Young, Dumb, Stupid

WARNING: all the interactions between the characters are STRICTLY platonic.

oh boy I started three drafts while writing this and I have an idea for forth. I need to stop. I'm going to dieeeee please save meee

while writing this I realized I made the story darker unintentionally but its okay as long as I myself enjoy it.. right?

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Sunday, March 8th -> Monday, March 9th.

Another week another Monday to live through! Flame hates Mondays, be aware. He spend his whole weekend mindlessly playing Minecraft. Lomedy said he couldn't hang out because him and his family are going out of town, so Flame was basically forced to sit before his computer and tap the keyboard depressively. He hadn't starved to death thanks to Mane. Their mother left for a work trip for three days on a Saturday morning, so it's not like she doesn't care. The woman told Mane to take care of this stupid boy because she's aware he's just a teenager who will act like they want, sometimes forgetting their health behind. Mane, on the other hand, seemed more mature. Maybe it has something to do with the way he's so nonchalant and all that stuff. But it's a fact all of them know. They're the same age, though not mentally, it seems. Despite being 16 Flame acted like he's not older than 13 on occasion. Talk about age regression. Mane offered his brother to go for a walk at least once a day but the other just refused. When being offered to meet up with the group, he was saying he has no interest in watching Wemmbu act as if he owns half of their town while they're together. And I woulnd't lie, it really seems like he is. And not that he acts like he himself owns it! He mentioned it once on the last Wednesday and Flame was pressed about it. Maybe it has something with envy. But other than that, he's really just doesn't want to go out. He's forced to do it atleast 5 days a week because of school, have some mercy in your souls! Mane did colored the weekend a little bit, forcing his brother to watch movies with him and willingly playing with him as soon as he was done cleaning the house. They live with their mother only - their dad left- died, when the boys were around 4 years old. So that woman is strong, raising these two into people they are today! Though, they say a man raised by female is all soft. The brothers are far from being soft. But I can't lie, they do have a soft spot for their family and friends! Flame shows it in less obvious ways just because that's how he is, while Mane is openly really affectionate, Lomedy knows. The others couldn't feel it just yet - they all are still warming up to eachother. The brothers went ot the school as always - skipping the first class. I think they skipped economics. Not that any of them cared to check

Wemmbu, on the other hand, got to know Planet a bit better in the span of the two days. Him and Egg had invited the boy to his literal mansion - wish you could've seen the look on his face. Well, he expected Wemmbu to be all rich and something like that, but not that he would ever visit his house and meet his parents. The second the guy walked in he was met with one of his staff - some old lady that helped him get through these endless coridors decorated with flowers, paintings and some childmade things. Probably Wemmbu's- oh, no! They all were named and some of Egg's works were there too. It was heartwarming to look at. Though, there seemed to be empty stands in among their works with blacked out names. Nonetheless, Planet finally reached their living room - where Wemmbu, Egg and some woman- Wemmbu's mother, were talking. As purple-haired guy noticed Planet awkwardly standing in the doorway, he jumped up, all joyous - nothing like his all composed personality inside school's walls. After quick introduction, Planet had learnt many small things about Wemmbu. Some from his mom - who seemed happy to meet her son's new friend. Egg seemed to take a big part in their family, as some time later it was Egg's mom to walk in! The albino's face flushed. He wasn't expecting to see her to say the least. Though it was a funny moment. All of this felt surreal in some way - always expresionless and nonchalant Eggchan screaming in schock seeing his own mother walk in and give them all a hug- what a kindhearted woman, and Wemmbu, usually all confident and untouchable - or that was just Planet's impression of him - with his hair down and letting his mother make some little braids. They looked like a big loving family. Then Wemmbu's mom offered for the three to do a boy's night. Wemmbu almost choked on the water he was getting at the time, asking if she's serious. Planet stayed in this house for two days, sleeping in the same room as Egg and Wemmbu himself, mind you! Late in the evening Planet had met Wemmbu's father - oh wow, he has a fully functioning and loving family! Egg does too, as his mom was yapping about the vacation they all are planning to get once summer break starts and mentioned her husband more than once. That's really cute. And the atmosphere in Wemmbu's house was all domestic and comforting if you won't look at the number of their stuff. Though, as Wemmbu's mom shared with him, they all are free to leave the house on the weekends as their mother was pretty much fond of the idea of cleaning the whole mansion herself- with a help of her son and adoptive son, I mean. She literally calls Egg her adoptive son! As for how the night went, Egg brought some snacks and they kind of just talked about everything in Wemmbu's room. He even allowed Planet to lay a bit on his bed! But as a result, Wemmbu slept on his own bed, Egg begged to sleep there too, but was pushed off it multiple times before they even got to sleep, so he gave up and.. still slept on Wemmbu's bed. It was a funny thing to watch - Wemmbu was the first one to pass out the second his head touched his pillows, and Egg just laid down there beside him. He offered Planet to do the same, saying it's their normal practice - Planet would never thought they were this close to sleep in the same bed - but the guy refused as he set his temporary bed on the couch Wemmbu got in his not-so-small room. It was comfy! He couldn't sleep for some time after the two were already seeing their sweet dreams, so he just watched at these two. The way Egg turned away from Wemmbu when he pulled him closer as if he was another pillow, but then gave in to hug him in return, still deep in his sleep. Wemmbu looked all peaceful in this position. Wemmbu's mom walked in with a spare key she got once it was midnight. She sighed at the picture of the two friends in the same bed, mumbling something about them "still doing it after all these years". She also noticed how Planet seemed not being able to fall asleep and was ready to help him out - listen about his problems if they were the case, or just sit with him until he felt safe enough to sleep. But the boy was too embarassed to accept it. Sunday fell through in a blur, though Planet remembered the endless giggles as soon as he was back home. Planet's mother seemed to be relieved he befriended someone after a really long time and it was his first ever night over to somebody else's house. The boy was yapping for the whole evening about what they did, how Wemmbu's house looked and how sweet they all were to him while his mom listened attentively. As for Monday? Planet was really not ready for another week of torture, but hey, now he has somewhat to look forward to - meeting Wemmbu and Egg again. Wemmbu himself doesn't have any opinion on any day of the week, to be honest. While Egg hates Mondays, Wemmbu is just happy to live. He hardly remembers the days of the week, only days of the month. There's nothing to hate in any day when they all follow the same routine and the only thing that separates them is a number on the calendar. Egg hates all week except for Friday and Saturday. On the other days it was hell of homework and being forced to wake up early. Egg hates waking up early. But Wemmbu makes all this a little more tolerable- who am i kidding, if it wasn't for Wemmbu and, well, their friendgroup now, Egg would give up on school entirely, sitting in his room all day doing random useless things.

Parrot, Wifies and Theo were studying together all weekend. And watching the sunset in the park. Theo eventually told Wifies about that part. About how it felt really intimate and how he was really shy to admit it out loud. How everyone were just standing silently. How Egg giggled at something. Blondie was talking about how he felt really happy at the moment, as he couldn't even imagine that he would ever have a big friendgroup to watch the sunset with. Wifies laughed at him with a line of softness.

"All thanks to Spoke then," he mentioned. Yeah. Thanks to Spoke. Wifies then offered to watch the sunset with them.

Theo never felt so much joy at once. He could call himself the most emotional out of the three, especially after he almost cried when they were standing in the exact same spot. Wifies and Parrot took Theo's hand from both sides, smiling. Parrot mentioned how beautiful it was, the ying-yang guy nodded in agreement. For Theo it was more than just a beautiful sunset. He can't really explain why, but ever since he was a kid, he adored the way sky changed the colors - sunrise or sunset, it was ethereal. He preferred sunsets because of how everything falls in the dark and silence right after. It's breath-taking. But this is about it for their weekend. The new week started the same. They have a really boring life outside the group, huh.. Well, maybe except for Parrot always getting in trouble for wanting to help everyone and volunteering all the time.

As for Mapicc and Spoke.. They really didn't talk this weekend. There's no particular reason, just Spoke ignoring Mapicc and the other way around. They never felt obligated by it, it was just the way things sometimes were. Mapicc was doomscrolling all the time, feeling too tired to even move. His parents looked concerned and asked him if everything was fine. It suprised the guy. But he said that he just didn't want to talk or see anyone now. Spoke though.. He never said what he did. We only got a short version of events - helping his family and playing some games. I guess we should get used to Spoke not sharing much of his life outside the friendgroup.. But they've met up in school first thing Monday morning and were already planning on whose nerves they want to get today. It's a good question.. But we all already know the answer.

