how she and Garte made up and he loved Vylad as his own. 

They didn't even get to ask any questions, Laurance himself was teeming with them. Wondering just how different the former king of Okasis was like in this universe. 

“Oh Aphmau, Laurance, do you two want to hear the cutest stories about the boys?”

Of course, other things were more important. Laurance barked out a laugh, looking at her brightly, “Oh yes, I would love to.” 

Aphmau nodded, “Oh, I’d love to hear more stories, Zianna.” 

“Well, when Garroth was just a little boy he completely bought into the girls having cooties so much so that he actually fashioned a box and cut a hole for his head to protect himself!”

Laurance cooed, “Oh really? Garroth was afraid of the cootie curse?” 

Zianna nodded “Mhm! He used Sharpie and everything to write cooties proof and everything!” Garroth groaned as Vylad burst into giggles, but with that Zianna moved on to a story about him next, “Oh, and there was this time Vylad only went to school in his boxers!”

“What? Really?” Laurance asked incredulously, The Vylad. The responsible Vylad left the house in his underclothes. “How old was-“

“Well!” Vylad intercut “It was your fault anyway I was just a five-year-old and you didn’t say anything when Dad went to drop me off!” Vylad said in his defense. 

“ If anything it was more your fathers fault and besides they were like shorts anyway! Other than the little puppy paw prints on them!” She snickered.

Zane snickered, giggling to himself, “At least I never did anything that embarrassing,” and with that, he sealed his fate, in fact, all of their fates.

“Oh, like how when you were four, you were terrified of our pet hamster? You even thought the name Squeakers itself was scary!” 

Zane stood stock-still as Aphmau and Laurance giggled at the cute stories.  Zianna fawned over her boys “Oh! I oughta show you guys their pictures when they were just babies! I got bath pictures, little pictures of them covered in food…” She began to dig out her phone before Garroth suddenly burst out, “Mom, look at they’re having a shoe sale!”

Zianna gasped, and as she ran past them, Laurance swore he felt a short but strong breeze.  “I don’t think I’ve seen a person run that fast for shoes in my entire life.”  At least as much as he could remember.

Vylad let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding “Our mom is a big fan of fashion and especially fashion on sale- anyway, can you guys please pretend you never heard those stories?” 

Aphmau grinned cheekily, teasingly poking Vylad’s side “Aww, but you guys were just so adorable!” 

Laurance looked at Garroth, quite flirtatiously “Still afraid of cooties?” He asked, mirroring Aphmau’s grin.

Garroth flushed red. “No! Obviously.” He vehemently denied it, crossing his arms.  Vylad lightly smacked his brother in the arm as their mother came back, appearing disappointed. “Honey, I think you need to get your eyes checked because there wasn’t a sale.”

Garroth looked at her at least somewhat apologetic, “I’m sorry, Mom, maybe we can find a real one somewhere in a different store.”

Zianna shook her head, linking her arm with Aphmau’s. “It’s alright, I need to get Aphmau and me ready for dinner anyway!”

Aphmau’s eyes went wide. “What?!” 

Zianna began to gently guide her away as the rest stared in confusion.  “You boys stay here, we’ll be back as soon as possible.”

“Did we just get ditched?” Vylad asked, and Zane nodded dully.

“If… she says anything about Zane and Aphmau’s relationship, just go with it because who knows what she might discuss with Aph.” Garroth suggested.

“Yeah, since nothing was ironed out, that’d be best.” Zane agreed, albeit hesitantly.

Aphmau went with her easily, she wasn’t opposed to Zianna hanging out with her because she was the sweetest lady on planet Earth but Irene was extremely nervous, wishing it wasn’t too early to back out “Aphmau, sweetheart, I know it’s a bit nerve-wracking talking to your new boyfriend's mother but I already adore you so there’s no reason to be so nervous.” She pats the girl's arm.

Aphmau forgot just how lovely she could be as she bumped shoulders with her. “Oh Zianna, thank you.”

“Of course, girlfriend!” She perked up. “Now! Let’s go buy you a white dress and hopefully give Zane some ideas!”

“Oh, my Irene,” Aphmau whispered in horror as Zianna dragged her into the closest Forever 21.

“Alright, you pick some things out for me and I’ll give you some dresses to try on! Oooh, this is so exciting!” She started digging through the nearest rack, looking through an array of cute dresses for Aphmau to wear instead of her casual sweater and jeans.

