Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Losing someone can be one of the rawest things a person can go through. 

Sometimes, they die, and there’s no way to get them back. 

Sometimes, they hurt you, and you’re forced to cut them out of your life. 

Sometimes, they lose themselves, and you can only sit and watch. 

But when your friends are paranormal obsessed freaks, you learn that sometimes, things come back. 

…

Arthur woke up with another headache. 

Another late night working, nothing he wasn’t used to. He’s been an insomniac since his parents got divorced, and he’s been a hard worker since before that. 

Anxiety also doesn’t help health, he thinks. Doesn’t it mess up your body or something? 

Arthur heard another bang on his door, squeaking in surprise and jolting forward. 

“ARTHUR! WAKE UP!” Vivi called from behind the door. “I WANNA BRIEF OVER THE MAP I FOUND!”

“What’re you doing in my house!?” Arthur called out, swinging his legs over the side of his bed and tugging his sweats on. 

“Lance let us in!” He heard Lewis speak this time. Arthur grunted. 

“Jeez, did you bring Mystery, too?” 

“Broof!” 

He couldn’t help but laugh- sometimes he felt like the dog actually understood human words. 

“Just slip on a shirt!” Vivi whined. 

“Binder first!” Arthur snapped back. 

“Arthur, we don’t CARE what you look like!” 

“I do! Now go shoo!” Arthur walked over to his drawers. “I can smell Lance cooking bacon, go eat that.” 

He could hear Mystery’s claws clicking against the tile, excited, and he let out a small laugh to himself. 

While they made themselves known in his life more than he expected, Arthur really, truly loved his friends. They’ve been close for years now, and they were only getting closer. Despite their insisting on dragging him around to investigate ghosts and other ungodly abominations, he was willing to put up with it. He loved them. 

...not like that. 

Right? 

Shoving down yet another identity crisis, Arthur shoved on a t-shirt and walked out. 

“Artie!” 

He looked over to the kitchen table. Vivi smiled at Arthur, waving her hand at him and smiling. Her blue hair curled by her ears in such a pleasant, cartoony fashion. The scarf that hung around her shoulders looked so soft that anyone could imagine the girl blinking away snowflakes from her tender eyelashes. She was also wearing a pink sweater- one of Arthur’s old ones. While she always looked best in blue, Vivi looked amazing in anything. She especially looked good in the circular glasses she wore, tinted orange. She had been trying out different colors, and she was on what she called her “Arthur phase”.

Meanwhile, nearby was Lewis, good old, gigantic Lewis. His knees peeked over the table almost comedically. His broad shoulders shrunk a bit to his ears as he kept his head low- like he tended to do when he was at a place that wasn’t his own- but Arthur knew his friend, and he could tell he was in a happy mood, and not one of his nonverbal days. Of course, wasn't anything wrong with him on those days, Vivi easily talked instead about her special interests, but Arthur has to admit he liked to hear what was on his mind- even if he was a heathen and never fucking cussed. Like always, his hair hung lazily over his eyes. 

Under the table sat Mystery- the good ol pup, lovingly labeled with the breed of “what the fuck are you”. Arthur still had to choke back a laugh each time he saw the dog's glasses. Right now, the canine was staring him down with malicious intent...begging him for bacon. As if the dog could ever be threatening. 

He noticed Lance when he heard the sizzling of him flipping bacon. He loved his uncle and owed him so much. He wished he could show it without feeling weird or getting intrusive thoughts. 

“Gonna stand there and gawk at all of us or sit down, Farty?” Vivi snorted. Arthur perked up, frowning playfully. 

“And to think I was reminiscing on how much I love you all.” He sighed dramatically, striding over and taking a seat. Vivi grinned. 

“Oh, you’ll hate her after this.” Lewis sighed. Arthur furrowed his brows. 

“What?” He squeaked. 

He then flinched when Vivi set down a large piece of paper. 

Floor plans to an abandoned mall. 

“Vivi, no.” Arthur glared. 

“COME ON!” Vivi squealed. “It’s an hour drive and I've heard rumors of vampires hanging out there!” 

“Vampires aren’t real, Vi,” Lewis spoke. Vivi glared. 

“Yes, they are! I’m going to prove you soooo wrong, buster!” 

There was a snort of agreement from Mystery under the table. 

“Even if there isn’t a vamp in there,” Vivi smirked. “...I found reports of someone dying there.” 

“WHAT!?” Arthur squeaked. “VIVI NO!” But she was already opening up the notes on her phone. 

“Agustus Brown, 26 years old, died of an escalator accident.” She read, and, in full detail, began to explain how you can die from an escalator. 

“Vi, Arthur is pitch white.” 

Vivi looked at Arthur. 

“That’s what you get for having no melanin,” 

“JUST STOP TALKING ABOUT IT PLEASE!” Arthur gripped just head, trembling. “I’m never going on an escalator again.” 

“Arthur, that would never happen to you,” Lewis spoke to him softly. 

“IT HAPPENED TO AUGUST!” 

“Agustus,” 

“SAME THING!” 

“Will you kids pipe down and take that map off the table?” Lance finally chimed in. “Stop scaring the shit outta my nephew and eat up.” 

“Thank you…” Arthur breathed as the plate was set in front of him. 

“You should still go with them, Arthur.” 

“WHY DO YOU ALL HATE ME!?” Arthur squealed. His friends laughed. 

…

“We’re here, skullies!” Lewis called. Arthur let out a whine that would make Mystery jealous. 

“Why do we always do this shit at night?” 

“It makes it more fun! And ghosts seem to like night time!” Vivi flicked a flashlight into her hands and tugged a backpack over her shoulder. 

“You just want to talk to vampires.” Lewis cooed. Vivi smacked his ginormous bicep, earning a laugh from him. 

“One of these days my lungs are gonna fall out.” Arthur shuttered. 

“Maybe stop wearing your binder to hunts, then.” Vivi shrugged. “The ghosts won’t care.” 

“I can’t be like Lewis!” Arthur gestured to his gigantic friend. “He looks like he just has great pecs!” 

“Thank you!” Lewis chirped. “Do you have your inhaler, Arthur?” 

“Yes, dad, I have my inhaler.” He smacked the side of his jeans. “The asthma attacks are never bad, though. I’ve lived years without an inhaler, and I’ve only used this one once.” 

“You mean when you walked in on me changing?” Vivi smirked. Arthur squeaked. 

“STOP BRINGING IT BACK UP!” 

“Arthur, I don’t care if you see me in a bra, you’ve known me for years and I grew these girls myself.”

“I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M ABOUT TO SAY THIS BUT CAN WE JUST GO INTO THE ABANDONED MALL ALREADY!?” 

…

It was quiet. 

Too quiet. 

Arthur did not like the quiet. 

They wandered around the abandoned mall, old posters were torn away and scabbing over the walls, cracked tiles from whatever, and uneven ground. 

Arthur yelped when he tripped on his own foot, just barely staying upright. 

His friends turned around to look at him, and Lewis smiled softly, offering out an arm. 

“Wanna hold onto me?” 

“Y-YES please…” Arthur smiled, wrapping his arms around his friend's elbow. God, he was huge. 

Still, he felt like his eyebrows were taped to his hairline from how hard he watched everything. Fear crawled up his spine and he hated every second of it. 

“Alright,” Vivi stood in front of an abandoned escalator, starting to unzip her backpack. “We’re here.” 

Arthur swallowed, biting his lip and flinching when he saw what Vivi took out. 

“VIVI WE ARE NOT USING A OUIJA BOARD.” 

“Why not?” Vivi smiled at him. “This one isn’t from a garage sale! It’s a Hasbro one!” 

“I DON'T CARE IF ITS LICENSED VIVI I DON'T WANT TO PISS OFF A GHOST!” 

“Fine, keep your hand off the planchette, then.” She kneeled down, setting out the board. “Lewis, you in?” 

“As always!” Lewis sat down next to her, having to curl like a caveman to be at her level. Arthur dug his fingers into his hair. 

“We’re gonna die.” 

“Arthur, worrying like that will give you grey hair in your 20s.” Lewis smiled softly at him. “Sit down, doofus, before you give yourself headrush or something.” 

“Leave my decaying health out of this.” Still, Arthur sat down, crossing his legs and playing with his thumbs. Vivi cleared her throat. Lewis placed his hand on hers, and they watched the board. 

“Agustus Brown, are you here?” 

Their hands slid over to the yes. 

“At least it didn’t say no this time, like an asshole,” Arthur muttered. Lewis snorted, but Vivi continued. 

“Would you like to show yourself?” 

The planchette moved again, this time to no. 

“...can you at least speak?” Vivi asked, sounding disappointed. 

Then, Arthur yelped as he covered his ears. 

“RUN.” 

“Ohgodohgodohgod-“ 

“Come again?” Vivi asked. 

“RUN AND NEVER RETURN.” 

Arthur scrambled to his feet. Vivi stared. 

“...I have one last question.” 

“Vivi!” 

“Are vampires real?” 

There was an unholy screech, followed by Vivi saying, 

“Well, that was rude.” 

Lewis grabbed the ouija board, cramming it into the backpack and grabbing Vivi's wrist. 

“SCATTER!” 

Arthur began to book it, running with his three best friends in the world out of the mall. He could hear Vivi laughing. 

…

They slammed back into the van, and Vivi let out a row of giggles. 

“THAT WAS SO FUN!” She squealed, taking out a shitty tape recorder. “I hope that all picked up!” 

“It’ll probably sound like EMF,” Lewis replied. 

Arthur, meanwhile, was still shaking. 

“That SUCKED that fucking SUCKED!” 

“Awe, cheer up, Arthur!” Vivi laughed. “You did great.” 

I didn’t do anything! Arthur almost retorted. 

“Old Mystery wouldn't of let that big scary ghost hurt us, Anyways!” She scratched Mystery behind the ears. 

“He’s a three-foot-tall dog, Vi.” Lewis laughed. “He won’t do much to help.” 

“Don’t talk to your mascot like that!” Vivi smirked. 

Arthur watched his three friends discuss what just happened, screwing with the tape deck and bickering. 

Despite how much life had thrown his way, he felt like the luckiest guy in the world to have such good friends. 

Chapter Text

Roughly a week later, Arthur was delighted to wake up at a decent time, with only a little physical pain from his body. 

Today was going to be a good day. 

Getting dressed, he put on a t-shirt that said “ow! that hertz!” With a little lightning bolt by it, and jeans. As it was spring, he no longer had the excuse to hide in a hoodie, but he was starting to like the look of vests a bit! 

“Heading to Lew’s,” Arthur called out through the house, grabbing his keys from the counter.

“Don’t crash the car!” Lance called back. Arthur laughed. 

“If I do, I’ll fix it before you notice anything!” 

With that, he headed out. 

…

He loved the chime sound of the bell at the door. Pepper Paradiso was always such a cute shop- unless he was getting pranked by Cayenne. Then his mouth felt like it was on fire and his eyes were watering so much he couldn’t see the cute decorations. 