Or we don't. The two headed to the library. What's that, finally decided to get yourselves together and study? Ah. Seems like the opposite. They went straight to the farthest corner of the room. That's were they found them. This place looks really comfortable. Between the bookshelfs and a wall there stands a light-grey couch of a decent size and a coffee table with books scattered on it and three cups - one untouched, other in half-empty and the third is being actively drunk. Wifies, reading some book out loud with his calming voice while laying down on Parrot's lap, Theo doing maths homework while also listening. And Parrot just sits there, drinking his drink - a juice, presumably. They all look really peaceful compared to what happens in the group. It's quiet - and it's definitely not because they're in the library, no way! But every peaceful moment comes to an end once Mapicc and Spoke are in the line of sight.

"What in a gay scene am I witnessing," Spoke interrupted Wifies and stepped closer to the trio. Their heads snapped in his direction - Parrot wide-eyed.

"Bro what are you doing here?" the guy asked. He for sure wasn't ready to meet this guy. Not here at least. He didn't look mad though. That was what mattered to Spoke - if he would really be a reason someone's mood was down the second he walks in, he'd cry in the corner for the next three hours- I mean he'd just walk out. Parrot's hand was still in Wifies's hair. Wifies didn't move from his place, looking at the duo as if they had interrupted some sacred moment. The audacity! Theo stopped writing and just stared, speechless. Well, it's safe to say they all weren't quite ready to talk about their affectionate type of friendship, as he literally was holding hands with Parrot.. But Spoke didn't seem bothered by it at all. He'd probably seen worse.

"We've decided that you three are going to entertain us," he broke the silence. It sounded even worse than intended. Mapicc giggled.

"Yeah, we're bored." Mapicc adds.

"What the fuck do you mean entertain you?" Theo asked, irritated.

"Well, I don't know, you're the masterminds in here. Come on, don't keep us waiting, we'll die if we won't have some fun before the first class."

Theo sighs, letting go of Parrot's hand and standing up. He gestured for the duo to do the same. Wifies doesn't look really happy with that, but to be honest, he often keeps his face purely neutral despite not being able to hold it from his own little soft smiles. This bro is soft. And a nerd on top of everything. Parrot looked defeated somehow, as if he expected this moment to happen some day but thought he could fight this devious duo- verbally, of course. To make them leave the trio alone. But at the same time Parrot did felt bad for them. Mapicc seemed like he was purely destructive and wasn't the one who would do the talking, preferring just ruining someone's day by a funny prank, while Spoke, for some reason, preferred the things you'd call psychological tourture over real violence. He knows how to scare people and most importanly how to make them do what he wants. And he has a great way with his words. Even if his manipulation is easily spotted, it works with the people he tries it on. Not Wemmbu or Egg though. He'd never try it on them to begin with! That's too evil even for him. Or maybe he has a little more care to them in his heart. I'm not sure.

"Let's go for a walk, then," Parrot finally says as the five of them headed towards the exit of library. The librarian nodded to them but seemed utterly confused as to why these "good guys" were with the "bad guys", to put it into simple words. Not that it was their concern anyway.

The trio had no real idea on what to do with them. Mapicc did seemed really bored and was already back to scrolling on his phone as they walked to the staircase to the second floor. Spoke, on the other hand, seemed really interested. As if waiting for what the trio could come up with. He knows the only real pleasure they see for them is to bully someone - but to be honest, they're not just some bullies to begin with. It was never the case. Their one and only "victim" ever, if you could call it that, is Planet. Sure, they- Spoke loves pranking and doing some unhinged stuff, like acting all crazy and weird out everyone around him, but he never really intended on hurting the others. He might hate the society from the bottom of his heart, but his hatred never exceeded the limit of verbal abuse. Plus, he always says sorry. Not to the people he said bad things to; he'd embarass himself and it would make him look weak; but to the only people he ever felt safe enough with. He never told me who that is.

Mapicc is destructive. And he might be considered a bully despite him saying otherwise. You'd probably call him a sadist on the same page as Spoke. I'd call him a traumatised child. You know how they say it, hurt the others before they hurt you. And the only person he really trusts and doesn't feel anxious when around is Spoke. Not even his parents. He wouldn't say they're bad parents. He loves them. He just feels like they wouldn't understand his feelings, dismiss them as a teenagers thingy or worse, would lecture him. He doesn't say where this feeling of needing to hurt the others before they do hurt him comes from, but he's aware it's not just a teenager thing. It has more depth to it. But oh well! He'd never admit that to the trio walking ahead of him!

Spoke harshly pulls Mapicc's phone from his hands, the other yelped, trying to get his lovely phone back, unlucky to do so.

"Why?" Mapicc whines, swinging his arms in a mix of agony and boredom because now he has nothing to do with them. Spoke's evil!

"Do you see anyone else using their phone at the moment?" Spoke answers with a question, his smile growing more. He pointed at the trio with Theo and Parrot turning their head to the two.

"No," Mapicc says, looking away. He might've felt shame. But to be real, it feels like only Spoke could see it in those red eyes. The way Mapicc's face twitches slightly right before he fully turns away. "But I'm bored!" the guy adds.

"Paitience is the key, Mape," Spoke mocks. He knows Mapicc has a really little of said paitience. The bell rang faster than they expected. Spoke'd seen the look on Parrot's face, almost as if afraid the duo would do something to him. They wouldn't hurt Wemmbu's birdie. That's such a funny nickname. Wemmbu is a genius.

Time to talk what Wemmbu did for his Monday morning, as we only talked about how he and Egg spent their weekend! Egg had stayed with him for another night. They did their usual hugging routine and fell asleep fast. But the next morning Egg wakes up to find and empty space near him. That's heartbreaking. His best friend left him alone on a cold bed! He's so cruel! But the princess was still in the room, doing his makeup. He didn't move a bit as Eggchan sat up, still feeling a little fuzzy after his oh so sweet sleep.

"Morning," Wemmbu says. Egg takes a good long minute before responding.

"Morning," this fucking alpha male voice again. It sounds even worse when he's in the same room. Wemmbu holds down a giggle as he applied eyeliner, careful and concentrated as ever. It's a shameful thing to say but Egg never really got to see the process of his friend doing makeup. He knows he does it and had obviously seen him without it, or removing it, but never the actual process of applying all these things on his face. It was probably the only time the albino had seen his bestie so locked in.

"Dude, your voice," his mouth twitched in smile as he said it, still not turning around to actually face the guy. Egg stood up lazily and walks over to the princess.

"Sue me for having a deep voice?"

"You sound like you came straight from hell, keep it shut."

"Rude." he's now standing right behind his friend, mindlessly staring at the mirror - at how exactly Wemmbu moved.

"You know, I can't make myself look pretty if you keep staring at me like this," the purple-haired guy pointed out. Egg looked away sighing. "Are you that interested in how it's done?"

"Just never really seen anybody in the middle of the process. Even if I'm seeing you with makeup on every single day."

"Aw, how sweet when you talk like about it like this. But still - no staring!" Wemmbu declared, an edge to sweetness in his voice. He's mocking him. What a bitch!

Egg sighs again before walking out of he room and going straight to the bathroom - Wemmbu's one. He has his own bathroom!

In school the duo went to the physics teacher first thing upon arrival - Egg needed to ask some questions regarding their homework. There was Lomedy in class, sitting at his desk and looking out the window. Wow. What a mysterious guy! Wemmbu went over to him as soon as his bestfriend abandoned him- started a conversation with the teacher.

"Having physics as your first class?" he asked, absolutely aware of the stupidity of what he said. His usual smirk is giving his whole expression a playful look. And well, he was all in to get on Lomedy's nerves. He barely sees the guy!

"Obviously," Lomedy turned to face the princess, his gaze almost as if studying Wemmbu's face. "Are you drawing a mole under your eye?" he blurts out. Wemmbu is.. stunned to say the least. The answer is yes, but no one actually asked him before so he assumed no one really payed attention. Egg knows that he does that - it's hard not to know when you have his face without makeup memorised.

"Yeah! You're the first one to ever ask that," Wemmbu smiles for real now. As if he'd felt seen after years. But he always gets noticed, no?

"It's not really obvious if you don't stand so close or if you won't get so close. I guess that does that," Lomedy smiles too, fond of the conversation. The dolly black eyes stared at the softly yellow ones. Wemmbu is really easy to talk to and he likes it about him. Despite being one of the most popular guys in school, if not the most, Wemmbu still keeps himself all friendly and open for any type of talk, it seems. And Lomedy has a lot of respect for that. That's when Wemmbu sees it. A drawn mole under Lomedy's eye.

"You do too!" he points out, facial expression full of pure genuine joy. Oh, he would kill himself if anyone would see him like that.

"You noticed! I've been waiting for you to see!" the guy literally shines now, proud of himself and Wemmbu for noticing these details.

"That's so cool!" Wemmbu, a bubble of joy, clapped his hands together. It was a while since he'd felt so good talking to someone who wasn't Egg. Talking. Not having a screaming match like he does with Flame, not the group talks. They're good too, but let's be honest here - he always preferred talking with maximum of three people, taking notes on their features and behaviour patterns.