Aphmau did appreciate a good makeover, and Zianna was very beautiful, so getting to pick her out something seemed fun, so she decided she’d just enjoy this time instead of stressing so much. She headed straight towards a rack that held a couple of cute sweaters, something she’d seen Zianna wear in the past.

She flipped through them and moved on to a rack of blazers, and she found the cutest green blazer that matched with a lighter green jumpsuit with a white cami top. She hooked it over her arm and grabbed a couple of other options just in case, and met Zianna at the changing rooms.

Zianna and her exchanged clothes and stood in parallel stalls, Zianna letting out a squeal of excitement when she fully put hers on. “Aphmau, this is such a cute outfit! Oh, I love it.”

Aphmau put on a cute off-the-shoulder long-sleeved light purple dress that faded to white towards the skirt, it was genuinely a really pretty dress without being over-the-top. She looked herself over in the mirror. “You picked out something grea,t too, Zianna!” 

Aphmau and she stepped out, and Zianna squealed, “Oh Aphmau, sweetie, you’re so beautiful! Our little ZuZu is going to lose his mind.” 

“Zianna, you’re even more beautiful! Green is so your color.” 

Zianna grinned and did a little spin. “Oh, I know, girl, Garte is going to lose his mind when I get home! Maybe we’ll even…”

“Okay! I say it’s time we pay and get back to the boys, yeah?”

“Oh yes, of course!”

Laurance was the last to notice the two women approach, eyes darting up from his phone. “Well, you two look absolutely beautiful.” He greeted them with a charming smile.

Aphmau giggled, curtsying playfully, “Why thank you!”

Zianna cooed, waving him off with a radiant smile, “Oh, you are such a sweetheart, a flatterer really!” she blithely smacked him in the arm.  

Laurance turned to the other three boys, and all of them were staring at Aphmau. Even Vylad was pretty quiet. “You three want to say something?”

Vylad broke free first of whatever quiet spell they were under, “Zoey is behind you.”

Aphmau jolted, jerked, and turned towards the woman who was standing in shock.  Zoey gazed at her, full of love. “Aph, I didn’t expect to see you here, especially in such a beautiful dress.” She spoke, breathless at the sight.

Aphmau turned bright red. “Zoe! Um!” She looked at everyone. “…You remember Zane, my boyfriend, right? This is his mom, who came to town specifically to see her little boy happy with his girlfriend…”

Zoey stared at them in silence for a moment, her skeptical eyes surveyed the group before nodding  “Okay…” she looked at Zane and narrowed her eyes, the first bit of jealousy that she's shown. 

Zane gulped and gestured to Zoey, “Mom, this is… one of my and Aphmau’s best friends.”

Zianna looked at the former elf in thought. “Mmm, well, why don’t you join us for dinner then, Zoey? I’d love to meet more friends of Zuzu’s since he’s never had that many before.” 

Zoey did well at hiding her grimace, despite wanting to avoid an awkward situation, she figured Aphmau might want her support. “…Alright, if you’re going to insist on it, miss.”  Zoey agreed.

“Just call me Zianna, no miss or Mrs confusion  that way.” she adjusted her grip on the bags that held their other clothes. “Well, if you are all ready, then let’s head to that new restaurant, hm? It’s just at the back of the mall towards the rear exit…” 

The group walked in very awkward silence, the air thick with tension and the weight of the lies slowly piling up. Aphmau and Zane were dragged in the front, holding hands so Zianna could take as many pictures and videos as her heart desired.

They approached the restaurant and unknown to them a waitress on a smoke break spotted them, a meifwa girl with a terrible grudge saw them “…Aphmau and Zane? Holding hands?” she muttered, throwing the cigarette and 

stomping on it “And there’s Laurance…” the girl felt a shiver go down her spine, the man was scary but even that wasnt enough to dissuade 

her. They all needed to be taken down a peg, at least if you asked her.

She’d have to do this in a way that wouldn’t get her fired. Maybe a reprimand. 

She stepped forward, but as she did, Laurance caught her eyes, his turned a violent crimson. It was a clear warning, one he wasn’t afraid to hide from her anymore.

She clicked her teeth as her heart stuttered and and retreated back through the employee's exit into the restaurant.

Laurance leaned over, making sure his eyes had shifted back to their normal  color and whispered to Garroth, “Hey, I just saw Michi, looks like she works here.”

