Chapter Text
"I just want what's best for you, Fluixon," Elanuelo said harshly. Fluixon clenched his jaw, angling his head away from Elanuelo. He doubted that. Tears pricked at the corner of his eyes, threatening to spill. But Fluixon was always taught the phrase: "boys don't cry," so it's not like it would be worth anything. He wouldn't get consoled, or an ounce of pity from his father.
"Go to bed, son. We'll talk more about this in the morning." Fluixon barely registered the words before there was a quiet click of the door in front of him. Arguments weren't by any means rare in his house, they happened quite often— maybe even daily— but this one? It was significant, one he couldn't win nor escape from. He felt like a teenager again, arguing with his father. He was sure Elanuelo had lost track of how old Fluixon was. He was nineteen, but still felt the need to stay in the castle— for approval. But it wasn't like Elanuelo knew that— he treated him like nothing but a mere child— something that needed to be protected, even though he was well over the age of an adult.
His older brother— Ender— previous heir to the throne, only a few years older than Fluixon, had ran away, like a coward. Leaving nothing but a letter behind, that was probably long gone, burnt in some sort of fire by his father. And now, by technicality, he was heir to the throne. And there was no point in denying the inevitable truth.
He had also lived living in his brothers shadow— barely acknowledged by anyone unless it was the servants around the castle— he had no use, no purpose until now, apparently. Because the only thing Elanuelo cared about? Power, money, and making himself look good in the limelight. Apart from that, he couldn't care less about his children.
Prime example: Cynikka. Fluixons older sister. As soon as Cynnika had turned 18, she was sent to Pandora, the only information Fluixon had heard of her since, was the fact she was Queen of a well-known nation, Infernus. Just on top of a volcano. Now— he himself doesn't know why Cynikka was sent to Pandora as soon as she was— maybe it was because she was basically a spitting image of Elanuelo's ex-fiancée who he had an affair with. (So basically, Cynikka is his half-sister. But that's a topic for another time.)
Fluixon sighed, staring up at his ceiling. He didn't want to be here long enough for morning to come, to just get into another screaming match with his father. By technicality, Fluixon was old enough to leave the castle, to leave Aculon, get away from this hell— not be bound to inside the castle walls anymore.
Fluixon saw the opportunity, basically waiting for him on a silver platter.
And blinded by pure rage and hatred, he took it.
Fluixon climbed out his window, scaling down a nearby tree, he hit the ground below him with a soft 'thud' sound. Fluixon stood up, shaking off his nerves and scouting out the area outside his bedroom walls. You would think that a powerful nation with several targets on its back would have better moderation. If you did, you would be terribly mistaken.
Apparently, Elanuelo was too cheap to station guards in the flower garden outside Flux's room, even though he had practically never ending wealth. Fluixon traversed the garden, floral and earthy scents mixing in the air.
Flux peaked around the corner, turns out, his father had enough knowledge to station guards outside the castle walls. Fluixon had never left the castle, he didn't know paths to different places, he didn't know how to even survive for long outside the castle.
The only choice he really has was to:
A) Get over the walls and book it, hoping a guard doesn't see him,
B) Stay his life confined in the castle and eventually become king.
Guess which one he chose?
.
.
.
There was a small gap in one of the walls, that someone had showed him a while ago— one that Fluixon could easily squeeze through if he tried hard enough, that was his last— and probably only— hope. So he tried to wriggle his way through the gap— he barely made it through. (He knew he would, anyways. He had done this before. Just hadn't been as successful.)
Fluixon was fairly lucky that a guard had yet to spot him and stop him from running away, but he didn't doubt that soon his luck would be cut short. The guard stationed at the castle entrance seemed to be engrossed in a conversation with a other guard, so this was Flux's chance.
He made his way out the gap in the wall and ran.
The guards' conversation came to a halt when they noticed a blur of purple and black run past them, suddenly, they seemed very awake and alert. "Hey— is that Prince Fluixon—? What the hell, get him!"
Run, run, run.
Fluixon heard the shouts of his name, and that only fueled his adrenaline rush, there were more than the 2 guards that he previously saw at the gates on his tail now, he silently cursed at himself in his head, this was a really stupid decision huh? He really didn't know why he decided to do this, or thought he could outrun multiple guards.
Run, run, run.
He could hear his pulse rushing in his ears, the sound being close-adjacent to a river rushing, or waves crashing against rocks. His chest heaved, heart beating faster and faster the more he ran. He tuned out every other sound except for his own loud, heavy breathing.