Like clockwork, Vivi and Lewis perked up from the end of the restaurant, smiling at him. The look in Vivi’s eyes spoke paragraphs on how she had news to share. The look in Lewis’ eyes was covered by hair. 

“Artie!” Vivi called. “Artie farty Artie farty come take a seat!” 

“I’m coming, and stop calling me that!” 

Despite his retort, Arthur had on a grin as he took a seat. “What is it?” 

“We have news to share!” Vivi squealed.

“Well, tell me, then,” 

“It’s GREAT news!” 

“I’m ready to hear it, Viv,” 

“Totally LIFE-CHANGING,” 

“JUST TELL ME ALREADY!” 

Vivi looked like she would explode into rainbows. 

“Lewis and I are dating!” 

Arthur blinked. “What?” 

“We started dating a week ago,” Lewis smiled. “Sorry we didn’t tell you, we just wanted to make sure it’ll work, y'know?” 

“I…” Arthur blinked, his body pausing like a video game. Nothing rendered for a second, and he found himself on autopilot. “Congratulations?” 

“Yeah! I’m really excited!” Vivi giggled. “We just were talking one night and it simply just, hit us!” 

“When?” Arthur stared.

“Oh, we had dropped you off at home by then.” Lewis smiled softly. “We just got kinda deep and, boom y'know?” 

Arthur felt a tug at his stomach. “...huh.” 

“You okay?” Vivi blinked. 

Arthur put on a mask. 

“What? Of course, I am! I’m totally happy for you guys!” He was telling the truth. Why did he feel empty? 

“I’m so glad!” Vivi cheered. “Hunts will be more fun than ever, now!” 

“Yeah.” Arthur felt himself speak. 

…

When Arthur came home, everything crashed like a stack of bricks. 

His two best friends in the world were dating. 

They were in love, and they were meant for each other. 

Arthur felt like he’d be sick. 

He had hoped, god he desperately hoped all this time, he was equal to them. 

After years of growing up, never being the favorite friend or nobodies equal, he had prayed that maybe, maybe it changed this one time. 

Now he could already imagine it. 

“Oh, we wanted a night to ourselves, Arthur, just the two of us.” 

“Arthur, do you mind leaving for a sec so we can talk about something?” 

“Arthur, could you please stop like...trying to invade our space?” 

“Arthur, we don’t want you anymore.” 

He felt the world spiraling, his body feeling like an inky, dark abyss of agony. 

What did he expect? For them to just...up and worship him? How selfish. 

They belonged together, anyone could see that. 

But why did Arthur want to be in their arms, too? 

Because I’m a freak. Arthur laid on his bed, rubbing at his eyes. And freaks are better off dead. 

There was something deeply, deeply wrong with him. 

…

3 months had passed, and Arthur was begging his heart to stop hurting. 

There's something demented about me. He told himself. There's something so awful about me that I can’t explain it. 

Every time he saw Lewis kiss her over the booth at Pepper Paradiso, his heart screamed that he should be there instead. 

Every time he saw Vivi sit on his lap and feed him ice cream, his heart caterwauled that he should be there instead. 

Every time they embraced, hugged each other close, he wanted nothing more than to trudge over and worm his way in between. 

No one will ever love you the way they love each other. His mind whimpered as he watched them from across the living room. His favorite movie was on but all they could do was focus on each other. 

Mystery stared at him, and Arthur untensed slightly as he pet the pooches head. 

He wanted to be back in that mall again. 

…

“At least you still love me.” 

Arthur held his hand out in Galahad’s cage, the hamster eating sunflower seeds from between his fingers and munching on them thankfully. He let out a little huff. 

“Do you think they’ll ever break up?” He asked Galahad. “...would that make the Mystery Skulls worse?” 

Galahad chewed thoughtfully. Arthur exhaled. 

“...I don’t want them to break up.” He finally spoke up. “...I just want to be on their level again.” 

Galahad squeaked a bit. Arthur sighed, burying his chin into his knees. 

“It was stupid of me to even think I was in the first place.” 

He felt Galahad gently bite his finger, and he laughed. 

“Right, sorry, no self-deprecation.” He took his hand out of the cage. He wished his conscience followed that rule. 

…

“Ta-dah!” 

Vivi poured out a map, displaying the area of a cave in the desert. Supposedly haunted, mysterious, perfect for them. 

“That’s cool, babe, but do you have any reports of deaths there?” Lewis laughed. Vivi shook her head. 

“No,” she grinned. “BUT, I do have missing person reports, and this cave is listed as their last sighting!” 

“Oh, lovely,” Arthur sighed. “The scariest thing of all, the unknown.” 

“It’s only like, what, an hour's drive?” Vivi chimed. 

“I’ll drive!” Lewis offered. Arthur’s heart sunk. You just want to leave me alone in the back. 

“When’re we doing this?” Arthur asked, sitting more upright now. Vivi smiled. 

“Tomorrow!” She answered. Lewis frowned. 

“Arthur, are you doing okay?” He asked. “You've seemed down lately, and your eyebags are getting bad again.” 

“I’m fine.” Arthur shook his head, putting on a smile. “Sometimes shit acts up, but I’m fine.” 

His two friends stared. 

“I’m just zoned out, that’s all.” 

“If you say so,” Vivi shrugged. “So, tomorrow?” 

“Tomorrow!” Lewis smiled. 

“Tomorrow.” Arthur nodded. 

“Boof!” Mystery agreed. 

Lewis held up a milkshake. 

“Let’s do this, Skullies!” 

Chapter Text

Well, he was cramped in the back, but at least Mystery was keeping him company. 

“You’re a big doofus, you know that, Lewis?” Vivi snorted at Lewis, who shrugged. 

“Yeah, well you’re a GOOFUS!” 

“You’re both doofuses and goofuses, how much longer until we get there?” Arthur asked impatiently. Vivi laughed. 

“Just about a few more minutes.”

Arthur made a hm sound and went back to laying in the back seat. 

“No protesting?” Lewis asked. Arthur smirked. 

“I got you to protect me, don’t I?” 

“Of course, I’ll always be there to protect you!” Lewis chimed. Arthur couldn’t help but smile fondly. 

Despite how his brain had recently felt like muck, he really, really loved his friends. 

Even if he felt like they didn’t love him back. 

…

“Well gang, we’re here!” 

Lewis turned off the car, popping open the door and handing the keys to Arthur, who shoved them into the pockets of his sweatpants. Vivi rushes out of the car, bolting over to gape at the entrance of the cave. 

“It’s terrifying!” She squealed in delight. 

Arthur swallowed. She was right, it was terrifying, but he couldn’t work up the same amount of courage as her. 

The entrance hung high up, rocks jutting down like teeth ready to bite into all of them. From the inside of the cave, it seemed like that would continue to be the case. 

Great, not only does it look like a mouth, but it has hyperdontia. 

Also, something just wasn’t...right. Maybe it was the hue of the rocks, or the way it seemed to be dark still no matter how much light you shine…or the factor of how some of the rocks looked like they had eyes. 

Arthur swallowed, and made a small whimper when the rest of the gang headed on in. 

He cast a glance at Mystery, who was...glaring. 

He didn’t seem to like this cave at all, in fact, the fur on his neck was standing on edge. Mystery didn’t get scared easily, so...Arthur wasn’t faring too well. 

He flinched when he saw movement ahead of him and recognized Lewis reaching out his arm. 

“Want to hang on?” 

Arthur felt his heart melt with relief. 

“Yes please.” 

He latched onto his friend as they ventured through the mouth of the cave, which came to a stop. 

There were two pathways, both read danger. 

“Are you sure this is a good idea, Vivi?” Arthur asked. Vivi smiled at him. 

“Of course, let's split up.” 

“SPLIT UP?!” Arthur whined. “That’s EXACTLY what you DON'T DO IN MOVIES!” 

“It’ll be fine!” Vivi smiled. “I’ll go with Mystery to the right, you go with Lewis to the left!” 

Arthur stared up at Lewis, who smiled encouragingly. 

“...f-fine.” 

They started to split up, but before they did so, Lewis perked up. 

“Wait!” 

“Hm?” Vivi looked over. 

“I love you!” 

Vivi smiled at him. 

“I love you too.” 

Arthur watched, frowning, and walked into the mouth of the cave. 

He clung onto Lewis. “It smells like rotten eggs.” 

“Hm, sulfur, maybe?” Lewis wondered. “We ARE in a cave, sulfur is volcanic.” 

“I-Isn't sulfur a sign of demons?” Arthur whimpered. Lewis shrugged. 

“It could just be rotten eggs.” 

As they adventured deeper, Arthur started to notice some fog creep around his legs. 

“Does this cave have a body of water or something?” 

“It might, why?” 

“It’s so foggy…” 

“Well, maybe there’s water at the edge of this passage.” 

Arthur was starting to feel...off. Not just in a terrifying way- but in a way that wasn’t. 

...him. 

Anything else Lewis was talking about went in one ear and out the other. He didn’t know what was happening but he felt himself start to...spiral. 

Why now? He stared at Lewis sadly. What’s wrong with me? 

“S̶o̷,̶ ̷s̶o̸ ̶m̵a̵n̸y̴ ̴t̴h̴i̴n̵g̷s̶.̵” 

What!? 

U̴r̶ ̵s̴r̶y̷g̵ ̴f̵b̵z̶r̸g̶u̵v̷a̵t̸ ̵f̵u̴n̸g̷g̴r̵e̶ ̷v̵a̴ ̶u̴v̴f̵ ̵o̶e̴n̶v̴a̸,̵ ̶n̸a̷q̶ ̴f̵g̴v̶s̷s̴r̸a̵r̵q̵ ̶h̷c̸,̴ ̸h̷a̷n̴o̵y̵r̸ ̸g̵b̵ ̴z̸b̵i̵r̷.̴ ̴

̵

̴“̶L̵b̸h̵ ̸g̶u̵v̸a̷x̶ ̸l̵b̶h̵'̵e̵r̷ ̸o̴e̶b̸x̵r̵a̵,̶ ̸q̶b̴a̶’̸g̵ ̷l̸b̴h̸?̴”̸

̵

̸J̵u̸b̶ ̸n̴e̴r̸ ̷l̸b̸h̶?̴ ̷U̸r̵ ̵j̴u̷v̶z̵c̴r̴e̴r̴q̷ ̸o̸n̸p̶x̵,̸ ̴g̸e̶r̵z̷o̸y̶v̵a̷t̵.̶ ̵T̸r̴g̴ ̵b̸h̵g̷ ̵b̵s̸ ̵z̴l̵ ̶u̷r̵n̷q̶!̴ ̵

̵

̷“̷V̷’̷z̶ ̷a̷b̴g̸ ̴b̵a̵r̴ ̷g̵b̸ ̶n̵o̷n̶a̴q̴b̴a̸ ̵g̸u̶b̴f̵r̸ ̶j̴u̷b̴ ̵a̵r̴r̸q̷ ̸v̶g̶ ̴z̶b̵f̵g̵,̷ ̸N̵e̴g̵u̶h̸e̵ ̶X̴v̸a̸t̵f̶z̵n̶a̸.̵”̴ ̷G̵u̷r̶ ̶i̷b̵v̵p̴r̴ ̷f̵c̸b̷x̸r̵.̸ ̴“̴V̷’̵z̶ ̵u̴r̶e̵r̴ ̸g̶b̷ ̴u̴r̷y̶c̷ ̶s̴v̴k̷ ̵j̶u̷n̸g̴’̷f̵ ̶j̶e̴b̷a̸t̷.̴”̵ ̸