The blonde cursed under his breath, they couldn’t warn Aphmau and Zane without confusing his mother. “Okay… let’s try and tell Vylad, knowing her, she'll try something.”

Garroth grabbed Vylad by the wrist, tugging him back, and whispered into his ear. Vylad groaned, “Noooo, Michi? I haven’t seen her in years, and she’s decided to become a problem today of all days?”

“Been a problem a lot longer than that.” Laurance clarified, “She may or may not especially have a grudge against me and Garroth.” He spoke a little sheepishly.  Vylad released a heavy sigh. “Great… great great great.” 

He coughed, trying to casually but not very subtly warn Zane and Aphmau, “Zane, did you realize Michi worked here?”

Zane released a very annoyed groan. “She does?” he gripped Aphmau’s hand a little tighter “She’s probably going to try drooling all over you three and insult me by calling me pale.”  

“I'm sure if she had taste she'd be drooling over all four of you.” Aphmau stopped, then pinched the bridge of her nose, clenching her eyes shut. “Of all places for her to work though, it’s here?”

Zianna paused for a moment, rifling through the mental files she had on her sons lives “Michi… Michi…. Is that your Ex-girlfriend?!” She asked with a loud, dramatic gasp. Zane grimaced at the question, crossing his arms. “Sort of, Mother. But she was never really interested in me.”

Zianna made a hmph sound. “Then we’ll just have to show her what she missed! My little Zuzu is much better off now, come on, we’re not letting this girl ruin our day.” She spoke cheerfully, and while Garroth and Laurance were unsure, they went along with it.

The group was sat down at a table by a hostess, it was near a window but towards a corner like they had requested, so they could see the girl coming from any angle. Garroth and Laurance sat shoulder to shoulder next to Vylad, and across Zianna sat Zane and Aphmau.

Aphmau sat tapping a finger rapidly against her thigh, a waitress who thankfully wasn’t Michi, began to serve them menus and asked about their drinks.   

Laurance, with all his nerves, blurted that he wanted a margarita. Just the first alcoholic drink he saw, and the rest of the group, barring Zianna, followed suit. 

The paranoia was preventing the lot of them from having a very good time, any server could really be the girl in disguise.

As the waitress brought a tray of margaritas over, Michi snuck a leg out and tripped her right as she was approaching the table. The drinks flew and spilled all over the back of Garroth. It seeped into his hair and stuck to the back of his shirt, and now he reeked of margarita mix.

Garroth stood up with a jolt, the ice-cold of the liquid shocking him. Laurance stood to his side, nose scrunching from the fumes “You alright?” He asked gently. Garroth grunted, shoulders rigid, “Yeah.” 

“I’m so sorry!” The waitress apologized profusely, and Garroth smiled despite the fact his shirt was dripping. “Oh, don’t worry, still not the worst experience I’ve had at a restaurant… ah, Laurance, you got some on your leg.”

Laurance took a look, and lo and behold, from his hip to his thigh, there was a darkened spot of what could only be margarita. Laurance grimaced, but at least this wouldn’t stain, unlike Garroth’s blue and white checkered button-up.

“…Damn it.” Garroth muttered glumly, feeling the fabric of his shirt between his fingers “I liked this shirt.”

Laurance took Garroth by the elbow. “Let’s try to clean up.” He looked to the others, “We’ll be back.”

“You’ll get another set and a free round, I won’t drop it this time.” She bowed and then ran off in a panic towards the kitchen. Laurance and Garroth headed off toward the bathroom to wash off the stickiness.

Laurance grabbed a fistful of paper towels and began to dry off the spot on his leg. “Not sure there’s a lot we can do about your shirt… maybe I can give you my sweater? I have an undershirt on.”

Garroth leaned against the sink, turned the faucet on, and ran some water over the back of his head, soaking his hair. “Yeah, you don’t have to do that.” 

Laurance wordlessly maneuvered around the sink to help Garroth rinse his hair out, attentively going through each curl. “You really should consider taking my sweater.” 

Garroth closed his eyes for a moment, nodding, the feeling relaxing him “Alright, anything to get out of this one.” Garroth ripped off a couple of paper towels, pressed them to the back of their head, and dabbed until his hair stopped dripping. 

Laurance barely stopped a comment from slipping past his lips about other ways he could take it off and instead stripped himself of his sweater,leaving him in his plain black undershirt and held it out to Garroth. He took it and headed into the nearest stall to change, shyly mumbling something about it being a public bathroom. Laurance found his shyness around him sweet.