Run, run, run.
Fluixon started giving himself a mini lecture in his head, asking himself for another time, why he thought the—quote on quote— 'simple' task of escaping his captivity in the castle was achievable or even possible. He tripped over a stray branch lying in the path, in any other situation, he would be done for, but when he was running on pure adrenaline and dreams, he somehow still managed to gain a lick of distance on the guards so they couldn't catch him.
Run, run, run.
At this point, Fluixon felt like he was going to pass out from exhaustion, whatever hormone was letting him run as fast and far as he was currently, was clearly doing wonders. But the last thing he would do was pass out. He was so close. He could technically taste freedom— he wouldn't let himself give up— especially when he had made it so far. He was so close.
Rum, run, run.
He ducked behind a nearby tree, putting his hand on his heart. He could hear murmurs and whispers around him. The guards were close— close enough to hear him if he breathed too loud— close enough to find him if he did end up blacking out. There were soft footsteps— not coming closer, no— retreating. The voices got farther and farther until Fluixon completely couldn't hear them anymore.
The initial adrenaline rush had worn out, He felt lightheaded now. Stars danced around his vision, he battled the feeling of dizziness, trying his absolute best to not let his eyes close. Despite his effort, his eyelids fluttered closed, and he slumped against the ground.
When he woke up, Fluxion realised that he had no apparent idea of where he was. All he noticed is that he was in a random forest, trees and bushes were all that were around him. He stood up slowly, rubbing his forehead. Him passing out didn't lighten his headache at all, in fact, he had the nerve to say sleep had made it worse. He slightly swayed on his own two feet, his vision temporarily blurring before returning back to its original form.
His hair was tousled, every accessory he had on was somehow askew or was lost and fell off while he was running. He looked almost unrecognisable to the naked eye, so if no-one looked at him too hard— which he assumed wouldn't happen, but he never liked trusting his gut— he would probably be fine.
Fluixon walked a path aimlessly, he really had no idea where he was going, he just followed the path, mulling over every slight mistake, miscalculation, and fumble he made whilst escaping— but still managing to make it away from the castle. He continued following the path, a structure came into view: a train station. His heart sped up again, as it does when he's excited, scared, angry, nervous, or feeling any strong emotion at all, really.
The ticket seller waved him over with s bit too much enthusiasm for what he assumed was early in the morning— he couldn't really tell, he was making assumptions based on how bright it was outside. But again, he never believed in trusting in himself, he's screwed things up to many times— so he could easily screw himself over, too.
"Hello, hello! Would you like a one way ticket to anywhere?" The ticket seller beamed. Flux thought, he never actually considered where he would be going. Just ran and hoped for the best. He knew it was best to come up with an answer now, or the seller would be suspicious.
"Uhm— can i have a one way ticket to Pandora, please?" He blurted out. The ticket seller walked to the back of the stall, and pulled a train ticket out for; 'Pandora: Island 2,' they slid the ticket across the desk. "That'll be 1 diamond!" The seller chirped. Flux scrounged through his pockets, pulling out: a crumpled up piece of paper, gold, and emeralds. He looked at the seller quizzically. "Would this be enough?" He pulled out 2 emeralds. Emeralds really had little to no value, as they weren't necessarily used for anything except for jewellery.
The seller tapped their chin, the emeralds gleamed in the sunlight, and that sold it for them, apparently. "Hm, usually I don't take anything pseudo to diamonds, but I will just this once, since you look young." Fluixon scoffed quietly, he was nineteen for gods sakes! Nearly twenty, may he add! It's not his fault he was criminally short! The seller grabbed the emeralds, stashing them in their pocket. They slid the ticket towards Fluixon, he took it, walking away, but not before hearing the seller murmur something about 'making fake diamond jewellery,' that wasn't his problem, he wouldn't wrangle back the green ores to stop a pyramid scheme, not his field of work.
He inspected the ticket's info, the train would be arriving in a little less than 30 minutes, and he would be sat in carriage B. He shrugged, sitting on a bench to wait for the train.
.
.
.
.
A while later, the train had arrived, Fluixon boarded, there were more people than he expected on it. But luckily he didn't have to share seats with anyone. Who would want to sit next to a tired looking, probably-most-definitely overworked, 19 year old?
One breath in, I'm here, I'm real, I exist.