̷

̵G̷u̴r̸e̴r̶'̴f̶ ̶a̴b̵g̷u̵v̸a̵t̸ ̴j̸e̸b̸a̶t̷!̵ ̴N̷e̴g̸u̶h̶e̷ ̸c̶n̷a̷v̸p̶x̵r̷q̶.̶ ̸J̴U̸B̵ ̵N̸E̸R̷ ̵L̴B̸H̶!̵?̷ ̵T̶R̸G̶ ̷B̴H̶G̴ ̷B̶S̴ ̸Z̶L̷ ̷U̷R̶N̵Q̸.̵ ̶

̵

̵U̶r̸ ̴u̶n̸g̸r̴q̷ ̵g̷u̸v̵f̷ ̴s̵r̸r̵y̴v̵a̴t̶.̷ ̶

̴

̴U̶r̷ ̷s̵r̴y̶g̷ ̷y̶v̶x̸r̸ ̸u̶r̴ ̸j̸n̵f̶ ̸o̶r̵v̷a̶t̴ ̸g̵h̶t̵t̶r̵q̶ ̵v̵a̶g̷b̵ ̸n̶a̵ ̶v̸a̵x̷l̵ ̷q̴r̴c̴g̷u̴.̷ ̴

̶

̵N̷u̷r̸n̴q̴ ̷b̷s̷ ̷u̸v̶z̶,̶ ̵u̷r̷ ̸j̵n̵g̴p̸u̵r̷q̴ ̴Y̵r̴j̵v̶f̸,̷ ̴j̴u̶b̷ ̸j̸n̵y̶x̸r̴q̶ ̴r̴i̴r̶e̷ ̴f̷b̷ ̶f̸y̸b̸j̸y̵l̷,̷ ̶r̶i̴r̶e̶ ̷f̸b̴ ̷r̷y̴b̶d̷h̴r̴a̶g̵y̵l̵.̷ ̸G̶u̵v̶f̵ ̴j̸n̴f̸ ̴v̵a̵ ̴f̷y̵b̸j̵ ̶z̸b̶g̸v̶b̶a̴.̴ ̴

̵

̶“̸N̶e̸g̷u̴h̴e̴.̴”̵ ̶G̶u̵r̵ ̵i̵b̸v̸p̸r̵ ̵f̷c̸b̸x̷r̶.̷ ̸“̵N̸e̴g̴u̶h̶e̸,̷ ̴V̸ ̸a̴r̸r̷q̸ ̶l̵b̸h̸ ̶g̶b̷ ̷y̵v̶f̵g̷r̶a̸ ̴g̵b̷ ̶z̸r̸,̸ ̷b̵x̴n̸l̶?̵”̵ ̶

̷

̸J̵u̵n̴g̴?̸ ̴

̴

̶“̸V̸ ̴a̸r̷r̸q̷ ̴l̷b̶h̶ ̷g̵b̸ ̵t̸b̴ ̴h̸c̶ ̸g̸b̸ ̴Y̵r̶j̶v̸f̵ ̷C̶r̴c̷c̸r̴e̴,̵ ̶n̸a̵q̶ ̶f̶u̵b̶i̸r̴ ̴u̶v̵z̵ ̶b̴s̵s̸ ̶g̷u̸n̸g̷ ̷p̴y̶v̴s̶s̴.̵”̴ ̴

̶

̶N̷e̶g̶u̷h̷e̶ ̷s̸r̵y̷g̷ ̵u̴v̴f̶ ̶f̵g̴b̶z̵n̶p̴u̶ ̷g̷h̷e̷a̴.̵ ̴V̶’̵z̷ ̴a̷b̵g̴ ̶q̴b̵v̷a̶t̷ ̴g̶u̶n̸g̸!̵

̴

̷“̷N̵e̵g̸u̷h̵e̵,̷ ̷u̵b̶a̸r̴l̵,̸ ̴v̶g̵’̵f̴ ̸s̴b̶e̴ ̸l̷b̷h̵e̷ ̷b̷j̵a̵ ̴t̸b̶b̸q̷.̸”̷ ̸G̵u̵r̴ ̷i̶b̶v̶p̶r̵ ̴f̴c̶b̵x̸r̸.̴ ̵“̶U̷r̴’̶f̴ ̴e̸h̴v̶a̴v̵a̵t̵ ̴l̴b̶h̴e̸ ̵y̵v̴s̶r̸,̸ ̸q̷b̷a̴’̵g̵ ̸l̸b̵h̵ ̴f̵r̴r̸?̸”̷ ̵

̶

̶N̴e̶g̷u̴h̷e̷ ̷f̶u̴b̸b̷x̵ ̸u̵v̷f̴ ̷u̸r̷n̵q̸,̸ ̷g̸r̴n̴e̵v̸a̶t̴ ̸h̴c̶.̵ ̵

̴

̴A̸b̸!̴ ̸

̶

̸“̷A̶b̸ ̸b̴a̸r̶ ̴j̴v̵y̸y̴ ̴z̶v̸f̴f̴ ̷u̵v̴z̷,̷ ̴N̸e̶g̸u̶h̶e̷.̸”̶ ̵G̴u̵r̶ ̸i̷b̵v̷p̶r̴ ̸f̴a̷n̶e̶y̴r̴q̶.̶ ̷“̶A̴b̶a̶r̶ ̸b̴s̷ ̸u̶v̴f̵ ̵s̴n̷z̴v̵y̵l̶ ̵v̴f̶ ̴o̸y̸b̸b̴q̷,̸ ̶n̸a̷q̷ ̶I̸v̵i̶v̴ ̶b̷o̴i̴v̵b̷h̷f̶y̸l̷ ̶u̶n̴f̷ ̴r̵l̴r̷f̷ ̴s̵b̴e̸ ̸l̶b̵h̷ ̵n̵a̷l̶j̵n̵l̶f̶.̴”̸ ̷

̸

̴A̸b̶!̷ ̷F̸g̵b̷c̴ ̷v̵g̶ ̷F̶G̸B̶C̵ ̸V̶G̶.̴ ̵J̶u̷n̴g̸ ̸n̸ ̶U̷B̷E̶E̵V̷O̶Y̶R̷ ̷g̴u̵v̴a̷t̷ ̶g̸b̸ ̵f̸n̷l̶ ̵n̵o̷b̵h̸g̵ ̵z̷l̸ ̵s̶e̸v̴r̶a̶q̷!̴ ̴

̴

̷“̸P̴n̸a̷’̷g̵ ̷l̴b̷h̴ ̵f̸r̴r̶,̶ ̶N̶e̴g̵u̷h̶e̷?̵ ̵V̵’̸z̴ ̸l̷b̷h̷.̷”̶ ̴

̸

̵V̷ ̶j̸b̸h̸y̴q̴ ̴e̶n̶g̶u̷r̸e̵ ̵Q̸V̷R̴ ̸g̶u̴n̶a̷ ̵g̵u̴v̶a̵x̷ ̸y̵v̴x̶r̴ ̴l̴b̴h̸,̸ ̸j̸u̶b̸r̷i̵r̶e̵ ̷g̶u̸r̸ ̷u̶r̶y̶y̸ ̸l̵b̷h̸ ̵n̷e̷r̶!̶ ̷

̶

̷“̴N̶e̸g̶u̶h̷e̵,̷”̸ ̶g̷u̵r̸ ̴i̴b̶v̶p̶r̴ ̸f̷c̸b̶x̷r̴ ̴f̶b̷s̴g̶y̵l̸,̵ ̸f̶j̵r̷r̴g̷y̵l̶.̸ ̴“̴V̶’̷z̵ ̸g̷u̵r̴ ̴c̸n̶e̴g̴ ̵b̸s̷ ̶l̸b̵h̶e̶ ̵o̵e̸n̷v̴a̸ ̶g̸u̵n̷g̵ ̶l̵b̶h̸’̸i̸r̴ ̸o̵r̵r̸a̸ ̶u̴v̵q̸v̶a̴t̵ ̸n̶a̸q̶ ̴f̸u̴b̴i̴v̴a̵t̷ ̶q̶b̵j̷a̴ ̷n̸y̴y̷ ̷g̵u̷v̸f̷ ̸g̵v̵z̷r̵.̶ ̸C̵h̷f̸u̶.̵ ̸Y̷r̶j̵v̷f̴ ̶C̵r̸c̵c̸r̵e̶.̷ ̸B̶s̶s̷ ̷g̷u̵r̷ ̶p̴y̶v̷s̴s̶.̸”̸ ̸

̸

̷N̵e̸g̶u̴h̶e̷ ̴f̴u̴h̵g̵ ̸u̵v̵f̸ ̷r̴l̸r̵f̴.̶

̷

̶A̵b̴!̴

̵

̴S̴b̶e̴ ̷n̷ ̴z̵b̴z̴r̶a̴g̴,̶ ̴s̴b̴e̴ ̶w̴h̵h̴h̷h̷f̸g̵ ̸n̸ ̷z̴b̸z̶r̵a̵g̵.̴.̴.̷r̴i̷r̶e̴l̸g̵u̴v̶a̶t̵ ̶j̷n̶f̵ ̶d̶h̴v̷r̶g̷.̵ ̵

̷

̸G̷u̵r̸a̵ ̶u̴r̸ ̷u̷r̷n̷e̸q̴ ̶g̶u̴r̵ ̴z̴b̵f̶g̸ ̴f̴g̷b̶z̶n̷p̵u̵ ̷g̸h̵e̶a̴v̶a̶t̴ ̶y̸n̶h̷t̵u̸ ̵u̸r̸’̵f̵ ̵u̶r̷n̶e̷q̸ ̵v̴a̵ ̴u̸v̶f̷ ̸y̸v̷s̸r̴.̵ ̸

̵

̶“̵J̴u̶n̶g̴ ̴z̴n̷x̸r̶f̴ ̸l̸b̸h̸ ̶g̵u̸v̷a̶x̴ ̴V̵’̶y̴y̶ ̷g̵n̸x̵r̵ ̸a̷b̶ ̶s̴b̷e̵ ̷n̵a̶ ̵n̸a̷f̸j̸r̷e̴?̶”̸ ̵