In the meantime Michi hovered just behind the waitress, waiting for just the right moment to tip a dash of a sparkling pink potion into several of the margaritas.

Hiding as best she could as the poor girl tried her best to make up for her apparent mistake.

Aphmau pushed herself from the chair, gently excusing herself to head to the restroom. Zoey quickly got up to follow the girl, taking the opportunity to get a moment alone with her.  

Zoey waited until Aphmau was done rinsing off her face, until she got her attention. “Aph, can you tell me what’s going on here?”

Aphmau groaned, rubbing her eyes with her palms. “Vylad accidentally lied to Zianna about me dating Zane. She cried when they tried to tell her the truth… It’s a whole thing.” 

“Okay, but why did you agree to it?

“Well, really, it was a decision made in haste because she was already on her way to my house when they came by to warn me, which at first Zane wanted nothing to do with this plan, but he felt bad about his mom crying… I don’t know, I didn’t think.”

Zoey tucked Aphmau's hair behind her ear with a gentle tug of the lips “Aph, you’re kind hearted.” She wrapped her arms around her waist, hugging her from behind. “It may hurt a little, but I understand why you did such a thing for your friend.” 

She rested her chin on her shoulder, glancing at their reflection in the mirror “I may have an idea how to get you out of this harmlessly.” She offered.  Aphmau turned to her, but didn’t pull away. “How?”

“She’s not homophobic, is she?”

“Hah! Zianna? No way!”

Vylad thanked the waitress who dropped off their drinks and assured them she’d come back later to take their orders. Vylad grabbed hold of hims and when it touched his tongue and went partway down his throat, he was met with the sickly sweet taste of a love potion.

He spat it out, and even then, he still felt the tingly feeling in his chest and lightheadedness that usually accompanied the effects of one.  He clenched his eyes shut, determined not to lay his eyes on anyone or anything.

The effects of these things could be nasty, and he didn’t want to take any chances. As Zane looked at him like he was insane, Vylad threw his hand out and fumbled to knock the drink out of Zane’s hand. “Hey!” Zane called out, “Vylad, what’s wrong with you?”

Zianna headed over to his side, placing a hand on his back. “Baby, what’s wrong?”

Vylad shook his head. “Don’t drink those, someone decided to-” he gagged “with love potion- and I have an idea who.” he gagged again “Irene, I hate this feeling.”

Zane growled, eyes narrowed, “Michi-“

Laurance and Garroth came back to the table, none the wiser, just having heard that singular name “Michi what?” Laurance asked, already on the cusp of anger. 

Vylad made a sound of disgust, still clenching his eyes shut. “Love potion, has to have been her right?” he stood up suddenly. “I’m going to try vomiting this up before I fall in love with the floor or something. be right back.”

“Let me come with you, sweetheart-“ Zianna suggested, but  Vylad shook his head. “No, just-“ he turned, ramming face first into Travis. He fell back, instinctively opening his eyes, and outwardly cursed as he felt the potion's effects. “Sorry, man, really didn’t mean to knock you over, I was just coming over to say hi-“

Vylad stared up at him with wide eyes and began to reach for him before Laurance swooped in and grabbed him. He pulled him back, rather casually keeping hold of him. “Nope! Not gonna let you regret that one buddy.”

Vylad whined, reaching out toward Travis even while being pulled back. “But his eyes shine like emeralds…” 

Travis blinked, confused. “Vylad, I understand that I’m irresistible and all, but I’m a taken man.” 

Garroth rolled his eyes, stepping between Vylad and the emerald-eyed man in question, “Travis, he got love-potioned.” He gestured wildly, “Vylad is aromantic, remember?”

“That makes a lot more sense than him suddenly looking at me like I’m god, I may look like one, but I’m not one.” He smoothed his hair back “But seriously those suck, I had a couple of girls try that on me and they are nasty. It’ll wear off soon-“

Zianna looked at her boys, quite concerned. “I can’t believe I’m going to be one of these old ladies, but… I think I’m going to have to speak to the manager.” Zianna shivered. “This is not cool, yo.” She muttered under her breath, marching past them.

Zane placed his head in his hands. “This could not possibly get worse.” As he turned to leave, he was met with Michi standing directly in his face with sparkly pink liquid in a glass bottle that was half empty.