He looked out the window, the blur of trees and greenery was calming in a way. It was much better than the plastic, artificial plants at the castle that he had because his father couldn't care for real ones. For the first time in forever he felt real. During that talk with the ticket seller? He felt seen. More than just a prince— more than just Elanuelo's son. People on this train weren't staring at him and recognising him as a 'Prince,' they were all doing their own thing, for once in his life, all eyes weren't on him.
Two breaths in, I'm here, I'm real, I exist.
There weren't people fawning over him every corner he turned, no, but there was people who saw him as someone more than his father's shadow, heir to Aculon's throne after his brother, the brother of the Queen of Infernus— no one on this train knew all those details. They let Fluixon live and exist in normality.
Three breaths in, I'm here, I'm real, I exist.
Fluixon let himself smile for the first time since he had fled from the castle. His face broke out into a small grin whilst he stared out the window. He felt seen without really being perceived at all, he felt important in a way that nobody knew him. He felt acknowledged with no-one really acknowledging him, and he felt validated in a way he had never felt before.
He let a small yawn escape him. He hadn't slept in how long? Even when he had passed out his brain was still buzzing around. He blinked sluggishly, body being slowly overcome by sleep, he let his eyelids close, and breathing slow down.
For the first time in forever, he felt truly at peace. Calm.
By the time Fluixon had woken up, he was at Pandora.
He stepped off the train, the climate in Pandora was… different, that's for sure. Aculon was a cold, snowy place, even during summer, sometimes. But Pandora? It was the opposite. Pandora had lush, green trees and breathtaking scenery, it was expected for spring, but it was still surprising. There were people in conversation everywhere, there were various markets trying to sell obscure and unique things, but Flux was sure at least 65% were scams or plain untrue, like a market that auctioned off diamonds, and by first glance, anyone who had an ounce of knowledge could tell that they were just emeralds with a coat of crushed up Lapis over them. But still, there was a handful of people lined up at the stall. Flux shook his head at the pure stupidity of some people and continued walking.
Everywhere he walked, he was greeted with a simple 'good morning,' a kind smile and or wave. He was already feeling better than he did when he was in Aculon.
Fluixon walked down a forest path, now that he really thought about it, he didn't know a single person who lived in Pandora— his sister lived in Yggdrasil, and he had no idea what Ender had been up to since his little escapade. So he had no family to rely on, and he didn't have much friends in the castle. Except for one kid, named Thomas.
Thomas was.. an interesting creature, Fluixon would say. The first time he met him, it was a bit awkward, and it is not the way one would expect.
Fluixon was currently trying to climb over the castle walls.
If he was being honest, he wasn't having much luck. He was a scrawny kid. And he was just curious about what was over the walls. He fell to the floor with a soft 'thump' he groaned. Getting up to try again.
But, he was rudely interrupted by a high-pitched voice. "Do you need a bit of help there?" The voice pitched in, Fluixon turned around on his heel, being met with the face of a slightly taller and younger boy than him. He had messy brown hair sticking up in multiple directions. His eyes were a shade of olive green unlike Fluixon had ever seen before.
Fluixon scoffed, rolling his eyes. "No, I don't." He muttered. The green eyed boy chuckled, covering it up with a cough. "Well, it kind of looks like you do. I don't think you can climb up walls very well."
"Well I've never tried until now, idiot." Fluixon muttered, but just loud enough for the other boy to hear. The boy stepped closer, he inspected it, eyes landing on a particularly big gap in the wall.
"There," the boy piped up, "there's a kind of… gap like entrance in the wall. I've been escaping through that way point for months now. I thought it would be patched up by now. It's one if the only ways of exiting and coming in that isn't the main entrance. At least the only way I know." The boy quipped. Fluxion felt stupid now. He had lived right outside the flower garden for years now, how had he not noticed the medium sized gap in the wall? "Oh." He responded dryly.
"Well, c'mon. You don't want to stay here forever, do you?" The boy said, beckoning him forward. Fluixon sighed following his lead. They both managed to get through the gap in the wall, Fluxion leaned against a cobblestone wall whilst his new found companion looked around the surrounding area for guards.
"Hm, we should be safe." The boy pondered, Fluixon raised an eyebrow.
"Why not; 'We will be safe,' huh?" He quizzed. The boy shook his head, continuing forward.
"When you escape a high-security castle, there obviously isn't going to be any guarantee that you'll be 100% safe, or even a guarantee that you won't get caught sneaking in and out. You learn that after a few tries." He said flippantly. Fluixon just nodded, agreeing.