They've had a nice conversation right until the bell rang and Egg had to literally drag his friend out of there. Looks like he could sit in the physics class instead of history like he has scheduled. Only to talk with Lomedy, of course! All the way to the history class Wemmbu was telling the albino how nice he felt and how Lomedy noticed the small details about his costume and makeup. Egg was nodding and saying that he's happy Wemmbu's mood lightened a bit after the conversation. And that he was able to relax around another person who wasn't him. He'd never get jealous over Wemmbu saying something nice about the others, it's such a stupid concept to him. He's allowed to have other friends, come on! I already mentioned that he chose not to!

The lunch wasn't really full on the events. The group had met up once again. Mane and Flame complained about their maths teacher being unfair and having favorites. Wemmbu laughs at Flame saying that he really needs to blame a teacher to excuse his poor education level, which led to another screaming match. Flame has to be honest. He loves when they scream at eachother and feels closer to Wemmbu more than ever at these moments. Even if what Wemmbu says is really something overly dramatic and far-fetched, it feels like a step to being closer, and Flame- both of the blindfold brothers would be happy to get to know him a bit more. Each time Wemmbu gets creative and gets him a new insult, each more ridiculous than the last. And this is about it. The nerdy trio were discussing their next classes and which answers they had written down on the test they had first class. Egg joined them too. Mane was talking to Lomedy. The latter asked if the duo that screamed at eachother at the moment was always like this. Mane laughed softly, saying that it wasn't even the worst of their arguments, because sometimes- and he swears, you need to physically pull them apart. Even if they fight verbally, Flame gets really angry with how Wemmbu uses his vocabulary to make up new insults for him. He'd never lay a finger on him. but sometimes they're stading so close to eachother it scares Mane to death that Flame would actually hurt Wemmbu. Though it seems that Wemmbu is aware of the boundaries even at these tense moments - especially towards the blindfold. He never tried to take it off. So on a lucky days he backs away himself or is holding his hand between them to keep some distance. Also, the lion-guy admitted to Lomedy that he had a really bad impression about Wemmbu at first. That's when Lomedy told him about the conversation they had. Mane was suprised. The guy looked at the purple-haired guy screaming at his brother something about him not being organized and that it was the main reason he'd always stay behind in academic achievements, then back at Lomedy. Lomedy looked offended when he saw implied disbelief to his words. He couldn't really say as he couldn't even see Mane's eyes. It pissed him off a bit, though it still was funny to imply something he'd see in his friend's eyes and make it an utterly dramatic scene over it. They all are acting like literal children.

Tuesday, March 10th.

Ah, today is a lovely day! Spoke seemed even more bored than yesterday. He was playing all night and sill had the audacity to complain about not getting enough sleep. There wasn't much to do until lunch. The friendgroup had finally established meeting daily on the rooftop on the lunch break. Their online chat was still dry with Spoke, Mapicc, Mane and Theo being the only people active there. Egg and Wemmbu were masters of reactions. The others either left the group on read or not weren't checking it at all like a certain someone. But the duo still had to find some sort of entartaiment before the class starts. Or do something. Anything would be nice. But today the school felt quieter. Most of the people were sitting in class and talking in their own groups and pairs. Planet wasn't in school today; he texted them that he'll be away for the rest of the week to take care of his mother - she's sick. Understandable. But now Spoke was dying of boredom just like Mapicc. He scanned the hallways they passed, his eyes lingering a second too long on the geography class - he remembered it being the first class Planet has on Tuesdays. The dedication to know his friend! But the guy himself wasn't there, so what's the point-

Hm. What about Planet's classmates? The ones who bothered them on Friday. They're just some random girls. One of them is their classmate's girlfriend though. It doesn't sound good for either of them as this dude seemed really protective of his girl. Eww. Lovebirds. Spoke could never imagine being like this with anyone- he can't even maintain good friendships! Even if it wasn't his fault from the beginning.
But that's how we got here. Spoke and Mapicc standing infront of Planet's class with Squiddo and Jumper.

"So," Jumper started, looking annoyed. "Are you going to say something or are we going to just..stand here?"

"Oh! Yeah, I zoned out," Spoke snapped out of his train of thoughts, placing a smile on his face. "You're Planet's friends?"

"You can say that!" Squiddo jumped. "Why?"

"Just wondering," Spoke's gaze drifted away to Mapicc.

"If we could be friends all together?" the guy finished his friend's sentence. What a connection they have!

"Oh! I mean," Jumper was caught off guard but it seems like Squiddo was really fond of the idea - she was fond of the idea to have fun, to be real. And Spoke always seemed to have fun.

"Sure!" she exclaimed, all joyful and happy.

"Perfect! We'll be meeting with our friendgroup on the lunch break on the rooftop! Be there," Spoke grinned. The girls nodded.

Oh, the lunch break! Just the right time to introduce our two new members!
Squiddo - a really cool and funny looking girl! She's brightening the mood in the room just like our princess! She's also beautiful! She got these cool sunglasses with a spirals in pink-yellow font. Squiddo's 5'7! She has a boyfriend - Ashswag, the really horrific looking guy- I'm sorry, he looks cool, but too scary for my liking- HEY stop interrupting me! Uhm. Sincerely apologizing for that. Ash's really protective of Squiddo, though with her he might be the softest and happiest boy on Earth. Ah, I envy this type of love. Squiddo seems to be really invested in art - is a part of an art club and even goes to the additional art classes afterschool! Her drawing are really good and she even drew most of the club posters!

Jumper is slightly shorter than Spoke being 5'5! She often wears these pastelle-pink jumpers - you know what I did here, and got charming pink eyes! It's a question if it's eye lenses or not. The girl is interested in chemistry and absolutely adores little rabbits! As far as Spoke knew before even talking to her, she's been friends with Mane for a while since 8th grade. Though now they don't talk much. Time to reunite then!

As Jumper and Squiddo went over to their meeting spot, almost everyone were already there. The atmosphere felt nice. And the weather was much warmer now; the snow slowly turning into water and dries out because of the sun. And there they were - Spoke, Mapicc, Planet, Parrot, Wifies, Theo, Flame and Mane, Lomedy. Almost everyone. The main duo- in Spoke's opinion wasn't here.

"Oh, hey girlies!" Spoke smirked, waving for the two to come closer.

"Ah, hi!" Jumper said, pleasantly surprised to see Mane. He was suprised aswell, but smiled, greeting her.

"So I'm sure you already know them, but it's Jumper and Squiddo!" Spoke dramatically turned around as he introduced the new two. Both of the girls smiled and sat next to rest of the group.

"We're still missing our 2 key members," Spoke continued talking.

"Oh yeah? Who?" Squiddo seemed really excited to meet new people.

"I'm sure you know them! I wouldn't believe if you said you don't know them. They- one of them is like a celebrity," Spoke literally gave away the suprise effect by telling that. But happily for him, Squiddo seemed to be processing really seriously what he said- is there so many popular guys in school?

Oh and finally! The princess walks over with his royal guard. Squiddo's and Jumper's eyes go wide in a span of two seconds.

"Oh! Uh, hey!" Squiddo greets the two.

"Oh my God, bro, finally," Flame whines. He really doesn't like when Wemmbu is late to their meetings. That's pretty much understandable.

"What are the new faces I see!" Wemmbu smirks, stepping closer. His gaze shifts to Squiddo. "Oh! I know you! You're Ash's girl!"

"Oh, yeah!" Squiddo lit up. She really loves her boyfriend.

"How do you know him?" Mapicc asks.

"Uh," Wemmbu seems to think about how to answer, his gaze drifting to Spoke, who barely noticeably shook his head, then to Egg, who just smiled slightly. "We were neighbors back in the day. And his father is working for my dad's company. So I've seen him multiple times! We still talk occasionally, but seeing your reaction to me, I doubt he mentions that."

"That's so cool! I never knew that!"

Wemmbu smiles. He lied straight to Ash's girlfriend face Well, kind of. He just left out most of the parts. Because the whole story would require to explain too many things. He doubts that Squiddo and Jumper would stay with them for long enough for him- for them to trust.

But he remembered it all too well.

10 years ago. Wemmbu, Eggchan, Ashswag, their acquaintance. Wemmbu's parents alley - the private playground.