There was a staring contest for a moment before Zane leaped into action and reached for the potion to grab it from her. Unfortunately, Zane wasn’t that strong, so the tug and pull were about equally matched between the two.

Then at the back of his mind, he felt that familiar buzz at the back of his mind, memories of training with his father and brother.  

Grab her by the wrist, holding the weapon.

Zane wrapped his pale fingers around her wrist, keeping a tight hold. Listening to the voice out of instinct.

Tug her forward, then use your free hand to push her to the ground by her shoulder and pin her down.

He did just that, slammed her down, and held a knee between her shoulder blades. Instantly, though, he felt horrible.  The position looked uncomfortable, and she looked pained. “…Drop the bottle.”

She did so rather easily, and Zane took it standing up and looked at the crowd of his friends, who were staring at him with shock.

I would have killed her for good measure, but you’re too pathetic for that.

Laurance, though, looked at him like he had just seen a ghost. “Where’d you learn how to do that?”

Zane’s look grew distant, eyes looking anywhere but Laurance “No where in particular.” 

Aphmau and Zoey approached, hands intertwined. Aphmau stared at the scene with wide eyes  “Um, is this a bad time? We were going to tell Zianna that… Zoey and I were dating, and you were covering for me…”

Zianna gasped, the manager behind her, “Oh, you two are dating! How sweet, but you shouldn’t have to be ashamed! Oh, how sweet a friend my Zuzu must be…”

Zane poured the potion out into a nearby plant while his mom was distracted by The whole Aphmau and Zoey revelation.

 Michi grimaced, slowly pulling herself off the ground. “Fine! Then I’ll just cast a love spell instead!” The girl was an amateur spellcaster at best, which made things even more terrifying as her hands began to glow and she began to speak butchered spell-speak.

Garroth ran to pull Zane back, letting Vylad go, who immediately ran and clung onto Travis, which caused both of them to topple over and away. Zoey stepped in front of Aphmau to protect her, and Laurance stepped in front of Zianna.

Then Michi’s spell, quite literally, blew up in her face. Patrons screamed as soot and fire covered the middle of the restaurant, and there in the middle of it all was a soot-covered Michi with singed ends. 

Laurance watched as the manager marched up to Michi and held out her hand. Michi mewled and took off her apron and threw it to her before walking out.

Zianna peered from around Laurance. “You know, I think I’ve had enough excitement for today.” she snorts. 

Travis awkwardly pat the top of Vylad’s head, laughing as the shorter showered him with compliments “I think we should get your little brother home.”

Zane nodded, going to Vylads side “Travis would you mind..?”

“Yeah bro, I got you.” Travis began to move with Vylad still attached to him. Laurance laughed but nodded in agreement, “Me too, Mrs. Ro'meave.”  The small fire crackled, and with the sound of distant sirens, both of the police and fire variety, the crew opted to get out of there.

Chapter Text

Zane had no idea what time it was when he finally pulled himself out of bed. The blackout curtains he invested in blurred time, and while he usually preferred being inside he wasn't one that liked to sleep in so much as take an afternoon nap. 

His phone was currently buzzing on his nightstand table and every bone in his body was begging him to go back to sleep but the current ringtone coming from his phone was Aphmau’s and he couldn't just ignore his best friend but matter how exhausted the previous week had left him.

He held the phone up to his ear, yawning as he clicks answer “What is it a-”

“ZANE!”

He moves it away from his ear, the sharp sound pounding in his eardrum before carefully putting it back “Hey Aph.”

“Zane hi! A-Con is gonna be starting soon and I was wondering if you would like to come with me and the others.” 

Zane heard of A-Con before, it was a pretty popular convention usually hosted in New Meteli. However, he's never been that interested to go in the past “I don't know Aphmau…”   

“The creators of My Little Horsies are going to have a panel with some of the voice actors… and I thought you might wanna see that with me and KC?”

Now that actually sounded like it might be fun, or at the very least interesting and KC wasn't the worst, still annoying though. “Hm, Maybe…” he drawled. 

“Look, it's lots of fun I promise, there's a lot of activities and it's a really good way to meet new people who share your interests! You might even find things you enjoy there besides MLH!” she conveyed her excitement as best she could through the phone, and it was working just a bit.

“All right then… text me any further information about it, I really need to get a proper start on the day.”