̸

̶F̷h̵q̵q̷r̶a̸y̴l̷,̸ ̴o̶y̵v̸a̸q̷v̵a̶t̴ ̶c̸n̸v̴a̴ ̸f̸u̸b̴g̷ ̵g̶u̷e̶b̷h̵t̷u̸ ̵u̶v̶f̶ ̶y̵r̶s̵g̷ ̶n̸e̶z̷,̶ ̶n̴a̴q̸ ̴u̶r̵ ̵g̸e̴v̵r̷q̶ ̶g̵b̸ ̵y̸r̶g̶ ̸b̶h̶g̵ ̷n̷ ̵f̷u̸e̷v̶r̴x̸ ̸b̵s̷ ̸f̶h̴e̷c̷e̸v̵f̴r̵ ̷n̴f̸ ̴u̶v̴f̸ ̷s̷b̵b̵g̵ ̷f̷g̶n̴e̴g̴r̴q̴ ̷f̵g̷r̵c̸c̵v̶a̶t̴ ̷s̴b̴e̴j̶n̶e̵q̷.̷ ̶

̶

̶J̴U̵N̵G̵'̵E̸R̶ ̴L̵B̸H̸ ̴Q̷B̴V̴A̸T̷ ̵G̵B̴ ̸Z̴R̴!̸?̸ ̸

̷

̸“̵N̷e̷r̷ ̷l̸b̷h̴e̶ ̶r̵l̸r̷f̶ ̷b̶c̶r̶a̴,̶ ̴N̷e̵g̷u̸h̶e̶?̷ ̶O̸r̷p̸n̸h̴f̶r̵ ̷g̵u̵v̴f̷ ̷v̵f̶ ̶f̵b̸z̴r̷g̸u̵v̴a̷t̸ ̷g̷u̷n̶g̵ ̸l̴b̴h̷’̸y̵y̵ ̴j̴n̴a̶g̸ ̷n̸ ̶s̷h̵y̶y̸ ̴i̶v̵r̵j̷ ̶b̴s̵.̵”̴

̵

̵F̶G̸B̶C̸ ̷F̴G̷B̵C̶ ̴F̶G̸B̶C̴.̴ ̶

̸

̸“̷Q̷b̸a̷’̵g̷ ̴l̷b̵h̵ ̴j̷n̶a̴g̵ ̶g̴b̶ ̴f̸r̵r̴ ̵j̷u̸n̷g̶ ̸u̵v̸f̸ ̷o̵y̵r̶r̷q̷v̵a̷t̶ ̷u̷r̸n̶e̴g̷ ̶y̴b̴b̶x̵f̶ ̷y̷v̸x̶r̷?̶ ̸J̴u̵n̸g̸ ̸g̶u̷n̷g̵ ̵t̴v̵n̴a̴g̷ ̴z̷n̵a̸ ̶y̸b̵b̴x̶f̷ ̷y̶v̸x̸r̷ ̴n̷g̶ ̵u̶v̸f̶ ̷z̵b̴f̷g̷ ̸u̷r̴y̷c̴y̶r̸f̶f̸,̷ ̵i̴h̸y̷a̶r̶e̶n̵o̷y̸r̷ ̴z̶b̵z̴r̴a̶g̸?̶ ̸Q̶b̵a̸'̶g̵ ̷l̴b̵h̴ ̶j̷n̴a̸g̸ ̶g̴b̶ ̴f̸r̸r̵ ̴u̴v̴f̶ ̷y̴n̷f̶g̶ ̶o̶e̷r̵n̴g̴u̶f̷,̷ ̵n̴f̴ ̴g̸u̴r̸ ̸u̸v̵f̵f̵v̸a̷t̵ ̴s̸e̴b̸z̷ ̵u̶v̸f̵ ̷c̵h̵a̵p̵g̴h̶e̴r̸q̶ ̷p̶u̴r̷f̸g̷ ̷p̸n̴i̵v̷g̸l̸ ̷j̸u̴v̵f̸g̶y̶r̵f̵?̶ ̶Q̵b̸a̴’̷g̵ ̶l̸b̴h̶ ̷j̸n̶a̸g̴ ̷g̸b̴ ̷u̷r̶n̴e̷ ̷g̷u̵r̸ ̴f̸a̵n̸c̵ ̴b̵s̷ ̵u̷v̵f̸ ̷f̶c̴v̴a̷r̷ ̷b̴i̵r̵e̵ ̸e̴b̵p̴x̸?̴ ̵Q̶b̴a̷’̶g̷ ̸l̶b̵h̵ ̷j̶n̴a̷g̶ ̶g̸b̶ ̸f̷r̶r̵ ̸v̵g̷ ̶n̷y̴y̵?̴”̷

̷

̸A̵B̸!̷ ̸

̴

̵“̴C̷h̴f̸u̵ ̷u̶v̶z̸,̴ ̸N̴e̴g̷u̴h̴e̷.̶ ̷C̵H̸F̶U̶ ̶U̸V̸Z̷ ̵C̶H̶F̴U̶ ̷U̷V̴Z̵ ̶C̸H̶F̷U̴ ̴U̴V̶Z̶ ̷C̴H̵F̵U̵ ̷U̷V̵Z̷ ̵C̵H̵F̶U̷ ̷U̶V̵Z̸ ̷C̸H̵F̶U̴ ̷U̸V̷Z̸!̷”̴ ̸

̸

̷F̷g̷b̷c̶!̶ ̶

̸

̶“̵C̷H̴F̸U̶ ̴U̷V̷Z̶ ̷C̴H̶F̶U̵ ̶U̶V̴Z̴ ̴C̸H̵F̶U̷ ̴U̴V̸Z̶ ̶C̸H̴F̵U̴ ̴U̷V̶Z̷ ̶C̵H̷F̶U̵ ̴U̴V̷Z̵ ̷C̴H̶F̸U̶ ̴U̵V̵Z̸ ̵C̵H̶F̸U̷ ̷U̸V̸Z̸ ̷C̸H̸F̶U̵ ̸U̵V̶Z̵ ̸C̶H̸F̵U̴ ̴U̶V̴Z̶ ̵C̸H̶F̴U̸ ̴U̵V̴Z̴ ̵C̵H̸F̷U̴ ̸U̴V̸Z̷ ̸C̵H̵F̶U̸ ̸U̴V̴Z̷ ̸C̶H̷F̷U̵ ̸U̸V̵Z̶ ̶C̶H̸F̸U̷ ̴U̵V̸Z̷ ̴C̷H̷F̵U̷ ̶U̷V̵Z̴ ̶C̷H̷F̴U̵ ̶U̴V̶Z̵ ̸C̷H̷F̴U̶ ̷U̶V̸Z̵ ̵C̶H̴F̵U̸ ̶U̷V̶Z̵ ̷C̷H̴F̸U̸ ̸U̷V̶Z̴ ̵C̴H̸F̸U̶ ̵U̴V̶Z̵ ̴C̶H̵F̶U̴ ̵U̷V̵Z̸ ̷C̷H̸F̶U̴ ̷U̴V̸Z̷ ̸C̷H̴F̷U̶ ̶U̸V̸Z̴ ̸C̵H̶F̵U̴ ̶U̷V̶Z̷ ̶C̸H̸F̵U̷ ̵U̵V̵Z̶ ̸C̸H̴F̸U̵ ̶U̸V̵Z̵ ̴C̴H̷F̵U̵ ̵U̵V̷Z̸ ̷C̸H̸F̶U̸ ̵U̴V̷Z̴ ̵C̸H̴F̵U̵ ̴U̵V̴Z̴ ̴C̸H̷F̸U̷ ̴U̵V̶Z̵ ̸C̷H̵F̶U̴ ̶U̵V̴Z̶ ̸C̵H̶F̸U̸ ̸U̴V̷Z̸ ̴C̶H̶F̵U̶ ̴U̴V̸Z̷ ̶C̵H̷F̴U̵ ̵U̶V̴Z̵ ̸C̷H̶F̶U̷ ̵U̶V̴Z̶ ̸C̸H̵F̸U̷ ̸U̷V̵Z̷ ̴C̵H̶F̸U̷ ̷U̷V̸Z̵ ̸C̵H̶F̶U̶ ̸U̷V̷Z̶ ̴C̷H̸F̸U̴ ̴U̵V̴Z̵ ̷C̵H̷F̸U̷ ̶U̸V̵Z̵ ̷C̶H̵F̸U̵ ̶U̷V̸Z̸ ̶C̸H̴F̴U̸ ̶U̷V̸Z̴ ̴C̶H̵F̸U̶ ̵U̵V̵Z̶ ̶C̴H̸F̶U̸ ̸U̴V̶Z̵ ̷C̴H̸F̵U̴ ̶U̵V̷Z̸ ̷C̸H̷F̵U̸ ̶U̴V̸Z̴ ̶C̸H̸F̶U̷ ̷U̶V̸Z̸ ̸C̶H̵F̵U̶ ̶U̶V̸Z̸ ̵C̷H̸F̶U̸ ̶U̷V̷Z̵ ̴C̴H̸F̴U̷ ̶U̵V̸Z̵ ̸C̴H̵F̸U̴ ̴U̷V̴Z̷ ̸C̸H̶F̶U̷ ̴U̶V̵Z̶ ̴C̶H̸F̴U̷ ̷U̸V̸Z̵ ̶C̵H̷F̶U̸ ̶U̸V̷Z̵-̶“̷ ̷

̶

̷“̵N̵e̴g̷u̸h̸e̵?̶”̶ ̶

̸

̷Y̷r̵j̶v̴f̷ ̵g̴h̷e̷a̵r̵q̶ ̵n̸e̵b̶h̵a̷q̷ ̴g̵b̵ ̷y̸b̷b̸x̴ ̴N̶e̵g̷u̵h̵e̶ ̶v̴a̸ ̷g̴u̷r̶ ̵r̶l̵r̶,̷ ̶n̶a̵q̸ ̸N̸e̸g̴u̷h̵e̷ ̵f̵b̴o̵o̶r̸q̵ ̵s̴b̸e̸ ̴u̴v̶z̸ ̷g̴b̴ ̶f̴r̷r̷ ̴g̴u̴n̴g̵ ̴g̴u̵v̸f̶ ̷j̷n̵f̴a̷’̶g̴ ̴u̶v̸z̶.̸ ̶G̷u̸r̷ ̴f̵z̸v̵y̵r̶ ̴b̷a̸ ̸u̶v̷f̶ ̶s̴n̴p̷r̶ ̷j̴n̸f̴a̸’̷g̸ ̸u̶v̷f̴,̸ ̸n̵a̸q̴ ̸g̶u̵r̶ ̷f̸g̷r̷c̷f̸ ̴b̶s̷ ̸u̵v̴f̶ ̶s̴r̵r̴g̶ ̴j̵r̴e̶r̵a̵’̷g̶ ̵u̷v̷f̵.̴ ̵

̴

̵O̴h̷g̶ ̶Y̶r̵j̶v̵f̷ ̶f̵r̵r̷z̶r̸q̶ ̴g̷b̸ ̶b̶a̴y̷l̷ ̷f̵r̵r̴ ̸u̶v̷f̸ ̵s̸e̶v̴r̵a̸q̵ ̷h̶a̷g̶v̶y̷ ̴g̸u̵r̸ ̸f̶r̶p̶b̷a̸q̷ ̸u̴v̸f̴ ̶c̵n̷y̶z̶ ̶g̵b̶h̷p̵u̶r̸q̴ ̵u̷v̵f̵ ̸p̵u̵r̷f̶g̶.̷ ̶