The way he stood before the guy who had this unfazed look and was playing with sharp weapons on the playground. On his family's one. Eggchan and their acquaintance right behind him, the albino trembling as he dug his palms into Wemmbu's shoulders. The little princess stood tall, his dolly eyes focused on the distubance.
"This is my territory. You should leave," the boy said, shivers going up his spine as the disturbance's eyes flashed to him. He looked.. awful. He also had a semi-royalty vibe going from him, but it seemed as if he thought he was the best thing that would ever happen to this filthy world. The worst part wasn't what he thought - but how he acted on someone else's territory. Wemmbu held his breath. His parents were discussing some work ethics with the father of the child before him.
"But I don't want to leave. I want to play," he said, his voice monotonous with a sharp edge to it. He lifted his arm with a small blade in his little hands. Jeez, he looked completely out of it.
"Ash, please. You're scaring us," Wemmbu stepped back. He never stepped back ever again.
"You don't want to be my friends anymore?" he said, looking sad. It almost brought back the pity Wemmbu had for him. But this boy was raised to step forward for the weak. And Ash didn't seem weak. He, infact, is way stronger than any of them. But while he could fight them, he couldn't fight himself. His own corrupted soul. Psychotic disorder, adults call it. It's a certain one, but Wemmbu doesn't know which. It's a thing playing with your mind - distorts the perception of reality, makes your mood swings happen more often, speech becomes incoherent and unintelligible. The start point for impulses. The impulsive actions and thoughts- impulses, are different for everyone. Ash got violent ones. And there's no one really to blame except for his parents and the way they raised him, completely ignoring his special condition. He wasn't meant to be like this.
"We do want to be your friends, Ash, but you act scary," Wemmbu tries to be polite with his words, just the way his mother taught him. "You scare me, Eggy and [redacted]. Please, stop" he adds. He suddenly feels like it wasn't the best time to say it.
"Scaring [redacted]? Wem, this boy looks like he's.. enjoying it," the boy's eyes drift to look at their acquaintance. "He's as broken as I am, Wem! Why he's hiding behind you? Why don't you let me hide behind you?" the boy tilted his head. "You really don't like me? Please, Wem," he pleads. "I want to play with all of you. Is it- Am I not allowed to have friends if I'm broken?" he blinked, tears gathering at the corners of his eyes."
"No, Ash, you're not-"
"Wem, why do you let [redacted] play with you but want me to leave? Is he a better friend than me?"

Yes, he is. And Wemmbu will protect him no matter the cost. The princess is being dragged back to the reality by Flame giving him a slap on the head.

"Ow, ow! How dare you," Wemmbu spun around, falling right into Egg's arms with an exaggerated sigh. Everyone laughed.

"You zoned out for like an eternity, dude," Mane says, satisfied with how well his idea of bringing Wemmbu back to them worked.

"Not a reason to hit me like that!" he replies, still overly dramatic and still clinging to Egg, as if he's his personal shield or something. The albino stood awkwardly. Lomedy giggled, wiping away a tear that formed from the way he laughed so much and so hard. This group is so emotional. He absolutely loves it here.

"Okay, our fellow daydreamer, care to finally sit down with us?" Wifies says, his tone slightly shifting to something mocking.

"Yeah, bless us with your presence, princess," Flame joins the mock, grin on his face. Oh how badly Wemmbu wants to slime them all out. If only he could do it.

The two are finally seated. The conversations starts to pile up fast - every single one goes through really fast. Wemmbu giggles as he watches the others talk - Squiddo was ranting about her and Ash's adventures. That's really wholesome. She was saying how he was all protective of her and how he is all sweet. Like he's not a child with murderous tendencies. Either Squiddo is unaware or she chooses not to talk about it. Wemmbu would respect both of these variants as he lied to her face. She didn't seem to call him out on that, so it's safe to assume she's just unaware. Good. Ash better keeps her safe. To lose one brightening smile is to lose the lights once and for all. It's a domino effect. The princess also thinks it goes for the bad actions too. Because if a child gets to see how another child - or an adult, which is worse, acts weird, creepy and violent in general, it might corrupt their naive nature. It is possible that the child would think it's right and wouldn't understand later why is it bad if his mommy- for example, acted the same. Jumper remembered some funny moments with Mane from the 8th grade and decided to embarass him infront the whole group - especially his brother's rival, of course. As if Wemmbu wouldn't use anything he has on them against Flame. He absolutely fucking would. And Mane pointed it out, getting an offended whine from purple-haired guy, as if he was wrong. But he never said otherwise, so.. it's obvious. He pressed for more details on each story, gaze drifting to Flame time to time. He's definitely planning some evil schemes to get Flame and Mane to surrender to him. Oh, he'd blackmail them into doing what he wants! The rich kids do that often. Would be a fun thing to watch.

It really seemed like it was going really well. The whole "befriending everyone" thing. The group slowly grows closer and most importanly, there's signs of gaining some trust. Maybe Spoke's ideas aren't always so bad. Spoke wouldn't lie, he craved this type of friendship since 3rd grade. When it was all easy and light. He is the type to hate his past, but he missed it. He missed them. But deep in his heart he knew that they will never forgive him. Even if it's not his fault. Even if he was forced to do all the things that ruined someone else's ability to trust. He shook off the memories - he could still remember their faces when he admitted that he was friends with them to his own profit. He remembered the way his friend's face flushed with disbelief, the way he stared. He knew he wouldn't yell - his friend was a kind soul. But he had every right to be angry. You know, Spoke never opens up to anyone even now after this incident happened. The problem with the whole story was - he was forced to say those words. He was forced to walk away from life he dreamt of having - the one that's full of fun and caring for eachother. It's suprising that he does opens up to us now. Maybe he tries to settle his thoughts. To find the courage to actually talk to the ones he once hurt. One doesn't interfere with the other. Spoke looked at Mapicc; really looked at him after they became friends in 6th grade. Mapicc was shaken back then, paranoid even. He was anxious Spoke would get mad at him, leave him or hurt him. Spoke wasn't better to say the least. He was fighting the urge to actually leave Mapicc and their friendship was a rollercoaster type for the first year. But after that year point passed, Mapicc opened up to Spoke about his problems. About his thoughts and struggles. About how he saw Spoke as the only person worth trusting in his life. The guy didn't have any answer to that. He just smiled awkwardly and said something along the lines of "I hope we won't mess it up ever again, because I can't afford to lose someone I care about once more". Mapicc didn't catch up to it. But after that exact moment, their friendship was finally healing. They both are awful at this. The whole friendship thing. But they were trying to make it work. And now neither of them would leave the other behind. Mapicc might look as if he doesn't care, especially remembering the way he's constanly on his phone, but he really does care. For Spoke- not only him, but the people that seem important to him too. Mapicc doesn't understand the purpose of this whole befriending thing but he will go through it with Spoke no matter what. That's the definition of the sick friendship they have.

Wednesday, March 11th.

This day went off normal I think. Jumper and Squiddo had called a meeting in the library before the first class, saying that while they had fun together with the rest of the group, they wouldn't really participate. You know, they have other friends and things to worry about. But they said to call them if they'd plan on something big and fun. Everyone was completely okay with that. That was also the moment they all met Ashswag. He looked like he didn't want to be near these guys, but he was there for his girl, so it's bearable. When Spoke walked into the library and saw him, he just shutted down completely up to the point Parrot was the one talking in the name of the whole group. Spoke did not like this classmate of his even a single bit. Mapicc noticed the tension, but it seemed like a wrong time and place for these types of questions. Egg, who was standing beside his best friend like always, didn't even look in the direction of this guy. He wasn't fond of him either. He hoped that Squiddo wouldn't find it strange. Wemmbu on the other hand was staring directly at him - as if looking down in his soul and trying to find something in there. Ash stared at him too. He looked apologetic to his credit. But he would never get the chance to say it out loud. Every interaction he has with Wemmbu is really kept professional - they talk about his father's work and the deadlines he misses sometimes. During these times, even if Ash tries, Wemmbu doesn't let his business-like mask slip even for a second. But it's safe to say Ash's questions about how he's doing these days have caught the princess off guard more then he'd like to admit. After Squiddo and Jumper were done explaining their position in all this mess of a friendgroup, they stood up to leave, Ash standing up right after them. He scanned the room once more and his gaze lingered a second too long on the two people in the room he remembered from his childhood. Wemmbu wasn't looking at him anymore, he leaned closer to Egg to ask him if he was okay after that. It was for no one else to hear, but Ash knew them too well. Or he thought so because of how much time he spent in Wemmbu's residency before his parents just stopped bringing him along after a fight with Wemmbu's parents; the latter were concerned how their son seemed to stop talking about his days and found out that Ash was the reason.

But the rest of the day was peaceful! For blindfold brothers at least. Flame and Mane weren't in the meeting for obvious ignorance of first class's existence, so they were caught up on that part during their lunch break meeting. The lion-guy seemed a little upset at first but his mood was fast to be brought up with the rest of the group. Flame wasn't bothered with it in the slightest. What a rude guy.