"Look! Over there, market stalls! Come on!" He tugged on Fluixons sleeve. The Prince sighed, running a hand through his hair, looking at the wide-eyed boy with annoyance in his eyes. "Whats the point? It's winter over here nearly all the time, what could they possibly be selling?"
"Come onn, Prince Fluixon! It'll be fun! It wouldn't hurt! Pretty please?" He pouted. Fluixon's eye twitched, but he huffed turning his head away. "Fine. Just so you'll leave me be."
The boys eyes immediately lit up, and he dragged Fluixon by the sleeve to the market stalls, and Fluixon let himself be dragged. Because, what other option did he really have?
He looked at the stalls with him, Fluixon kept his hands to himself, not touching anything— he knew by now that if he touched something— he would have to pay for it. However, the other boy touched anything that looked even slightly appealing to him.
"Oo! Prince Fluixon— do you have any diamonds? I really want to buy this!" He beamed, pointing at a scented candle. Fluixon thought it would be best to not argue and just obey, so he sifted through his pockets, pulling out 2 diamonds and giving them to the green eyed boy in front of him. His eyes glowed impossibly brighter. "Thank you!" He exclaimed. The boy slid one diamond to the seller in exchange for the candle. Pocketing the other one. Fluixon pretend not to notice, he probably needed it more than him anyway.
"Is that all we came here for? If so, can we please leave now?" Fluixon said agitatedly. Said boy spun 'round on his heel, beginning to walk forward. "Alright, alright. Let's go." They both started walking forward.
They eventually made it to the castle, wriggling through the same gap they came out from before. Fluixon sighed tiredly. This boys stay was long overdue. "Alright. I'm leaving now. I'm tired."
Fluixon started walking towards a back entrance door, as the brunette haired boy rushed after him. They both walked inside, they slowly approached Fluixons bedroom door, and the prince spun on his heels
"What is your name, anyways? I've just been calling you 'the boy,' which isn't a great title, don't you think?"
He blinked.
"Thomas." He said softly.
"Well, nice meeting you, Thomas. But I have to go now." Fluixon walked inside his room, closing the door. He heard soft footsteps withdraw from his door.
Hm. His first friend.
Fluixon continued his trek down the forest path, mulling over every instance that brought him here.
Somehow, while he was lost in his own thoughts he bumped into someone, and they dropped their basket of fruits. Fluixon spun around. Looking down at the tipped over basket of fruit.
"Oh gods— I am so sorry. I was lost in thought and wasn't looking where i was going," Fluixon apologised, immediately crouching down to pick up the discarded fruits. He heard a small chuckle from the person beside him, as an unusually pale hand landed beside his.
"It's okay, really! I wasn't looking where I was going either, if I'm being honest. It isn't your fault." They assured. Fluixon finished putting the fruit back in the basket, standing up to hand the basket back to it's original owner.
…
Indigo eyes met golden, and Fluixon swore it was an angel standing in front of him rather than an actual citizen. The man in front of him had pale skin, almost considered white. His hair however? A perfect contrast to his skin. His complete ivory white hair was in a braid, decorated with gold accents. Fluixon did a once over, and obviously he looked all the same. All of the sudden, Fluixon felt less presentable than he did before.
"Hellooo? Earth to random citizen?" A hand was waved in front of Fluixon's face, he was brought back down to earth, and felt his cheeks grow hot, heat spreading up his neck and to his ears. "Sorry— zoned out, wasn't paying much attention." He said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck whilst angling his head away from the man ahead of him.
Fluixon turned his head back, noticing the citizen studying him intently. His head was tilted in thought, "I feel like I've.. seen you somewhere before." He muttered just loud enough for Fluixon to hear. Alarm bells go off in Fluixon's head, he had been playing it safe for so long, he let down his guard for one minute, and now someone is recognising him?
Meanwhile, the angel citizen ahead of him is completely oblivious to the current battle going on in Fluixon's head. He done a quick once over, his eyes settling over a particularly recognisable ring with the Aculon symbol on it, The one Prince Fluixon wore around everywhere. and it seemed something clicked into place in his head, his eyes widened a fraction. "Wait," the sound of a voice snapped Fluixon back, "Are you the Prince Fluixon?"
Fluixon froze like a deer in headlights.
Well, there was no debate.
He was so done for.
"Hold on, hold on, wait, wait, wait," Fluixon paused in his story telling to face the other, "Let me get this straight, just to be clear, you escaped through a hole in the wall in Aculon's flower garden, ran out with guards chasing you, and as soon as you lost them you passed out. And then you buy a one way train ticket to Pandora and find me?" He said quickly, only stopping to take a breath at the end of his rant.