“Okay!! Oh I just know you'll have so much fun!” she giggled and then hung up. Zane fondly rolled his eyes, tossing his phone on the bed. He rifled through his closet and found a simple black long-sleeve and his absolute favorite type of pants: The skinny jeans and put them on.

There was just something very comforting about the fabric of a skinny jean hugging your leg that no other jean could replicate. Of course sweatpants and pajama bottoms had their place, but these were Zane’s go-to for a reason.  Zane wasn't as picky about shoes as long as they were closed and some shade of black.

So he pulled on some black sneaker then grabbed the closest mask on his bedside.  He didn’t bother with his hair, and left to check him mail. Low and behold, a letter from Aphmau with an A-Con ticket and a brochure describing all the events and guests.

Zane was sure he could find more to enjoy with all the events available, and even with the others there he could handle it. He slipped it into his pocket, and grabbed the rest of the junk mail and tossed it into his nearby recycling bin. Nothing of note.

As he headed back inside the phone in his pocket began to buzz, the ringtone the same as the one from earlier. He raised it to his ear “What is it now Aph?”

“Okay! So… me and Aaron were going to hang out at his place and play some video games do you want to come over?” Zane pouted “Why can’t just you and I hang out?” 

“Hey come on don’t be like that!  You and Aaron could be really good friends, I feel it in my very bones.” 

Zane doesn’t know Aaron very well aside from the times he pissed him off through high school and a couple awkward run-ins at the coffee shop in university.  However, if Aphmau said the two would be good friends he figured it couldn’t be too harmful right? “Okay, I’ll give it a shot.”

“Sweet! I’m already here, Aaron said you can just enter.” She hung up right after, Zane grimaced and shoved his phone into his back pocket. He locked his house behind him, already fully aware of the spare he kept hidden in one of the pots.

It's not like he would be very far if something happened, Aarons house was just four houses down and across from his.  So he walked down and he let himself in, both Aphmau and Aaron turned towards him from the couch. The girl lit up “Hey!” she hopped up and ran up to give him a hug.

Zane instinctively hugged her back, smiling uncharacteristically soft “Hey Aph, sorry to crash your hang out with Aaron.”

“Hey we invited you, don't worry about it.” she hooked his arm with his and began to drag him towards the couch where Aaron sat. Aaron himself managed to perfect the look of someone with both charisma and anxiousness with one cross-legged pose and a quiet greeting “Hey.”

“Uh. Hi.”

Aphmau clapped her hands together “Now that my two best friends are here we can play Uno!”

Aaron turned to her “I thought you said we were going to play video games.”

“And I thought I was your best friend alone.” Zane grumbled under his breath, causing Aaron to shoot him a glare but Aphmau strangely didn't hear it “Oh video games can come later! Katelyn and KC fight way too much for Uno.” 

“Well I was her best friend first.” He whispered just as the unaware girl ran off to get the set of cards.  Zane sneered at him “Well maybe things can change over time, Aaron.” 

Aaron sized him up, looking him up and down “You don't know her nearly as well as I do.” he argued. Zane smirked, holding his head up haughtily  “Oh I beg to differ, we know a lot about each other.”

“What's her favorite color?” Aaron suddenly asked, adding gasoline to the fire.

“Easy, it's purple.” He snarled out, gripping a fist tightly. Aphmau, upon her return noticed her two friends were too close like they were about tear into each other like rabid dogs. They still held some animosity, that much was clear “Are you two… not going to get along?”

Aaron clicked his jaw, but shook his head “No-” he backed away and calmed himself, leaving more distance between him and Zane “I can get along with him, I just don't appreciate his taunts.”

Zane grumbled curses under his breath,  turning away from the both of them “I wasn't taunting.” he denied weakly. Aphmau grabbed Zane’s attention by grasping his shoulder “Hey if you're not ready…”

Zane clicked his jaw, ready to say something anything but he couldn't. The fury he felt for Aaron might be misplaced but it was still there and aside from that there was a loud distracting shriek coming from right outside. 

“That's Travis…” Aaron pointed out, the three looked at each other and without even speaking ran out to see what was going on. Lucinda was on the ground, staring up at Travis who was currently slung over a high tree branch and clinging on to dear life.

“Im never helping you with another spell again!” He shrieked. Lucinda placed her hands on her hips “Oh don't be a baby, I can have you down in no time.”