̵

̸U̷r̷ ̸p̶b̵h̴y̶q̸ ̵f̶r̴r̵ ̶u̸v̸f̵ ̴r̷l̵r̶f̸ ̷s̵b̴e̷ ̸n̸ ̷z̶b̸z̸r̸a̷g̶.̷ ̸

̴

̸W̴h̶f̸g̴ ̷n̸ ̴z̵b̶z̶r̵a̵g̵.̶ ̵

̶

̸A̵b̵g̴u̷v̶a̸t̷ ̷o̸h̸g̷ ̴s̸r̵n̴e̸,̸ ̴u̷h̶e̶g̷,̸ ̷n̸a̶q̴ ̴o̷r̶g̶e̷n̶l̵n̶y̵.̸ ̴

̸

̷“̶N̷E̸G̴U̴H̶E̶-̸!̵”̴

̵

̵G̸u̵r̸ ̸f̸b̸h̶a̴q̵ ̸b̸s̵ ̶s̸n̸o̸e̵v̴p̶.̷ ̸

̸

̵G̸u̷n̶g̸’̷f̸ ̷n̵y̵y̵ ̸v̶g̸ ̷j̶n̴f̸.̸ ̴

̸

̷G̶u̶r̴a̸ ̴u̵r̶ ̸u̶r̶n̸e̷q̵ ̴u̸v̷f̷ ̷s̷e̵v̷r̶a̸q̷ ̶f̸p̵e̷r̸n̷z̵.̸ ̶

̶

̴U̶r̵ ̸u̸n̶q̷ ̸a̵r̵i̷r̸e̷ ̸u̸r̵n̶e̶q̴ ̵u̶v̷f̶ ̷s̶e̵v̶r̷a̷q̴ ̸f̷p̴e̴r̵n̴z̷ ̷o̴r̶s̶b̴e̸r̴.̵ ̴

̷

̴Y̸R̸J̴V̷F̵!̴

̷

̶U̶r̵ ̶j̷n̷a̵g̴r̷q̵ ̷g̵b̵ ̶f̴p̵e̶r̷n̸z̴ ̴u̶v̵f̸ ̴s̶e̵v̸r̵a̴q̸f̴ ̷a̷n̷z̴r̷ ̸n̷g̵ ̷g̵u̷r̵ ̷g̴b̴c̶ ̶b̸s̷ ̴u̴v̴f̵ ̸y̶h̷a̶t̷f̷,̴ ̶o̶h̴g̷ ̷u̵r̴ ̷p̴b̷h̷y̶q̴a̸’̸g̷.̶ ̷U̴v̷f̴ ̷y̸r̵s̸g̷ ̴n̵e̷z̷ ̶j̸n̵f̸ ̴g̴e̸r̷z̵o̶y̸v̶a̴t̴.̴ ̴

̴

̵A̸b̶,̸ ̸a̸b̸ ̵a̵b̷ ̶a̸b̶ ̴V̸ ̵q̶b̸a̵’̵g̵ ̷j̵n̷a̷g̵ ̴u̶v̸z̷ ̸g̶b̶ ̸q̸v̷r̵!̸ ̶N̴e̷g̸u̶h̷e̸ ̷f̶b̴o̷o̴r̸q̸.̸ ̷V̴ ̵q̸b̶a̸’̶g̶ ̶j̸n̷a̵g̷ ̵u̶v̷z̴ ̸q̸r̷n̵q̶,̸ ̵V̷ ̴j̷n̸a̴g̴ ̷u̷v̴z̸ ̸n̵y̸v̵i̸r̷ ̸g̷u̷n̷g̵’̶f̷ ̷n̶y̴y̴ ̴V̷ ̵j̸n̶a̸g̷!̵ ̴V̷ ̶y̷b̸i̶r̴ ̷u̶v̶z̵,̸ ̵V̶ ̶y̶b̷i̷r̶ ̷u̸v̴z̸ ̶c̸y̸r̷n̴f̶r̸ ̵q̵b̷a̴’̶g̴ ̶g̵n̴x̷r̸ ̴u̴v̸z̷ ̸n̷j̶n̵l̶ ̵s̵e̴b̶z̴ ̸z̸r̶!̷ ̴U̷r̶’̸f̶ ̴b̴a̶r̵ ̵b̵s̴ ̶g̷u̵r̷ ̵b̵a̷y̶l̶ ̸g̶u̶v̵a̷t̶f̷ ̶V̶ ̴u̴n̵i̵r̶,̴ ̷j̸u̴l̸ ̴q̶v̸q̷ ̴V̸ ̸q̸b̴ ̶g̷u̸v̶f̵!̴?̶ ̵U̵B̷J̸ ̵P̶B̶H̵Y̴Q̸ ̵V̴ ̸Y̸R̵G̸ ̴G̶U̴V̴F̵ ̶U̸N̵C̵C̴R̷A̷!̵?̸ ̷

̸

̶U̶B̷J̸-̴

̵

̵P̸E̶E̵-̷F̸U̶A̵N̸C̸.̷ ̶

̷

̶G̸u̶r̸ ̷t̶e̶v̵m̵m̴y̷l̶,̸ ̷t̶e̶v̷m̸m̶y̷l̷ ̷f̵b̴h̷a̵q̶ ̸b̶s̵ ̵Y̴r̸j̷v̵f̷’̷ ̸e̶v̵o̶p̵n̶t̸r̷ ̶o̸r̶v̷a̴t̷ ̷c̸h̶a̷p̵g̷h̷e̵r̸q̵,̸ ̴n̷a̴q̵ ̸N̴e̷g̵u̵h̴e̷ ̶j̶n̴f̷ ̴s̴b̴e̴p̶r̸q̸ ̶g̵b̸ ̷y̸b̴b̷x̵ ̷q̴b̵j̴a̶ ̷n̸g̴ ̷v̴g̷.̵ ̷

̶

̷U̵v̵f̵ ̸s̸e̶v̷r̷a̷q̵ ̷j̵n̵f̴a̸'̶g̶ ̸n̷y̵v̸i̸r̵ ̷s̵b̸e̸ ̵y̷b̵a̴t̵…̶

̷

̵U̴v̵f̵ ̷u̸r̸n̸e̶g̷ ̶c̷h̷y̴f̷r̸q̶ ̸n̷ ̷s̴r̷j̵ ̴z̶b̶e̵r̴ ̶g̸v̶z̵r̴f̵,̶ ̷u̸v̸f̴ ̵o̸y̵b̴b̵q̴ ̷t̶h̶f̸u̶v̷a̵t̷ ̵b̴h̴g̶,̴ ̶n̷a̴q̵ ̶g̷u̸r̵a̸.̴ ̷

̵

̶U̸r̷ ̷j̷n̴f̵ ̸t̵b̴a̵r̵.̵ ̴

̴

̷N̷e̵g̶u̷h̵e̶ ̶j̴n̶a̴g̸r̸q̸ ̸g̵b̷ ̵f̴p̸e̸r̵n̶z̵.̸ ̵

̵

̸N̵e̵g̷u̶h̶e̵ ̴j̴n̴a̴g̷r̶q̴ ̴g̵b̷ ̴g̸u̸e̴b̸j̵ ̴h̶c̷.̵ ̷

̵

̸J̴u̸n̵g̴ ̵g̴u̴r̸ ̶u̶r̷y̶y̷ ̸u̸n̷q̷ ̶u̶r̷ ̸q̷b̷a̴r̷!̶?̴ ̴

̸

̵F̶h̶q̸q̶r̷a̶y̷l̶,̴ ̴u̷r̶ ̶s̵r̵y̶g̷ ̶c̸v̷a̴f̶ ̶v̴a̷ ̷u̶v̴f̴ ̴n̵e̶z̶.̶ ̶

̸

̷U̵v̵f̵ ̷r̴l̵r̷f̴ ̶q̵n̴e̸g̷r̸q̶ ̶b̶i̷r̵e̸,̸ ̶n̵a̵q̸ ̶u̵r̷ ̴f̸n̸j̷…̵

̸

̴U̸r̸ ̸f̸n̵j̵…̷

̸

̴G̶u̴n̴g̸.̶ ̸G̸u̸n̴g̵ ̷p̷n̷a̵’̷g̶ ̵o̵r̴ ̴Z̷l̶f̵g̸r̷e̴l̵.̵ ̴G̸u̸n̵g̷ ̵f̴v̷z̷c̸y̶l̸ ̵p̶n̴a̵A̷B̴G̵ ̵o̵r̴ ̸Z̵l̷f̵g̸r̵e̶l̸.̷ ̵

̴

̶Z̴l̶f̸g̴r̸e̷l̶ ̷v̴f̶ ̵n̶ ̸3̴ ̸s̷g̴ ̶g̴n̷y̵y̴ ̵q̴b̵t̵.̵ ̴

̸

̷G̴u̴v̴f̴ ̸j̷n̵f̶ ̷n̶ ̸t̶v̶t̷n̵a̵g̷v̷p̶ ̴z̸b̵a̶f̸g̵r̷e̴.̸ ̷

̵

̶N̵a̸q̴ ̶u̵v̴f̴ ̶g̵r̴r̷g̸u̵ ̸j̵r̵e̷r̸ ̷q̶r̶r̴c̵ ̷v̸a̴ ̶u̷v̴f̸ ̵n̴e̵z̵.̵ ̷

̵

̷N̸e̶g̸u̵h̶e̶ ̷e̶r̸n̵y̷v̶m̶r̴q̵ ̵g̷u̷v̷f̸,̴ ̸n̵a̴q̴ ̵s̶v̵a̶n̴y̶y̷l̶,̴ ̴u̴r̶ ̸j̵n̸f̴ ̴n̸o̷y̵r̶ ̴g̴b̷ ̷y̵r̴g̶ ̵b̵h̴g̷ ̷n̶ ̸f̴p̸e̸r̶n̵z̴.̷ ̴

̵

̸“̴A̵B̴-̴ ̷A̸B̴ ̶A̷B̶ ̵A̸B̸ ̷A̶B̵ ̷F̵G̸B̴C̶ ̶C̷Y̶R̷N̸F̷R̴ ̶C̶Y̴R̵N̸F̴R̴ ̷C̷Y̷R̸N̷F̵R̵-̴“̵ ̶u̵r̵ ̵p̶e̸v̷r̶q̶ ̸b̸h̵g̴.̶ ̷“̶Z̴L̵F̴G̷R̷E̶L̶-̴ ̴Z̸L̴F̸G̸R̴E̷L̶ ̷F̴G̶B̷C̴ ̴V̶G̷ ̴F̸G̸B̵C̵ ̷V̸G̵ ̷F̵G̶B̸C̸ ̵V̷G̷ ̴V̶G̶ ̴U̶H̴E̵G̵F̴ ̵V̷G̴ ̸U̵H̷E̶G̵F̶ ̷C̵Y̴R̶N̵F̵R̴ ̵C̸Y̴R̷N̸F̶R̶ ̶C̸Y̴R̴N̶F̶R̸-̷“̵ ̷