"Yes, pretty much. I mean, there's a few details i missed, but those don't really matter." Fluixon noted. He was currently being dragged to a strangers house because they had recognised him to be a prince and internally freaked out.
"Okay, I'm going to be straight forward here," he paused," that is really insane." The stranger remarked. Fluixon nodded.
"Oh trust me, I know." Fluixon murmured.
"Well, here we are, my vacation home!" He mused towards the fairly large building in front of them. Huh. Not bad, Fluixon thought. "Come in, come in!" The angel citizen dragged him inside.
"What's your name?" Fluixon asked, while being pushed onto a sofa by his newfound friend. "Saparata, most people just call me Saps, though, less of a mouthful. But that doesn't really matter, what does however," He— Saparata said. Fluixon stored that information in a tiny little box in his head labelled; 'Things that may, (or may not,) be very important in the future, highly flammable, do not touch!!" Saparata, meanwhile, paused, shuffling towards the front of the room where a particularly large map laid, pinned on the wall. "Is teaching you how to live properly in Pandora, without being royal!" Saparata beamed, he circled the middle of the map in red pen, labelling it; 'Pandora capitol: Barbieland'
"See, it's very important to note that Pandora is an archipelago rather than one big island like Yggdrasil— so it's a bit hard to navigate. Currently, we are stationed in a jungle area— no one really lives here, or goes here for a matter of fact. So no-one should see you!" He exclaimed, circling another spot on the map: 'Us,' it read. Saparata was already referring to them as a pair. Endearing, in a way. No one goes here, he thought, so Fluixon had a slim chance of being found. Perfect.
"Okay, now, the biggest nations! So, in order it goes; The Commonwealth, Tricolour, Cass Coalition, Aperion, and then Luminara! The other nations are small in size, so they don't really matter in the long run," Saparata explained. Fluixon sat cross legged on Saparata's sofa, nodding along.
"I'm actually friends with Cass, she's really nice! Might have to bring her to meet you…" Saps chirped, murmuring the last part. "Anyway, if I'm being honest, no-one likes The Commonwealth.. but I don't either. They're a bit egotistical, if you ask me. They tried to start a war with Westhelm once!" Fluixon tilted his head quizzically, indirectly asking a question.
"Oh, right, Yggdrasil, main nations are Westhelm, Infernus, Elysium, and the Covenant. I don't see us going there so there isn't really a reason to tell you about 'em. Just know, the Covenant is like— really strong. I swear, their army combined had killed around 200 people." Fluixon let out a low whistle at their kill count.
"Anyway, come on, I want to show you around!" Saps took hold of both of Fluixon's hands, and Flux felt a steady warmth grow in his chest at the contact.
Before he knew it, Fluixon was being dragged out of someone else's house by their hands. "We'll have to go through barbie land to get to Cass Coalition," Saps quipped. From there on out, Flux kind of tuned him out, out of habit, of course.
If he was being honest, Fluixon felt very—how does he explain this?— out of place. it was so normal to him, the idea of walking around with guards or servants. That it feels almost alien to be strolling around out in the open without them.
"Hello? Earth to Prince Fluixon?" Saparata's voice brought him back down to earth again. He winced at the name, swallowing thickly.
"You.. you know you don't need to call me that, right?" He mumbled. The title of a 'Prince,' held a bit of weight to him. It felt weird when people used it.
"Call you what exactly?" Saparata questioned.
"A prince. I— I'm really not— I just don't.. it feels weird, alright?" He explained, tripping over his own words.
Saparata tilted his head in a familiar way. "So what exactly do I call you?"
…
There was a beat of silence, followed by an unsure answer, ".. just Fluixon is fine." There was a small nod from the other man.
The rest of the walk was mostly silent, except for the occasional ask of, 'are you okay?' Followed by a murmur of agreement.
And then it all went by in a blur.
Not too long after, there was a gentle tug on his hand. "Hey, we're at Barbieland." Saparata said softly. Fluixon shook his head, waking himself up.
There were a variety of people walking around the capitol, the nation was bright, colourful, and very, very pink. The faction definitely does live up to it's name, huh?
They had both made their way to the centre of the nation, whilst Fluixon was looking around, a very bubbly looking woman ran up to the pair.