As for the rest - I'd recommend to start with our devious duo! Spoke had a terrible idea and Mapicc was all in for it. The two giggled when they proceeded through with the preparations. Now, what was the idea? They went to the middle-schoolars wing. What Spoke wanted to do is to blend in with the 7th graders and confuse everyone. That's something they've never done, so both of them were excited about it. They weren't exactly tall to really give away themselves, plus most of the boys in 7th grade were as tall as they were, if not taller. What a shame and a bullet in their heart. They never told anyone from the friendgroup and just disappeared right after the first class ended, careful enough that nobody saw them. They stopped a random guy in the hallway and asked what class are they having. Science it was. Well! Sounds like a perfect opportunity to accidentally spill some chemicals - if they even worked with them, and call it a day! They wouldn't dare to skip their beloved lunch meeting with their friends and Mapicc barely handles the enviroment here.

"These kids are just so.. unbelievably stupid!" he whined as they walked to "their" class.

"Dude, you're not the one to talk about stupidity." Spoke sighed with a playful smile.

"How dare you!" Mapicc let out an extra exaggerated gasp, his hand to his mouth. It took only four seconds for these two idiots to burst out laughing. They're no better than these kids.The only thing keeping them apart is their birth year, really. And well, maybe the headbands. No one would allow middle-schoolars to wear something so bright and defiant. That only screams how disrespectful they are to the rules if you don't know that they're in highschool. In highschool the dress-code is way better in their opinion - there's really no strict rules. Only not to wear something too revealing for both genders which is understandable. Come on, if it was as strict as the middle school, Wemmbu wouldn't wear a literal prince costume. How is he even comfortable in that? Spoke could only guess.

The bell rang. Mapicc smiled as Spoke giggled with an evil look on his face. The two sat in the back row. Some of the kids were already confused, looking over on them. And they infact had a laboratory work today. Mapicc hold back his laugh as the teacher went to them to give them equipment. Spoke just nodded. The teacher looked mostly confused.

"I'm sorry, are you supposed to be here?" she asked, looking down at Spoke. The guy made offended face.

"Of course! How could we skip science?" when Spoke said it, Mapicc snorted. It was funny. Because they definitely would skip any science class. And they do it all the time.

The teacher nodded, though you could see how confused she looked as she gave the equipment and printed instructions.

Now, Spoke has a deep voice. Deeper than middleschoolers at least. He had to highpitch it for it to really sound as middle schooler. And well.. it made Mapicc wheezing hard after the teacher went away. He was shaking in laughter and it made Spoke laugh too. But they had to go through the whole class for this mission to be considered done! So Spoke slapped Mapicc lightly to get him to calm down, only to get a gasp and a slap in return. Spoke dramatically turned away making an offended face. Mapicc couldn't let that slide! He forced his friend to turn back to face him by grabbing his chin. The two were still laughing as if they had no care in the world. It stopped being quiet in the classroom. The teacher looked at these two.

"You two! Principle's office!" she screamed. The laughter died instanly. Spoke was still grinning.

"Miss, we haven't done anything wrong!" Mapicc said across the class, still holding Spoke's face.

"You're disturbing the silence! And your outfit is disrespectful to the rules!"

Mapicc let out a defeated sigh only to grin back to his bestfriend. They had the time of their life! And it also wasn't the first time the two got sent to principle's office. That lady is practically their friend now! The duo stood up, making guilty faces. The teacher conducted them to the principle. The second the door behind them closed, the two started laughing again. The woman sitting behind the desk sighed. She'd seen this scene too many times to really have a reaction. The teacher returned to her class. Mapicc and Spoke were holding onto eachother trying to stop from laughing. They couldn't even tell why they were here. The second they open their mouth, it starts to hit with a laugh. It's a pitiful picture to look at. And there was only one of them with real psychiatric diagnosis, yet both of them act as if they ran off pshych ward just yesterday. After a good 10 minutes - the principle timed, it finally was quiet again. The duo was still smiling and holding eachother.

"So, mind telling me why a 7th grade teacher led you here?" she asks, voice flat. Mapicc hides his face, trying to stop himself from laughing.

"Uh, we," Spoke tried to think of a reasonable answer. There's none. "We just got lost!"

"In middle-school wing." she stated a fact. Spoke giggled.

"Yeah!" he exclaimed. Mapicc was laughing silently.

"What were you two doing there?"

"Uhm, we wanted to remember good old days!" Spoke couldn't hide his smile and the incoming laugh. The woman sighed.

"You know what's going to happen."

"Yeah, yeah, an hour of detention after classes," Spoke rolled his eyes. The woman sighed once more, this time from being tired of the disrespect coming from these two.

It was ridiculous and really suprising why the two weren't expelled with the number of times they went in and out this room. For Mapicc it was partly understandable, his parents were sponsoring the school, even if it's not much, it would be bad to lose sponsorship the second Mapicc got expelled. But Spoke? No one knows. Even Spoke himself isn't capable of answering this question. But it did made him feel special and gave him an ego boost. When he asked about it once in the principle's office, the woman said that there was someone who made a deal about him staying in this school until he graduated. But it wasn't his parents who did. The woman said she doesn't have a right to tell him as it was a part of the whole deal. It's so weird. But oh well! Not that it matters!

Now, let's move on to the nerdy trio! They actually did something today besides studying! Parrot had been called off classes to help in the animal shelter he volunteered in. You could probably call it a work at this point. He took Wifies and Theo with him. at their destination, Theo in fascination looked around. The lobby looked so nice and clean. It was decorated with some vines and plants in pots around. Walls are painted in purely lime-green color. The lights were just right - comfortable, not too bright. Something you'd expect walking in an animal shelter, you know? So after a while of waiting, the lady that called Parrot off his classes went over to the trio and apologized for distubing their studies. Parrot told her that it was completely okay and that they didn't mind something other than constant reading and writing. They loved that type of activity - it was their way of calming down their thoughts or just spending time together, but really, it's so energy-draining it might kill them some day. She gave the trio some tasks and went back to work. And the trio had fun working! Though to the end of the day they were dead tired. So Wifies offered for them to go to his place because it was closer to them. And there wasn't a reason to say no.

Wifies's apartment was a really comfortable place. Now, they were here before, but it was a one time thing! For some reason they always went to Parrot's, not even thinking they could go to the ying-yang guy who always had a whole room free for them all. Wifies also got a really cute dog! Theo adores her! The entirety of room were black-white and a little bit grey. Simple, but really nice. And before you ask - he doesn't live alone. It just appears that his dad is mostly absent. Wifies says it's because of work. No one questions that. Back to the topic. The two "birds" were so tired they were stumbling while walking to their assigned bedroom. It felt as if Wifies was waiting for a moment like this and had a bedroom prepared.

"Though, it's either you sleep on the same bed, or with me." he blurts out as Parrot and Theo walks into the room.

"Dude." Theo groans, already falling onto the bed, only to be caught by Wifies.

"Take off your clothes first." and releases him. Wifies always was stupidly worried about sleeping in clothes that weren't meant for sleeping. I've got zero idea what's in this man's mind. Theo looks at him, confused. Parrot already changed his clothes and stood there, waiting for Theo. He really didn't care how to sleep. He just wanted to rest - lord, he'd sleep on the floor if it would make the two to finally settle down and go to sleep.

"I won't sleep with anyone!" Theo exclaims as he changed his clothes. It wasn't new for them to change infront of eachother either. They only never did sleepovers, that's the thing. And definitely weren't expecting for their first one to happen in Wifies' apartment. But who cares! Wifies just nods and turns away.

"Sleep well, Theo." he turned the lights off and led Parrot into his own bedroom.

"So why can't I sleep on the couch in the guestroom?" Parrot asks. It was a normal question, really. Nothing suprising, especially from Parrot, who was asking questions all the time.

"It's uncomfortable and you're tired." Wifies stated. Well, he wasn't wrong about the tired part. But it felt like there was another reason.

"Is that all?"

"I mean," Wifies hesitates before continuing, "I don't really want you to meet my father."

Ow. That one hurt. Were they not close enough for that? Why is he acting so weird? Is there something wrong? So many questions, but it's probably really not the time to ask them. So the birdie just nods, sitting down on the bed. Wifies changed himself and immediatelly went on the bed. He pulled Parrot to lay down too. Okay. The silence was getting kind of awkward. But oh, how the sweet sleep wanted to consume the guy. So he just sighs before rolling around.

"Good night, Wifies" he said lazily. All he got was a hum of agreement. Dude, he wished for Theo to sleep well and couldn't do the same for a person that sleeps right next to him? But when Parrot was about to point that out, he noticed that Wifies was already long gone in his sleep. Okay, he didn't act tired beforehand, so it was suprising. Parrot giggled lightly as made himself comfortable on his side of the bed and after a while, fell asleep too.

Wifies woke up in the middle of the night hearing movement from the kitchen. It probably was his father who came back. Normally he wouldn't really care. But tonight he had friends over and he couldn't let them see the man. He stood up, careful not to wake up his birdie friend and walked out. And sure, there he was, standing in the kitchen with some vegetables in his hands, lost in the thought.