“Oh nuh uh! No more of your freaky magic today Lucy!” he looked panicked, and he lit up when he saw the three that just came out Aarons house “Oh thank Irene! Three angels!! Please you have to help me down from here.”

Aaron sighed, turning to Aphmau “I'll get a ladder, you two try to catch him if that idiot falls.”

Zane growled under his breath but nodded, walking under Travis and half-heartedly holding his hand out “I got you Travis.” he spoke sardonically, making Travis glare at him.  

“What spell were you even trying to do, Lucinda?”

“Oh just a simple pushing someone's spirit out of their body spell… kind of forcefully making them astral project? but it went wrong and he went… flying.” she shrugged, barely even a hint of guilt in her voice.

“Flying?” Aphmau asked incredulously

“Flying.”  She confirmed.

Aphmau watched as Travis began to scream at Zane to actually be ready to catch him if he fell, who did nothing but nod and drawl out low “uh-huhs” at each demand the freaked-out man had in him. By the time Aaron was dragging a ladder out, Travis was just barely hanging on.

“Oh Aaron I could kiss you!”

“Please don't.” Aaron told him firmly as he settled the ladder and began ascending.  He lifted Travis onto his shoulder and got halfway down the ladder before jumping down. Travis scrambled to get off him and dramatically kiss the concrete sidewalk “Precious ground!! I'll never take you for granted again.”

“Well that's a little bit dramatic.” Lucinda noted, looming over Travis as she took him by the arm “Come on let's work on it again.” 

Travis gasped, then began to whine “Aphmauuuuu help!!!!”

Aphmau blinked slowly, then turned to Aaron and Zane “he’ll be fine.” she waved it off. Aaron shoved his hand in his pocket and pulled out his phone “I'll just text Katelyn, she'll save him.” 

Aphmau made a cooing noise “Awww what a good wingman you are.” she giggled, and he rolled his eyes “Uh huh, I just don't want him to get sent on my roof next time.”

Zane found that he really didn't care much anymore, and burst into laughter at Aaron’s joke “Hahaha, with his luck he'll end up in your chimney!”

Aphmau elbowed Zane “you’d know something about going through chimey’s wouldn't you Zane?”

Zane’s laughter evaporated as his face turned completely pink

“Oh shut up.”

Chapter Text

“So, this convention is a thing where people… dress up as characters?” Laurance flipped the colorful pamphlet around, looking at the various informational blurbs and little pictures of all the activities on offer.

Garroth nodded excitedly, face in an immeasurably wide grin “I already have a costume idea for us, at least for one of the days! I'm pairing up with Lucinda for the cosplay contest… so the second day should be up to you.”  Garroth looked at Laurance, and the former knight was already far too weak to say no to him.

“Well. I can't say no to all that can I?” he leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to his forehead. Garroth laughed, leaning into it without thought “So you'll really come with me? Dress up and everything?”

Laurance placed a hand on top of his head, lightly digging his fingers through his curls and effectively petting him “Mhm, as long as you and the others are having fun I can too.” 

Garroth’s eyes fluttered shut, but suddenly jerked his head away with a smug smirk on his face “Well that's good then! I already bought the tickets.” He whipped out the tickets from his pocket “All we gotta do is drive down, our group bought out a couple hotel rooms.”

Laurance focused on the date of the tickets more than anything “…Garroth, are those tickets for two days from now?”

“Maybe!” he giggled dumbly afterwards which had Laurance sighing fondly in response “Alright but we are packing tonight,  you understand? I’m not going to be late tomorrow because you wanna pack at the last minute.” 

Garroth nodded enthusiastically “I got you, I got you don't even worry!” he batted his lashes, and Laurance instantly worried “Gar, that means now okay? I don't wanna be there later than everyone.” He patted his cheek and stood up to kiss the top of his head.  “Go pack, and get the guys to do it too if they haven't already.”

Garroth pouted and groaned, falling back against the couch cushions  “Aghhh, fine.”

Laurance looked down at him, expectantly. Garroth blinked up, doing his best impression of a puppy-dog  “Right now?” 

He rolled his eyes albeit playfully, and lightly poked his cheek “Yes Gar, right now.”

After one loud dramatic sigh, Garroth relented “I'll pack everything I can think of.” He got up from the couch and lumbered out the door with heavily sagging shoulders.  Laurance waited until Garroth was out the door before rushing into his room in a near panic. He was not prepared for a multi-day trip, first, did the hotel have a pool? Would he need a swimsuit and sunscreen? Was there going to be makeup involved? 