"Saps! Oh it's been forever! Where gave you been?" Now this is something Flux didn't expect. The blue haired woman gushed, shaking Saparata by the shoulders. The white-haired man chuckled nervously, Flux could tell he didn't expect this either. She stopped, turning to look at Flux, a mischievous glint appearing in her eye. "Oh, who's this? Have you finally got yourself a boyfriend?" She giggled, looking Fluixon up and down.
Their faces both turned a matching shade of crimson, Fluixon's head turning to the side awkwardly. "M-Madzvie! You can't just say things like that—! no… he's.." Saps paused, biting the inside of his cheek, "..A friend." Madzvie however, tilted her head knowingly. She let out a small "uh huh…" before turning to face Fluixon.
"So, what's your name? Where are you from? Do you have any siblings? How long have you and Saps known eachother?" She— Madzvie, said hurriedly. Fluixon was a bit dazed from the sudden onslaught of questions.
"Ah— uhm.."
"Madzvie, slow down with the questions!"
"Ugh, fine. Anyways," she faced Saps then Flux again, apparently waiting for an answer.
Fluixon snapped out of his daze, looking the blue-haired woman in the eye. "Oh, right.. I'm Fluixon." Madzvie looked expectantly for more answers. Fluixon bit his tongue, he didn't want to let out secrets of his nitty-gritty childhood to someone he practically just met! He turned to Saps. Silently pleading for an out. The man seemed to get the message, shooting a sharp glare at Madzvie, signalling her to; 'not push it.'
Saparata cleared his throat, making the pair look at him. "Right, so, we were just here to look around, we aren't staying long— we were just leaving, actually." He stated. Madzvie had a almost pleading look on her face.
"Come on— please, just a little longer?"
"No."
"Please?"
"No. Me and Fluixon will be leaving now."
Madzvie looked seconds away from throwing a tantrum. But with a warning glance from Saps, she promptly held her tongue.
Once they were out of earshot from Madzvie, Fluixon breathed a sigh of relief.
"Sorry about her. Madzvie is… Really something. She's extremely energetic. I genuinely don't know how shes married to the world's most serious man." Saps said the last part under his breath, seems he has a habit of that too, huh?
"Where are we off to now, then?"
A bright smile spread across Saps' face.
"Cass Coalition."
And coalition it was.
Like Barbieland, Cass Coalition was bright and colourful, there were luscious crops, and the scenery was breathtaking. Fluixon couldn't imagine how long it took to build a nation like this.
"This place is.. really something." Fluixon muttered under his breath. Saps turned to him, a light smile playing on his lips.
"It really is, huh? An architects dream." He joked, dragging Fluixon through the faction. Flux himself could only really fantasise about building and running a place like this.
"Knowing Cass, she's probably doing some.. 'leader duties', but come on, I have things to show you!"
Before he knew it, Fluixon was being dragged to the place he arrived, market stalls.
"Look Fluixon!"
Saps was musing at a ginormous cat plush. Eyes practically glowing in excitement.
Flux however, saw no point.
The plushie seemed nearly pointless. He eyed Saps, who was technically making puppy eyes at him, looking near seconds away from getting on his hands and knees and begging. Mirroring the expression Madzvie had on not that long ago. Fluixon sighed, how could he say no to that face?
They ended up leaving with a black cat plushie that evening.
When they started approaching Saps' home, it was nearing dusk, and night-time was drawing close.
They both entered the house, kicking off their shoes. Fluixon strode up the stairs. Walking to the first room in his peripheral vision.
The room was clean and sleek. It was white with accents of gold, clearly Saps' room at first glance. He heard hurried footsteps behind him.
Saps came through the door, opening through. He walked in, laying down on his bed. Flux looked around, face heating up in embarrassment
"So.. uh— where do I sleep?"
Saps seemed to have finally noticed it.
"O-oh! I'm sorry, I didn't notice, and— I.. don't have any spare wool..?"
Oh.
Oh.
Fluixon froze in place, suddenly realising what that meant for him.
"Y-you don't even have a guest room?"
"I never expected guests, Fluixon!"
"Sure, I understand that, but isn't the sensible thing to do is have one; 'just in case?'"
"Ugh, just come over, it'll be, like, one night!"
Fluixon bit back another retort, stiffly climbing into bed with Saps. He was so close to sleeping on the floor.
"See? Not weird if you don't make it weird- OW!"
Saps was cut off with a sharp kick in the leg by the man beside him. Fluixon defiantly grumbled a 'good night,' turning off the lamp next to him.
..He couldn't help feeling like this meant more than it actually did, but it was easy to ignore the warm feeling in his chest for the second time today.