"Welcome back." Wifies says flatly. Well, it was his normal voice, to be real. The man flinched and looked at his son as if it's his first time seeing him.

"Why are you not in the bed?" is what he answers.

"Heard you coming in and woke up."

"You never cared to meet me." the man put the vegetables away. "Why all of the sudden?"

"I have friends sleeping over. I'd recommend you to not show your face in the morning." he says, stepping closer. Honestly, I can't make out the man's face, but he and Wifies look really alike. Really easy to say that they're related.

"Are you threatening me?"

"I said 'I recommend', it's not the same."

"Why are you so pressed about them seeing me?"

"I don't want them to know anything about our family. It should be kept away."

"Chill out, Wifies. It's not really hard to explain."

"Not really hard to explain that I'm living with a scientist that does experiments to create a perfect life? That said scientist is out of his mind creating himself a son?" he snaps.

"You're exaggerating, Wifies."

"It's you who plays it down, not me exaggerating."

"Really, calm down, Wifies. You for sure don't want to wake up your friends with all that yelling," the man smiles. "Come, sit with me. We can talk like normal family."

Wifies sighs before obliging. How could he not? The so-called father is just an excuse of a person. He's a sickhead that thought it was a great idea to create himself a son. He didn't raise him. He had a woman who gave birth, the woman is no longer with us, and made it his mission to make his son the perfect experiment. And it's to put it lightly and quickly. Wifies was aware. And he was aware that he's named right after his father. It's a.. strange feeling. But it's not like anyone knows that the man has a son and Wifies' friends doesn't know that they share a name. They don't know anything and he intends to keep it that way.

Now, you might be thinking: how could Parrot not feel the way Wifies' warmth disappeared? Well, he felt it. And woke up, ready to complain about being cold. But was instead met with an empty room and muffled voices in the kitchen. And Parrot, what a great friend he is, wanted to check it out. So he did. When getting closer to the kitchen, he stopped, listenin attentively to the dialogue.

"So you're telling me you all went to the animal shelter?" the unknown voice said. It must be Wifies' father.

"Yeah, Parrot volunteers there," the familiar voice said. "He was called off the classes and took us with him."

"And you went there. Instead of classes." the voice came out almost as if calculating. As if its owner was deep in his thoughts.

"Yeah."

"That implies you think some animals are more important than getting smarter and a better version of yourself?"

"I already pass the advanced classes. There's no getting better for a while."

"Start taking college classes."

"No."

"What?"

"No." Wifies's voice was flat as ever. There was a sound as if the man snorted.

"We have a guest." the man exclaimed. That's when Parrot, swallowing hard, revealed himself. What he saw suprised him not even a little bit - two people to the both sides of the table, looking as if they were identical. Which is not suprising for family, really. But they're really alike. The only way to tell them apart was to look them in the eyes - Wifies' father had a sharp edge to his gaze.

"Why are you not in bed?" Wifies' asks, turning to face Parrot. His face was blank in a way it was kind of unsettling. The whole thing was unsettling, his father has a laboratory outfit on! Parrot opened his mouth to answer, but was quickly stopped.

"Don't be rude, Wifies." the man said, leaning closer to his son. Wifies probably found it as a really uncomfortable gesture and stood up, his hand already on Parrot's shoulder.

"He needs to sleep. And I need too." he turns away as he hears his father chuckling in the back, leading Parrot away.

In the bedroom, Wifies' expression shifted. To something more comfortable, more caring, in a way. He sat back on the bed and Parrot did too.

"Is your dad a scientist?" Parrot asks. Wifies's blood ran cold. He is. Just not the one you'd expect him to be.

"Yeah. Works with chemicals." half a lie.

"That sounds amazing! But I heard he was really.. not happy with us leaving the school today."

"Don't worry about it, really," Wifies says, rolling in the bed and making himself comfortable. "Sweet dreams, Parrot."

"Good night." the guy yawns.

Thursday, March 12th.

Today it felt too heavy for Flame to get up. Mane felt sick and stayed home aswell. When the fire-guy woke up it was already lunch break time - too late to get up and go to that omnious building we call school. He didn't even bother checking his phone, sure as hell that no one would remember him to ask where he is. But that'd been proven wrong when his phone made a ping sound. Flame groaned as he took his phone from the nightstand.

11 unread messages

Lomedy: bro wya - 9:07AM
Lomedy: dont tell me u both r skipping - 9:12AM
Lomedy: ill kill u someday - 10:02AM
Lomedy: bro - 11:14AM
Lomedy: ok sleepyhead - 12:03PM
Lomedy: Wemmbus mad u didnt tell anyone - 12:13PM
Lomedy: were planning on going to wemmbus friday evening - 12:15PM
Lomedy: ill try negotiating with him so he'd let u be there - 12:15PM
Lomedy: but bros pissed - 12:16PM
Wemmbu: count ur days mf - 12:23PM
Wemmbu: ur lucky I like Lomedy - 12:23PM

Guess he wasn't forgotten after all! Flame smiles softly as he looks at the screen - something he'd never admit on doing. It's obvious that Lomedy wouldn't forget about him - they're bestfriends! But Wemmbu? Him being pissed Flame didn't come? Aww. That's a real ego boost right here. The Wemmbu is worried about Flame being absent! How nice of him.

It's really hard to find words to descrive their relationship. Sure, they act like they hate eachother, but do they really? Wemmbu is more of a loner than Flame - he didn't really talk to anyone besides Egg until Spoke reached out to him. But since the start of the school year he initiated all the verbal fights between him and Flame. At first Flame did hate Wemmbu. Like, bro was getting on his nerves for absolutely no reason! What's that god complex? But after a while, something shifted. Flame doesn't tell what happened, but he just started to look out for Wemmbu and being more careful around him. He started noticing some small things. The way Wemmbu's smile never really reached his eyes unless it was Eggchan. The way he'd politely - and not, push everyone away while letting Egg cling to him with a soft smile. How he never told people more than they needed to know. There was something that made Flame think he's a great friend. Perchance it was the way Wemmbu interacted with Egg openly. Hugging, cupping his cheek and ruffling his hand through his hair. And the way he allowed Egg to do the same. He seemed really caring. Flame remembers how Egg once mentioned that he's also protective. Funny to hear, as Flame is protective too. Egg once told a story that Flame overheard, it was about a boy that was forced to kneel before Egg and apologize for calling him weak. Infront of the school. Flame had seen the scene himself. But he never thought it was Wemmbu who made the poor guy to embarass himself like that.. Woah. It definitely made Flame respect the princess even more. And now - he really wanted to be his friend. He hoped that Wemmbu saw him through their usual fights and at least thought about them as friends. It would be nice to know. Flame never really got to see Wemmbu outside his facade. Egg mentioned how Wemmbu doesn't act like himself in school. It's more of an image. And well, if Lomedy said they're going to Wemmbu's - it's a chance he'd finally see how Wemmbu actually is? There's just no way he isn't comfortable in his own home to act like himself.

For Mane there's really nothing to care about in the world, except Flame and their mother. He's a family guy! And when Flame started rambling about that purple-haired guy all of the sudden, he didn't stop him. He, infact, didn't say anything at all. He listened to his brother complaining, then to him saying how he envies Wemmbu, then to how they were forced to be friends because of Spoke and how Wemmbu was ultimately against the idea, then to how frustrating the guy is, and it's a circle that goes around to this day. The lion-guy himself never really had a nice impression of Wemmbu, especially after he'd seen the way the two are arguing. Wemmbu gets a point for the way he uses his words and his confidence, but still, it was too much. But even after that Mane kept listening to his brother. It seemed like Flame was really into it. Well, he's like this with everyone, as they say. Lomedy didn't like Wemmbu either. He could only tolerate him because of Flame. There was a moment when Lomedy stopped hating on the purple-haired guy. He told the lion-guy a little story: once in the history class, he overheard Spoke talking to Mapicc about Wemmbu. Spoke was saying that he just knows Wemmbu's a sweet guy, using him helping the others in need as an example, and that he doesn't understand the hate he gets sometimes. Lomedy thought it was funny, because if you're popular, you should expect hate. He joined the conversation, saying that the reason behind this is probably that he's in bad relationship with Flame, who's not some unknown guy. Flame is also popular. Spoke agreed, but said that it's not a reason to hate on him to the point Wemmbu got death threats. And when thinking about it - Spoke was probably right. The story haven't really changed Mane's opinion though. He had some personal beef with rich kids, to be honest. He just saw them as spoiled. But after being dragged with Flame to the friendgroup, he softened a bit. As of now, he doesn't hate on the guy. He sees Wemmbu as his little brother, despite them being same age. And he'd definitely never tell him that unless Wemmbu himself asks him how he feels about him.