̵

̷O̸h̴g̷ ̶u̷r̴ ̸b̴a̸y̶l̶ ̸q̷h̵t̷ ̶q̷r̴r̴c̴r̸e̸.̶ ̸

̸

̵N̷e̴g̴u̵h̶e̵ ̸y̷r̸g̵ ̴b̴h̸g̶ ̸n̶ ̶t̴h̷g̶g̸h̷e̸n̵y̶ ̴f̷p̶e̶r̷n̸z̷ ̴j̶u̷r̸a̵ ̶u̴r̷ ̷u̸r̶n̶e̶q̸ ̵n̸ ̸f̸a̶n̴c̴.̵ ̶

̵

̸“̴F̷G̴B̷C̵!̴ ̷F̵G̴B̷C̶F̶G̶B̵C̶F̴G̸B̶C̸F̵G̴B̵C̷!̷”̵ ̵

̶

̷Z̵l̷f̴g̶r̵e̸l̶ ̴f̶a̵n̴e̵y̴r̴q̷,̸ ̵n̶a̸q̷ ̶g̵h̶t̵t̸r̸q̵.̴ ̸

̸

̵U̴r̵ ̷u̴r̵n̸e̸q̶ ̴g̶r̴n̶e̴v̸a̵t̷,̷ ̸n̸a̵q̵ ̶j̶n̴a̶g̴r̴q̵ ̸g̴b̷ ̶g̵u̵e̴b̶j̶ ̷h̴c̴ ̷n̶t̷n̵v̵a̸.̸ ̸

̶

̶Z̴n̸l̷o̶r̷ ̵u̷r̶ ̵q̷r̸f̷r̴e̸i̴r̵q̷ ̶g̵u̷v̸f̴,̷ ̴u̴r̵ ̴g̵u̷b̵h̴t̷u̷g̶,̷ ̴n̷f̴ ̴u̵r̸ ̴s̶r̵y̴g̵ ̷Z̷l̴f̶g̸r̵e̸l̵ ̷g̴r̷n̶e̴ ̵n̷t̶n̵v̷a̸.̷ ̸U̴r̶ ̵f̶b̸o̸o̷r̷q̴ ̷n̸a̸q̶ ̴p̵e̵v̵r̴q̵ ̶v̷a̶ ̷c̶n̴v̸a̴.̶ ̸O̸y̶b̷b̶q̷ ̶j̵n̵f̷ ̵o̸r̴t̸v̵a̵a̸v̸a̷t̷ ̴g̴b̶ ̶c̴e̵b̴w̵r̷p̵g̶v̴y̸r̴ ̵f̵c̸h̵e̴g̸ ̶o̴r̴g̴j̶r̸r̵a̶ ̷g̴u̴r̸ ̵p̵n̶a̷v̶a̵r̷f̸ ̶g̵r̸r̵g̴u̴.̶ ̷

̸

̵G̶u̵r̵a̶,̸ ̶g̵u̸r̶e̵r̶ ̶j̸n̶f̷ ̷n̸ ̵f̸a̶n̶c̵.̴ ̷

̵

̵N̵a̷q̷ ̷g̸u̶r̵ ̶n̸e̵z̷ ̷j̸n̸f̶ ̵t̴b̴a̶r̶.̵ ̵

̵

̷N̸e̴g̷u̷h̴e̴ ̷f̴p̴e̵r̵n̶z̷r̷q̴,̵ ̴y̴v̶s̸g̴v̵a̴t̸ ̷u̴v̵f̵ ̷u̵r̵n̶q̵ ̴h̴c̷.̶ ̵

̴

̴G̴u̴r̷ ̸p̶r̸v̴y̶v̷a̵t̵ ̸f̴c̷h̴a̸ ̷n̸o̷b̵i̶r̸ ̶u̷v̴z̶,̵ ̸g̶u̸r̸ ̴e̵b̶b̷s̸ ̵b̶s̴ ̸g̶u̷r̵ ̴p̶n̷i̴r̵ ̸t̴e̷v̴a̶a̶v̸a̸t̷ ̷j̴v̶g̸u̸ ̷g̷u̴b̸f̵r̵ ̸u̵b̵e̴e̸v̸o̶y̴r̴,̴ ̴u̵b̵e̸e̵v̸o̴y̵r̴ ̴g̸r̸r̵g̵u̸.̶ ̴

̵

He didn’t realize he was falling over until he felt his shoulder collide with the floor. 

He didn’t make a move to stand up, either. He just laid there, panting. 

What was happening, what happened? Why? 

He only felt pain. His mind was so, so foggy and he only felt pain. He could’ve sworn he saw a gigantic fox thing...why did it look like Mystery? Mystery is supposed to be with Vivi. 

Where’s Lewis? 

Why can’t he feel his arm, and why is he all wet? 

It didn’t smell like sulfur anymore...just iron. 

His vision started to blur. 

“Arthur?” 

He didn’t want to reply to his friend. He just wanted to sleep. 

“ARTHUR!” 

Goodnight, Vivi. 

Goodnight, Lewis. 

Chapter Text

Arthur woke up painlessly. 

Painlessly, but something was off. 

At first, everything was blurry, and he couldn’t exactly tell what was going on. Black and white blobs formed in front of his vision before he got hints of color.

His head felt like a whirlpool- not painful, but dizzy, and his eyes refused to open up for a bit.

Where the fuck am I? He wondered. He tried to rub his eyes but was surprised, and rather frustrated that only one obeyed. When he tried again, it still didn’t work, so he gave up. 

Maybe this is a fever dream. 

To gain satisfaction, he just used his obeying hand to rub his other eye and tried to open them again. 

No.

He let out a small whimper of annoyance. 

“-thur?”

Vivi.

Her voice was blurry, but he heard it. 

“Bad,” he muttered out. He didn’t exactly know why he said it, but it was all he could think of to say to describe his predicament. 

“-t’s ‘kay, Arth- ta- yo- -ime”

Her voice was fading in and out, but he was happy to hear it. All he wanted was comfort right now...even in this bleary state, he was terrified. 

“Viv,” He muttered, blindly swatting around his obeying hand. He then felt soft hands catch it and felt himself smile slightly. 

“I’m here, Artie.” 

He would’ve said I love you if it weren’t for the fact that he could barely work his mouth right. 

After what felt like a while passed by, Arthur tried to open his eyes again. 

This time it worked. 

...He was in a hospital room. 

There was the faint sound of beeping, the sight of a TV on in the corner of the room, the smell of sanitizer…

“Who-?” He licked at his dry mouth...or was it too mucusy? “Who are...we visiting…?”

“Visiting?” Vivi answered.

Arthur looked to see her to the right of him, smiling at him sadly. He blinked at her.

She was still a bit blurry, but she had on one of her sweaters that hung over her shoulders just so, so delicately, and a small choker instead of a scarf. She was also wearing what she called her Lewis glasses, and her hair was pulled back. She looked sleepy. 

“We-” Arthur blinked. God, she was so pretty. “We’re in a hospital room...who...are we visiting?”

Vivi let out a sad laugh...He didn’t like it when she was sad. 

“Arthur, you’re the one in the hospital bed, who do you think?” 

Arthur squinted. 

“I don’t…” He licked at his mouth again. “...Me?” 

“Yes.” 

“Why?” 

Now Vivi looked even sadder, and she didn’t even smile anymore.

“Vivi,” He stared at her. “What’s wrong?”

She shut her eyes tight, and Arthur felt her grip on his hand tighten.

“Viv?” 

She grabbed at his blanket and tugged it down.

Weird that the beeping got faster because he felt his heart stop. 

“Where…” He shuttered out. “Where’s my arm?” 

Vivi just stared at him. Arthur felt himself tear up. 

“Vivi, where is my arm?” 

“We don’t-” She shook her head like every word pained her to say. “Arthur, I don’t know… When I found you-” She blinked rapidly. “When I found you, y-you were on the ground and- and it was gone I-” She grit her teeth. “I don’t know what happened.” 

The beeping got even faster, and something clicked in Arthur's brain. 

The cave. 

Lewis.

Where was he?! He was with him!

He remembered walking in one moment, then suddenly falling on the ground and being covered in blood! 

And he was crying, and upset, why was he so upset? What happened? 

The realization hit him. Something tore his arm off. Something fucking tore his arm off. 

His ears seemed to match the beeping on the monitor, and Vivi seemed to grow more alert. 

“Arthur- Arthur calm down-” She began. Arthur felt tears slip down his cheeks, shaking his head and staring with wide eyes. 

“He- he was with me-” His voice felt like syrup. 

“Arthur what’re you talking about-” 

“He was with me- if something tore off my arm then he- oh god oh g-god-” 

“Arthur, Arthur calm down!” 

He felt Vivi grab his shoulders, staring at him. 

“Arthur you NEED TO CALM DOWN. The doctors said you lost a lot of blood and your heart rate spiking after an amputation is a REALLY bad thing-” 

The world was shattering around Arthur. 

He lost his friend. Where was he? 

He lost his arm. He needed that! 

Everything was breaking, everything was shattering. 

He felt Vivi rest a hand on his cheek.

He stared up at her. 

Blue pools staring into orange. 

“Breathe with me, okay, Artie?” She spoke softly, just like Lewis would. “Breath...In...out...okay?” 

Arthur trembled, nodding and attempting to follow suit. 

After a few minutes, his heart monitor slowed down. 

It was quiet in the room, but Vivi still held onto him, running her fingers through his hair. 

“I’m sorry,” Arthur shuttered out. Vivi stared at him. 

“For what?”

“Being a bother-” Arthur choked. Something in him said he was sorry for more than that. 

“Oh, Artie, you’d never be a bother.”

He felt her thumb gently wipe at his cheeks, and he sniffed looking at her.

He’d be so lost without her, god he’d be so lost.

…

At some point, Vivi left the hospital room- according to her, she had been watching over Arthur and sleeping in there for nearly two days. He didn’t like that she did that- she shouldn’t have wasted that time on him. 

Either way, she needed to go home to check up on things. Apparently, Mystery had been home for one of those days- when the hospital staff found him on Arthurs bed they had to tell Vivi that no pets were allowed.

Meanwhile, however, Lance stopped by. 

The short, exhausted man set a hand on the doorframe, frowning at Arthur. He had heavy eyebags, and he seemed to not be faring well. 

When he saw Arthur, however, he put on a smile. 

“Heyyy….Kiddo.” He strode over gently, setting a hand on his bedside and staring at him tenderly. “How’re you feeling?” 

Arthur blinked at him, momentarily unable to figure out how to respond. He was still processing everything...It hadn’t even sunken in yet that his arm was gone. 

“I’m fine!” He smiled at him. Uncle Lance glowered. 

“You’re in the hospital, Arthur.” He spoke. “You don’t need to lie.”

What, and spiral instead? He tugged at the front of his hospital gown awkwardly. What am I even supposed to do in this situation? 

“...Well, I-I’m not in pain .” 