Right clothes first, clothes and hygiene products. 

He hoped the others were more prepared than he was.

Aphmau held up the red shirt to Zane “I think dipper suits you perfectly!” She pushed it against his chest until he took it from her “I mean… I like Gravity Falls so I don’t mind but does he really suit me? He’s a dork.”

“Okay, but he's an adorable, smart, and resourceful dork!!” She picked up a pink sweater that had a shooting star with a rainbow trail on the front “and I get to be your sister!” She shook it playfully towards him. Zane rolled his eyes, “Uh-huh, sure.”

Travis stood in his room, eyeing his Tuxedo Mask costume as it lay on his bed. It was good quality, and he was sure it would do well with the magical girl crowd but would it do well with Katelyn?  

Travis huffed but threw it into a suitcase with two more of his costumes plus a backup just in case- He had to be confident that he looked good in it.   The door to his bedroom slammed open, Blaze with fiery red hair stumbled in “Travis! Bro, how am I supposed to cosplay? I can't hide my ears and my contacts make me itchy-”

Travis winced, and ran over to his door despite Blaze having come running in “Oh thank god the hinges are still intact.” he whispered followed by a relieved sigh.

Blaze grabbed Travis by the shoulders and began to very lightly shake him “Dude, I need your help over here! Do you only care about your door?”

“I care about having to pay for my door, and my friends too I guess- what's up?” he closed the door, pointedly more gentle with it than Blaze was. The werewolf tensed up “Well… you see… this is my first convention like ever but Aaron wanted me to go with him and I couldn't say no because bro has never been to one either but I've never cosplayed before-”

Travis held up his hand, pressing it against his chest and nudging him to step back “Breathe Blaze,  you'll be fine! Cosplay really isn't that serious. You don't need wigs or fancy color contacts, just style your hair and wear a cool outfit.” 

“…. What about my ears?” 

“Then you’ll be a cute wolf-boy version of whoever you're dressing as.” He waved him off “Now shoo I need to finish my packing.” 

Blaze pouted but left Travis to his devices, restraining himself from pulling on the door too hard. He walked back down the stairs, passing Dante who was currently on the phone with his girlfriend “Yeah Nic, I have the link costume- I would be blonde but I really don't wanna wear the long wig.”

He leaned back against the wall “Are you sure that you don't wanna do a duo costume any other day? Oh right yeah of course you're… dressing up one day with Katelyn and the other with KC..” Garroth ran past him, shoulder-checking him on his way upstairs “Garroth hey-! Ugh, I’ll call you back Nicole, love you.”

The blonde ran into his room and straight to his closet to drag out his ridiculously sized suitcase. Dante walked into Garroth “Hey do you still have your Captain America costume from last year? I’m gonna dress as the Winter Soldier on the first day and it feels weird not to match-“

Garroth turned towards him “Okay I already agreed to enter a contest with Lucinda again this year… I’m matching one day with Laurance which should leave me one free! Yeah, I’ll pack my Captain America suit.”

Dante sighed in relief “Oh thank God, I did not want to be the only Marvel costume in our group. Thanks!”

Garroth brought his phone and shot Laurance a text and when Laurance got it, he didn’t like it. He had to come up with his own costume for the remaining two days. Laurance shot a look at his stairs, to the second floor rarely used by him, and remembered what remained hidden in the attic.

He took a deep breath and wandered up the stairs and into his attic. He wandered as far back as it would go, and lifted a dusty sheet, and underneath was a very old suitcase chipped bits of paint hung off in several spots. He threw the old sheet aside and hovered his hand over the lock.

He popped open the latch and lifted enough just to see the glint underneath before shutting it and shoving the sheet back over. Using that as a costume? What was he thinking?

He looked back at another box, old clothes piled up from different eras shoved into a single box. He grabbed a shirt he thinks he bought in the 80s with the most hideous pattern and decided that he’d rather just dress normally.

He felt his phone buzz in his back pocket and when he checked the message he saw a picture of the costume that he was expected to wear. It was Spider-Man, and it was admittedly pretty cool and could stand on its own. He carelessly threw the shirt back, he could just wear the same costume for three days it probably wouldn't hurt. 

This was a useless endeavor, wasn't it?

He sighed, and with one last longing gaze at the trunk, he went back downstairs and closed the attic door.