As for Wemmbu? He never exactly hated on the blindfold brothers. It was the opposite! I already mentioned that he was interested in them. And I wasn't lying! He found their interactions pleasing and amusing. And during the arguments with Flame he never really tried to hurt the guy. It always felt like a little funny debate! It felt nice to let his anger out, the one he stuffed somewhere in his heart. He wasn't angry at Flame. Just someone else. And these fights were really distracting in a way they became a need. To keep Wemmbu's intruisive thoughts away. So when Spoke forcefully made them friends, he was scared he's going to lose one of the few things keeping him away from his own mind. But that didn't happen! And they slowly started their way to becoming close friends.

The whole group did. There is signs of clear trust now. Planet, who's all shy and quiet, started joking around and being more open. Flame opened a bit too. Mane could afford showing affection to some of the members. Mapicc finally got the interest in talking with friends. Theo felt safe enough to yap about his lobely bird, the rest listening attentively. Lomedy trusted the group enough to start complaining about the laziness of gardening club members, but don't tell them he does that! It was really nice watcing as people, so different from the core, getting closer in that slow pace. It was the theory Spoke wanted to test since the start. But now he doesn't want to leave. Not when the very people he'd cared for his whole life are so close. So close yet so far away, mentally distant. There are only two people whose demeanor didn't change in the slightest. It was Wemmbu and Egg. Which is expected, and well, they've always acted open, so nobody questions it. Even if Egg admitted to Wemmbu acting differently out of the school.

Anyway, let's check out what the others had done while our blindfold brothers chilled home!

After that encounter with Wifies's father, it took Parrot around 40 minutes to actually fall asleep. Theo woke up earlier than usual and stormed right into Wifies' bedroom with purpose of waking iup the duo. Parrot complained about not getting enough sleep and wanted to blame it on Wifies, but quickly reconsidered it after he felt the way Wifies stared at him. Oh, come on, he knows it's fully his fault, no need to scare him like that! So he left the topic. When in school, the trio went to the library, Theo and Parrot took spare books from there, since, you know, new day new classes! Suprising, yeah. But after that the day went as normal. There was a strange moment on the lunch break though.

When the first class ended, Lomedy went to the school entrance and waited there for Flame or Mane - preferably both, to show up. It was a normal practice for them. He'd check in with their classmates, and if they're nowhere to be found, he goes to the entrance and waits them to appear. It was already 10 minutes and they haven't showed up. That was strange. These guys live near school and it's a 5 minute walk at worst! He texted the two in naive hopes to get an answer. Rude. It wasn't suprising for Flame to ignore him like that, but Mane? He's the responsible one! And now they both are brutally ignoring him! That's heartbreaking. Lomedy gave up on waiting and went back to his class. He has an offer on the lunch break anyway.

Spoke and Mapicc spent most of their time in the morning being on the phone with Planet. He updated them on his mother's condition and listened to their adventures in the middle-school wing. But all things come to an end eventually, and he had to go. The duo was forced to ~~die of boredom~~ go back to classes.

Wemmbu and Egg had a standard morning. There only happened something when they joined the meeting on the lunch break.

"Where's Flame?" the princess asks as he goes closer to the group. The two big guys are absent. But hey, Lomedy's here! Something that makes it worth attending.

"I don't know." Lomedy answers. Wemmbu is confused.

"What do you mean? Did you text them?"

"Of course I did! They're ignoring me." Lomedy made and offended face. Spoke gestured for the duo to sit with the others. The princess saw how Lomedy was texting someone on his phone - Flame, probably.

"They must be sleeping then." Egg deadpans. Wemmbu let out an exaggerated sigh.

"Yeah no, Sherlock." oh. so he's seemingly moody. What did you do, Flame!

"Spoke said that Lomedy has something to say." Parrot joins the conversation. Theo stops chewing on his precious food and his attention draws back to the rest of the group.

"Oh! Yeah! Uhm," the guy hesitates. "Wemmbu's parents are leaving for a week-long trip today. I wanted to offer to go to Wemmbu's!" he exclaimes. Wemmbu looks even more confused. And maybe a little angry. About Flame and Mane, maybe. Egg questioningly looked between the two. Now, Wemmbu mentioned it once during their conversation on monday. But he didn't think Lomedy would plan on doing something with that knowledge! And Egg didn't know what they've talked about.

"And what about asking Wemmbu himself firstly?" he says. Feeling pretty talkative today, Egg?

"Oh! Well, Wemmbu doesn't mind, right?" Lomedy makes that innocent look that makes Wemmbu want to punch him right there on the spot. But the rest of the group giggles.

"It's okay with me." he finally says.

"That's out of the way then!" Lomedy smiles.

"I'm down!" Theo says.

"We'll finally see how our royalty lives," Mapicc joins. Wemmbu laughs awkwardly.

"Also, can Flame and Mane come?" Lomedy asks, voice all sweet again.

"No." Wemmbu answers too quickly.

"Please? They'll apologize for today and will be nice!" how the purple-haired guy hates these types of dialouges. He nods defeatedly. And then, the self-claimed leader's voice fell through.

"Can I come?" Spoke's voice lacks that confidence. Everyone looked at him questioningly. Wemmbu's attention snapped to the guy. He looked lost and utterly unsure. Wemmbu gives it a second to think.

He's not allowed to come to Wemmbu's residency. They have a blacklist on the wall board in their living room. There are only two names - Spoke and Ash. But at the same time, his parents are going to be out of town, so there's no way they'll know if Spoke came or not. But they have servants - staff. And they'll still be there friday evening, when they're planning to come on said sleepover. And even if Wemmbu holds some power over the servants, they're loyal to his parents, not him. So even if he asks nicely there's no doubt they will report everything anyway. So the answer should be obvious, right?

"Yeah." he murmurs, not daring to meet Spoke eyes. Egg lets out a confused sound, turning to face Wemmbu. The guy had a guilty look on his face, but he still manages to smile. What a dumbass. Egg smiles too. Lomedy hums happily, ignorant of the tension.

Friday, March 13th.

Today not much happened at school. After school the group was forced to wait until Flame's basketball practice was out of the way and then they needed to reach out to all of the parents to get their consent. The sun was already setting when they finally saw Wemmbu's mansion. While the rest of the group stayed outside, admiring the view, the way sunrays laid down on the building, Wemmbu and Egg went to the sweet old lady that met them at the entrance. Wemmbu told her about the sleepover, but she noticed the familiar rainbow headband and asked him what he's doing there. Wemmbu says that he knows what he's doing and if anything, he takes full responsibility. After a while of reassuring, she lets them in. Egg gestures for the rest to come in.

We already know how the house looks inside. The group admires the way it's all clean and shiny. They all kept giving second glances to the decorations. It was mesmerizing! Parrot had noticed how some of the halls were done in that semi-museum pattern, and he wanted to check out the exhibits! He went over closer to one of the stands.

"Why is this spot empty?" Parrot questions. Wemmbu turns around to look what the birdie was talking about. He stopped dead in his tracks as soon as he saw that his friend was standing next to one of the childmade things stand. He swallows as he came up to his friend. Spoke and Egg went with him, while the rest of the group was looking at other stands and paintings on the walls. Spoke's eyes go wide as soon as he sees the empty spot with a nametag crossed out between Egg's and Wemmbu's works.

"Oh, that," Wemmbu tries to find the right words for this type of situation. He lookes at Egg, who's at a loss for words too. Then at Spoke. His eyes were glassy a bit, and he turned away, walking to the rest of the group, not saying anything. The princess sighs. "We had a close friend before. We ended up splitting up and my parents got rid of his works. They're.. not thrown out. Just somewhere away."

"Okay," Parrot looks at the rest of the group. "Wemmbu, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah?"

"What's your deal with Spoke?"

Wemmbu felt as if he stopped breathing. He, infact, did not want to talk about it. Not now. Not ever. He didn't want to admit to anything. But there's something he's grateful for from Spoke. He can lie as well as he did back then. When the rainbow did shine. When the sun was warm and too big.

"Nothing! He's just.. kind of weird. My parents aren't really fond of him." he says, voice coming back to the usual confidence. He couldn't show he was scared of the truth. He couldn't show he still remembers. Egg sighs with some sort of relief when Parrot just nods and goes back to the group. The albino started talking, careful that only Wemmbu could hear.

"We can't keep this up. Spoke went on the second floor." he says. His monotonous voice makes it somehow worse.

"You think he went-"

"In his room, yeah. And we can't keep lying to everyone."

"You know why I'm doing this, please." Wemmbu's gaze is desperate to keep the lie going.

"He's hurting because you won't aknowledge him for who he was." Egg states a fact. Damn, what a tense conversation..