“Yeah, you’re heavily medicated.” Lance laughed. “You will be for quite a bit.” 

Arthur sniffed, rubbing his thumb along the front of his chest. 

He could feel the inky despair start to crawl back into his head again. 

“...Lance?” 

“Yeah, kid?” 

Arthur felt his heart start to break. 

“I can still be an engineer, right?” 

Lance stared at Arthur, shocked into a dead silence, before shutting his jaw and looking to the ground. 

“I won’t lie kid, it would be tough, and you’d need to start out on easier things, but…” he looked at him, smiling sadly. “I’m sure we can figure something out.” 

Arthur felt his shoulders sink slightly. 

“I can drive, though, right?” 

Lance actually laughed. “Yeah, but only after I reteach ya!” He smiled. “Driving with one arm’ll be hard.” 

But not impossible. Arthur smiled down at his blanket. That’s what Lewis would say. He felt a tug in his heart, wondering where he was. Probably at Vivi’s house, watching Mystery. Maybe he’ll come back with her. I'd like to see him, too. He’d give anything to see that giant. 

…

“Besides your amputation, you have what I’ll call Anemic Anoxia.” His Doctor spoke clearly, tapping at her clipboard. “You’re lacking a lot of blood, to put it into words- and considering your lack of memory from the incident, it’s likely you lost so much that oxygen was cut off from your brain and caused amnesia.” 

Arthur avoided eye contact the whole time, staring down at his blanket. 

“So...I’m missing a lot of blood and an arm?” 

“Yes. We gave you an emergency blood transfusion when you got here, however, you will need to be prescribed iron supplements for a while.” 

“Ah, o-okay…” Arthur frowned. More pills. 

“Other than that, you’ll be staying here for roughly a week, so get comfortable.” She stated, before walking out. 

“Uh- th- thank you-?” Arthur attempted to say, however, she was already out the door. Lance cast a worried glance towards him. 

“You look guilty.” He spoke. 

“What?” Arthur perked up. 

“Like something’s weighing on you.” 

Arthur frowned, curling his only arm near him and lowering his head. 

“I can’t work at the shop from here.” 

Lance stared, flabbergasted. 

“Arthur, ya can’t even work right now, period.” 

Arthur furrowed his brows. 

“You have a point…” 

…

He heard the knob on the door rattle, and Arthur perked up, expecting his friends. 

It swung open, and Vivi stood there, grinning proudly. 

“Look who I snuck in!” 

“Mystery?” Arthur laughed, tilting his head to look near her legs. 

Arthur expected a burst of serotonin at the sight of the porch, he expected to be thrilled to see him. 

But the sight of him made it feel like his intestines were suddenly grabbed with big, merciless hands and dragged out. 

It was just Mystery, white-furred, stupid-haired, glasses-wearing Mystery… He just stood there, tilting his head and blinking at him like the innocent dog he was- but…

Arthur found himself unable to move, staring like a deer in headlights at Mystery. He could hear the beeping on his heart monitor quicken. 

“Artie?” Vivi tilted her head, smiling awkwardly. 

The words fell through his head as he locked eyes with Mystery. 

He flinched when he remembered the sound of a grizzly snap . 

White fur, a long snout that snapped at him, and...a dog collar. 

Mystery stared back. There was a new intelligence to this dog's mind, something that wasn’t there before the cave. 

Fhqqrayl, ur erzrzorerq n synfu bs n zrzbel sebz orsber, syvpxvat guebhtu uvf oenva yvxr yvtugavat. Fpernzvat, checyr sylvat bire gur rqtr bs n pyvss, naq gura cvaf. Gur cvaf, gurl UHEG, naq ur jnf FPNERQ. Ur fnj jung jnf Zlfgrel, jung nofbyhgryl PBHYQA’G or ohg JNF Zlfgrel, ovgvat ng uvf nez, grnevat guenfuvat evccvat- naq grnevat vg bss. He blinked, and suddenly, the image was gone without a trace- hidden in his memory again. 

He felt a hand on his shoulder. 

“Kiddo?” Lance spoke gruffly. Vivi’s smile was dropping now, and he could see what one would describe as fear flash through Mystery’s eyes. 

“Artie, hey, hey hey hey what’s wrong?” Vivi strode over. 

Arthur finally tore his hypnotic gaze off of Mystery. His stump of an arm was throbbing. 

“I-” He swallowed. “I-I think my pain meds are wearing off.” 

“I’ll go get a nurse.” Lance sighed. “Vivi, jus’ hide Mystery under the bed or somethin’.” 

Vivi nodded, motioning for Mystery, who did as she directed- Arthur had two thoughts at that exact moment. 

He can understand human words, can’t he?

And 

There is a monster under my bed. 

He was thrown out of his paranoias when Vivi set her hand on Arthurs. 

“Hey, it’s okay, buddy…” 

“I’m sorry, I-” He swallowed, expecting Mystery to snap his jaws, breaking his bed and him like a shark jumps out of water. “I-I don’t know what came over me there for a second…” 

Vivi stared at him. “You’ve been having it rough, Arthur. Honestly, you acting out is normal.”

Arthur was silent. 

There was a painful longing in his heart, one that screamed for comfort. He hadn’t seen him in two days, apparently- and he just… He just needed him right now. 

Maybe he doesn’t want to see me. It made his stomach curl. 

Maybe he can’t see me. Hurt more. 

“Vivi?” 

“Yeah?” 

Arthur stared at her. 

“Where’s Lewis?” 

Vivi stared at him, dumbstruck for a moment as if she were rendering what he was saying. 

It made his stomach turn, how her eyes seemed to gloss over when she parted her jaws. 

“Who’s Lewis?” 

Chapter Text

Arthur woke up in a blind panic . 

Screaming rung in his ears- and blended heavily with his own, tearing voice, and the beeping of the heart monitor. 

There were only flashes of visions and colors tearing through his mind, biting at him as words grabbed onto his head. 

YOUR FAULT. 

YOU DID IT. 

IT'S ALL YOU. 

YOU MONSTER. 

YOUR FAULT. 

YOUR FAULT. 

YOUR FAULT. 

Broken, No, Push, Scream, Splat, Pins, Mystery, Snap, Scream.

Everything was too loud, like multiple songs overlapping each other, and the beats never syncing up. He tore and thrashed his limbs, feeling his throat scream as he gripped at his head and kicked his legs to get everything off of him. 

He was going to die. He knew he deserved it but he didn't want it, please, he finally had people he cared about- PLEASE. 

Broken, No, Push, Scream, Splat, Pins, Mystery, Snap, Scream.

He grabbed at his hair and let out an ugly sob, still hyperventilating and whimpering in pain. His arm burned, Jesus Christ his arm burned. 

The beeping was so fast it was like a singular tone, and he felt like he would fall through the floor at any second. 

Something was grabbing him, something was grabbing him- 

He tried to smack it away with his left arm- failing and crying out in panic, confusion, and frustration before giving up and attacking with his right. 

He kept attacking, feeling it, it grab and grab, until it latched on and he screamed. 

Words bounced against his ears and he curled into a ball, trying to tug his arm back but it wouldn’t budge. 

Broken, No, Push, Scream, Splat, Pins, Mystery, Snap, Scream.

He let out a row of sobs, and suddenly, something broke through his head. 

“ARTHUR!” 

Vivi?

He looked around wildly, hyperventilating, before setting eyes on her. 

It was hard to see in the dark room, but she was crying, her eyes wide and scared. He then ‘saw’ her gripping onto his arm. 

He didn’t render that it was his own until he heard thundering into his room. 

Fear jolted through him again, and he temporarily went blind as the lights exploded on, him yelping and covering his face, before getting the courage to look again. 

He could only hear the rapid beeping of the heart monitor, but he saw multiple people dressed in white coats holding things and grabbing at him, and he panicked. 

Another thing broke through his head. 

“Give him some space!” Vivi cried out. “You’re scaring him!” 

They shouted something back, but Arthur could barely hear it. 

They grabbed his right arm- why was it squirting blood!? 

He let out another, smaller scream and kicked his legs, before seeing them apply a fabric of some sort to it. 

A third thing broke through. 

“Arthur, look at me.” 

He swallowed, blinking and then gazing over to Vivi. 

She had a determined gaze, her face exhausted and still wet with tears. She was gripping the side of his bed with white knuckles. 

“Keep looking at me, Arthur, okay?” She spoke strongly. “Don’t focus on them, they’re helping, okay? They aren’t scary. Just focus on me.” 

Arthur swallowed, hyperventilating still, but nodding and looking at her. 

“Good, that’s good.” She said. “You’re doing great, Arthur. You’re doing a good job and they’re almost done, I promise.” 

His left arm was still throbbing in white-hot agony, and he yelped when he felt a needle go into his right- panicking for a moment and starting to look over before Vivi snapped her fingers to get his attention on her. 

“Don’t look at them, Arthur! They’re doing their job, and they’re helping you. If it hurts, it’s to help you.” 

He bit his lip, nodding and letting out another sob. Vivi kept a heavy stare on him. 

He suddenly felt the hands go away, and they muttered something to Vivi, who glared at them and shooed them off- whatever they said must’ve made her mad, because she only looks like that when she’s pissed. 

Before long, the white-coated men scurried out of the room, and Arthur took in the longest, shaky breath he had taken in this entire time. 

After a few more moments of trying hard not to gag to sob while breathing, he looked to Vivi, who was reaching out. 

“Can I set my hand on yours, Artie? Will that overwhelm you? Is it okay if I do that?”

Arthur took in a few breaths, trying to sort it out, before nodding his head and biting his cheeks. 

Vivi gently set her hand on his, rubbing a thumb over his hands, and god he was filled with so many intrusive thoughts at once. He squeezed his eyes shut and then looked at her again, trembling like a baby deer. 

Behind her shone the window- moon, and stars in the sky. If the hospital light wasn’t on, he’d bet she’d look beautiful. 

“You’re okay, Artie.” 

Arthur felt his breathing start to slow down, and he could hear the heart monitor lose pace as well. 

He wrapped his legs near him- and tried to do the same with his arm, however, something pulled at it weird. He realized they must’ve put another IV in...which was likely what made him bleed in the first place. 

“I’m right here, Artie.” 

Arthur shut his eyes, taking in a deep breath. 

His jaws were clenched so hard he felt like his teeth would shatter. He breathed out, and laid against his pillow, whining softly. 

Vivi smiled softly at him, still rubbing soothing circles on the back of his hand. 

She was so ruthlessly kind to him...he could never understand her patience. 

He frowned at his pillow, realizing he would never know how worn thin it was, either. She could snap at any moment and he’d deserve it. 

He bit his lip and shut his eyes. 

“I’m sorry.” 

He felt Vivi pause, and her voice was unreadable. 

“Arthur, what happened?” 

Arthur snapped his eyes open wide. 

“I don’t know.” 

Vivi blinked. “What?” 

He looked at her. “I don’t know.”

The two stared. 

“What do you remember?” Vivi asked. 

Arthur tensed. 