Wemmbu doesn't like that in the slightest. He turns away, shutting down. They'll talk about it later. The two came back to the group. They led everyone to the living room. Parrot notices the wall board and starts investigating it. He sees the blacklist. And suddenly something settles for him. He glances back at the duo - how Egg goes out of the room and comes back with Spoke after a while, the latter taking a second to spare apologetic glance to Wemmbu. There's something more to the story. Wifies joins Parrot.

"Spoke is blacklisted from here?" he asks.

"Seems like it."

"Wemmbu really went into trouble to bring him here then."

"I feel like they have some history together, Wifies. Think about it - all the second glances, the way Wemmbu would look out for Spoke but wouldn't aknowledge him out of the group."

"Stop right there. They do have some history. Egg told me when I asked."

"Huh?"

"I've asked Egg what was their deal with Spoke. Egg told me it was a long story and Wemmbu doesn't want to share it with anyone. And asked me not to bring it up anymore ever."

"But don't you want to know the truth?"

"I do. But I don't want to cross ways with Wemmbu's and Egg's parents if that topic is sensitive and will hurt them emotionally."

Parrot seemed a bit lost. He wanted to help out Wemmbu to get through whatever he and Spoke had going on, but he couldn't when even his best friend won't do that. Finally, he nods. He felt as someone stood behind him. Well, of course.

"Hey, Spoke." Parrot turns around to meet eyes with the guy who always grins. Even now he does it.

"Hello, birdie," Spoke's smile doesn't quite reach his eyes in a way that's creepy. Parrot could never get used to it. "We're deciding who will sleep where. It's only you and and your friend," he glances at Wifies and back, " who haven't decided yet."

"Oh! Yeah, uhm, what's the options?"

"There are four rooms on the second floor excluding Wemmbu's. All of the rooms have a bed and a couch. Me and Wemmbu will be in his room. Theo wants to be alone, or to sleep separately, so it could be any room. Mapicc and Spoke are in the last room. Flame and Mane will be in the third. Lomedy doesn't care, any room will be fine."

"So, the second room. Me, Parrot and Theo." Wifies says.

Eggchan nods and gives a servant another nod. The other leaves the room and goes up, presumably, to get the rooms ready. Wemmbu was absent.

"Where's the princess?" Mane asks, getting too comfortable on the sofa, voice already on the edge of falling asleep.

"Changes." Eggchan gives him an answer. After a while of talking about everything, and everyone finally stopping glazing the way this house is built, Wemmbu comes back. Hair in a bun, tiara nowhere to be found, makeup off, and in ordinary white t-shirt and shorts. Egg giggles as everyone gasps. Flame had never seen Wemmbu look so.. domestic. And so comfortable. No one else did, let's be real. The guy sat down and rested his head on his hand. He looked.. tired. In a way that was concerning.

"If you won't stop staring at me like this I'll send you all home, will lock myself in my room for a month and will never talk to any of you again." he says, his voice lacking the same confidence he wore everyday in school. But at the same time his own words made him snort and smile. The atmosphere had eased a bit. Everyone were back to talking, though for most part the sounds were not above a whisper. They all are deadly tired. When the servant comes back and informs Wemmbu that the rooms are ready, he exales and gestures for the group to go after him. He showed everyone their own rooms.

"Night, everyone." he says, yawning mid sentence and sending a laugh that went over the whole group like a domino. He walks in his bedroom and almost instanly falls asleep. Or pretends to.

After a while of rolling around in bed, Wemmbu gets up. He's unable to sleep with that guy in his house. He went down to the kitchen. Every staff member had already left. Wemmbu felt a little hollow. He wanted to just sit here on the couch and look at the moon outside. From his kitchen window it was a beautiful view. He thought about everything. At some point, he doesn't remember when exactly, he was accompanied by Egg, who rested his head on his shoulder and looked out the window with him in complete silence, falling asleep. A sound of someone else moving around the house snapped Wemmbu out of his thoughts. He couldn't really move with Egg asleep on his shoulder. He couldn't find a better option than to let his friend sleep on his lap. The purple-haired guy watched the entrance to the kitchen carefully. Then he walks in. Flame. That was.. not who'd he expect.

"Here you are." Flame says, coming closer. "Can't sleep, princess?"

"Something like that." Wemmbu can feel how Flame's gaze darted between him and Egg.

"Is something bothering you?" he says.

Wemmbu looks down at Egg, then at Flame, then out the window.

"As if you care." he smiled. He found it funny that his rival cared enough to ask.

"Bro." Flame made an offended face.

"Maybe something does bother me." the princess continues. Flame couldn't let that dialogue die down.

"Care to elaborate?"

"You probably had seen the blacklist in the living room. And despite it Spoke is asleep upstairs." Wemmbu mumbles, seemingly uncomfortable in opening up to anyone even with that small detail. "It's stupid, but I'm kind of scared. I've never crossed my parents boundaries. And they are already informed about him being here."

Flame doesn't know what to say to help him.

"But why then letting him in?"

"He's my friend. Had been before. Now I- I'm not sure if I can call him that."

"Is there something you don't want me to know?"

"Something I don't want any of you to know. And I know Mapicc isn't aware of the whole story either, giving how he was equally confused about Spoke asking if he can come along."

"Just so you know, Wemmbu, we're here for you. And for Spoke too. I might not like him much, but it feels like he lefts out many parts of his life as well and- everyone in this group are ready to help. That's what friends are for, no?"

Wemmbu snorts. He finally turned to face Flame.

"I'm keeping a record of how many times you called my name."

"Bro, are you serious- bro."

Wemmbu giggles.

"What's up here?" Mane asks, walking in.

"You can't sleep too?" Wemmbu asks. Now he looks lighter than when Flame first saw him. A little happier, even though he brushed off the main topic of their conversation.

"Flame left me alone in a cold bed," Mane says, dramatically.

"They aren't supposed to be cold." Wemmbu makes a concerned face.

"Bro." Mane stops right before the couch. Wemmbu giggles again, his hand instinctively moves to Egg's hair. He seems to think for half a second.

"Why are you wearing blindfolds?" he blurts out as he ruffled his hand through Egg's soft hair.

"Sensitive vision." Mane states.

"And aura." Flame adds proudly. He gets a questioning look from Wemmbu and chuckles.

"Even at night?"

"I mean, if you want us to take them off," Flame's hand flew to the back of his head, untying the blindfold.

"I didn't say that-"

And they took them off. Flame held his piece of fabric in his hands, while Mane put his on the table he stood next to. Wemmbu looked at Flame first. Then Mane.

Now, along with the moon light, his eyes looked even more breath-taking than usual. Wemmbu's lips parted in suprise. Flame had these honey colored eyes. With the dim blue light of the night reflecting on them, they looked almost like pure gold. Wemmbu's expression softened. Mane's were almost the same - almost, because his were more of amber-like. And they both had a soft expression, if you look at them without blindfolds. That's.. something Wemmbu will definitely use against Flame in an argument. He giggles at this evil thought.

"Okay, um." all he manages to say, before turning away to the window.

"Bro."

"Can you stop using that damn word?" Wemmbu snaps.

"Bro- no, the fuck?" Flame sounds offended. The princess smiles.

"Looks like mere mortals are not given a large vocabulary, judging by you." he smirks, turning back to the two brothers.

Mane snorted and hid his face, holding back the laugh.

"Bro- like." Flame was really at a loss for words.

"Yeah, no, don't even try." the black dolly eyes look up at the honey ones. Flame can't win this fight. Ouch.

"Bro might be cooked." Mane joins.

"When I said to stop using that word I included you." Wemmbu looked at the lion-guy.

"Hey- rude!"

Wemmbu laughs. Queit but genuine.

"Okay, big boys, we all need to go to sleep."

"What did you just called us?"

"I have zero idea what do you mean." Wemmbu rolls his eyes as he gets up. "And I need your help moving this corpse."

"Bro, what- he's not dead?" Flame gets up too.

"Who knows."

The wave of laughter lashed over the trio. You know, it must be nice having someone to listen to your problems. Or someone who can help you forget them.

Notes:

I started having some back aches so it's kinda harder to keep working on the text for hours but I hope it won't affect me much because I want to keep working in the same pace I did. otherwise i won't be able to keep up with weekly updates

my ao3 lowkey crashed when I was writing Friday (and I didn't save it at the time) so thursday-friday are slightly different from what I originally wanted. mb

I got my friend into unstable accidentally while writing this. how many memories will this chapter hold.

upd. 11.03 hello! wanted to say that this and the next week of mine is fully loaded with work and exams so I feel like I might not be able to update the story on 16th as I had planned. sincerely apologize! I'll still try to work it out.

upd. 20.03 hey again soo the next chapter is really hard for me to write; plus I'm lowkeuinely getting out of any ideas, these past two weeks were killing me physically and mentally, but trust me I'm working on it..

Notes:

Thanks for reading! You're free to leave requests or any suggestions in the comments! No boundary breaking though
For this work I might be interested in any ideas for the events to happen!

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