“It was scary-“ his voice wavered. “I know it was vivid, but I don’t… Vivi I don’t remember it-“ he looked at her. “...it was in the cave, though.” 

“Oh, Arthur,” Vivi covered her mouth with her free hand. “Artie, I’m so sorry.” 

“But I don’t remember it-“ he choked out. “It just- it hurt, it still does…” 

Vivi lowered her hand to play with the hem of her sweater. “They switched you from benzocaine to opioids, remember?” She said, looking away. “It’s not really...for numbing. They said you’ll have to feel it for a while.” 

Arthur remembered that- he was told that after Lance came back with a nurse yesterday. 

After Arthur learned that Vivi didn’t remember who Lewis Pepper is. 

Arthur felt sick at that, still. She has to remember, she has to. He bit his lip. She loved him, and he loved her. How’s he gonna feel when he shows up and she can’t remember anything about him? 

“Vivi?” 

“Hm?” 

“...do you remember Lewis, yet?” 

Vivi stared at him, her eyes glossing over for a bit before she tilted her head and gave a bubbly giggle. 

“Why do you keep saying that silly name?” 

Arthur looked down, dejected. 

“Sorry, just…” he felt gaslit, like a prank was being pulled on him. That, or...he never knew a Lewis Pepper. 

Maybe his mind made him up. 

No! Lewis is one of my best friends, I HAVE to find him! I HAVE to! 

He felt so… useless sitting here. Lewis was out there, missing, and he could do nothing but sit and rot away in a hospital bed. 

What? All cause a little arm was torn off? Real friends fight tooth and nail for each other! 

He curled his knees to his chest more. 

But I’m a coward. 

He perked up when Vivi gently shook his hand. 

“You okay?” 

He stared. “...y-yeah, sorry…” he swallowed. “...Viv, why’re you here?” 

She gave another bubbly laugh. “What do you mean?” 

“I…” he trailed off. “You don’t need to be here. It MUST suck, right? I’m sure it’s AWFUL.” 

She laughed. “Well, the food sure as hell sucks, and the hospital bed isn’t as comfy as yours, but...Arthur, I’d rather sit here uncomfortable with you than paranoid at home worried about you.” 

Arthur stared at her with round eyes, feeling his heartstrings get tugged at. A lump in his throat formed, and he inhaled shakily. 

“I-“ he trembled. “Viv, you don’t need to worry about me-“ 

“Yes, I do.” She planted a small kiss onto his hand and smiled at him. “And I’ll do it, even if we both end up with grey hairs in our 20s.” 

Arthur swallowed, feeling his eyes get wet again. He tried to speak, but it barely escaped his mouth. 

“‘Kay…” 

Vivi smiled fondly, and let go of his hand, turning off the light and walking back over to her bed. 

He watched and felt his stomach twist when he noticed Mystery staring at him from under where her legs dangled, eyes almost glowing in the dark and staring at him. 

He stared hypnotically, once again, feeling like he would be attacked at any second. His heart rate spiked up a bit, but luckily, Vivi didn’t notice. 

“Goodnight, Arthur.” 

Arthur looked over, smiling. 

“Goodnight.” 

He gently grabbed at his covers, pulling them up onto him, and then looked to Mystery again, eyes locking. 

Mystery stared back. 

The dog cast a glance of dread, before laying down and curling his tail up to his nose. 

He cast one last glance at Arthur, and then shut his eyes. 

Arthur didn’t know how long he kept his eyes locked onto Mystery, but the sun started to shine through the window when he finally let his head lay against the pillow. 

…

It was winter, not long after New Years, and they were running around in their desert terrain, goofing off. Just the four of them. 

“Arthur, watch this,” Vivi smirked, putting a finger up to her mouth and showing him a rock she found on the ground. 

She stepped towards Lewis, who was petting Mystery fondly, grinning with malice. Arthur knew exactly what she was about to do, and crossed his arms with interest. 

She suddenly ran up to Lewis, tugged his shirt collar back, and dropped the rock in. 

“AUGH- VIVI!” 

The blue-haired girl started cackling, taking about ten rapid steps back to get out of reach from the man who was fidgeting in discomfort. He desperately reached at his back, at one point, untucking his shirt to get the rock out. 

They didn’t have snow in the desert, but they sure as hell had cold rocks that might as well have been. 

Anyone who didn’t know Lewis would think a crime was about to happen- that Vivi’s head would be popped like a grape, even Arthur still felt a jolt of fear from that gaze, but he knew that Lewis was about to show her. 

He bolted at her, Vivi screaming and laughing as she ran- the two idiots actually playing with rocks like they were five. 

Arthur tucked his hands into his hoodie, smiling at them tenderly. 

He loved his friends- and he of course yearned to screw off, too, but over the years he learned not to try to butt into situations like this. Even if he felt left out, he felt just fine watching on the sidelines. He cared about his friends and-

“HEY ARTHUR!”

He looked to Vivi, who held up another rock. 

Immediate adrenaline and serotonin shot through his mind like electricity. “VIVI, NO-”

 She bolted at him, and Arthur let out a scream, bolting as fast as he could while his two friends chased him.

“YOU DESERVE THIS, KINGSMEN! YOU’RE COMPLICIT TO THE CRIME COMMITTED AGAINST ME!” Lewis barked. Arthur let out another scream as he hopped out of the way of a barrel cactus, skittering off towards the left from Vivi. 

“SHOW MERCY, SHOW MERCY PLEASE-”

…

“Artie.”

Arthur perked up when he heard Vivi call his name, looking over to her with wide eyes. 

“Hm?”

“Did you hear me?” She asked, putting her hands on her hips. “I asked when the last time you ate was.” 

Arthur tried to play with his hands and frowned when he couldn’t- now just playing with the front of his shirt. 

He missed Lewis, god he missed Lewis so much. He needed to find him. 

His mind had been so foggy- he didn’t tell Vivi that the night before he only got an hour of sleep, nor did he tell her he completely avoided it last tonight- kept awake by the paranoia of nightmares and seeking comfort in all the memories of his three friends he clung to.

Memories, something Vivi doesn’t have. 

“Arthur Kingsmen, answer me.” 

“S-sorry,” Arthur perked up, biting at his lip a bit. “Uh- I-I dunno when, um...when I last ate.”

“Well, then you need to. Think you can keep down jello?” 

Arthur made a bit of a face. “As long as it’s not too slimy.” 

Vivi laughed. “It’s jello, not pudding. I know you don’t like mushy textures.” She started striding towards the door. “One jello coming up, don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone.” 

“Yes, ma’am.”

She exited the room, and Arthur found himself clicking back into his same frame of thought. 

He felt the lingering of another memory- Vivi wanted to see who could jump over a creek farther, so the three of them tried it. 

Vivi managed to win, only because Arthur slipped and fell and Lewis looked back to help him up. 

He set out a hand for him, and Arthur could feel his heart skip a beat. 

These memories...Each one he clung to for comfort felt...different now. 

Vivi was real. Vivi was there like she was now. She hadn’t changed at all. 

Mystery was like a burn mark in a photograph- Arthur knew he was there, but he was terrified of him, he didn’t want to think of him.

And Lewis… Lewis was nothing but a shining beam of light, he could absolutely do no harm.

He missed him. 

He missed him with every heartbeat that played on his monitor, he missed him every time he heard talking from another room, he missed him every time he pressed a button on his TV’s remote, he missed him every time he scrolled through his phone, god he missed him.

Arthur needed to find Lewis. 

How does Vivi usually go about doing this? He asked himself. 

As if on cue, Vivi entered back into the room. 

“Sorry, they only have lime.” 

Arthur grimaced. “That’s fine.” Lime was never his favorite- but he didn’t...mind. Until now. 

Why did he suddenly hate the color green? 

Vivi set the tray on his lap, and he smiled at her, grabbing at the spoon awkwardly.

“Hey, uhm, Viv?”

“Yeah?” 

“Uhm…” He picked at his small meal. “...What's the name of that cave we visited?” 

Vivi’s eyes...glossed over for a moment again. She tilted her head. 

“Arthur, I’m not letting you go back there.”

“Wh-” Arthur blinked. “Why not?” 

“Your arm was torn off.” 

“I-” He clicked his spoon against the tray. “Vivi, I just want to know.”

“No, you don’t.” She almost growled. “Arthur, why do you want to go back there?” 

“Cause I need to investigate it!”

“For what?” 

“For LEWIS!” 

Vivi looked frustrated. 

“Stop! Stop bringing up this...this random guy!” Vivi let out some laughs. “Arthur, you keep mentioning him and it’s obviously some weird- some weird coping mechanism your brain has made up!” 

Arthur felt like he was getting stabbed in the gut. “It’s not!” 

Vivi made a face. “Look, I can tell this is upsetting you- just- you need to eat, Arthur.”

“I’m not hungry.” Arthur felt like he was gonna cry. 

“Yes you are- your body might suck because of anesthesia but it’s been days. You just feel sick and it’s probably because you aren’t taking care of yourself!” 

Arthur looked at his jello, face hot from frustration. He could feel Vivi’s eyes on him, and then he heard a sigh. 

“I’m just worried about you, man.”

Arthur frowned. “I wish you weren’t”

“That’s stupid and you know it.” 

Arthur looked at her and huffed out a bit of a laugh. 

“...Sorry for being like a fussy baby.”

“Ehh, you’re more like a fussy toddler,” Vivi smirked a bit.

Arthur smiled at her. 

“Your fault that you mama bird me.” 

“Au contraire, Arthur. The egg comes first, therefore, you were a baby first, and I had to mama you.”

“The chicken obviously came first, Viv.” 

“Ah, but where did that chicken come from?” 

“It was laid by a dinosaur-like chicken, which evolved into the chicken we know today from that egg.”

“So you’re telling me the egg came first?” 

“No- the chicken. Because- because- the egg in itself wasn’t truly like...a chicken until it laid an egg- y'know?” 

“That’s not-” Vivi burst out laughing. “ARTHUR THAT MAKES NO SENSE.” 

Arthur started laughing too. “WHAT? YOU EXPECT ME TO ADMIT I’M WRONG?” 

“YES!”

“I’M A SCIENTIST, VIVI, I REFUSE TO.”

“I AM TOO, FARTY, I’LL KEEP GOING AS LONG AS I NEED!” 

Arthur laughed. 

“You ever- you ever like...read that Dr. Suess book that like...where there's a dude who always walks north and a dude who always walks south, and they walk into each other and never move again?” 

“Wh-hAHAHA-” Vivi clung onto the side of Arthur's bed. “WHAT’RE YOU FUCKING TALKING ABOUT?!”

“IT’S A DR. SUESS BOOK! THEY SIT THERE ARGUING AND ARE TOO STUBBORN TO MOVE! THAT'S US RIGHT NOW!” 

“Eat your jello-” Vivi snorted, leaning over and pointing at the meal. “EAT YOUR FUCKING JELLO, KINGSMEN.” 

Arthur just started laughing harder.

Chapter Text

Arthur woke up when the car came to a sudden stop. 

“We’re home!” 

He looked from the back seat at Lance, who was watching him from behind the wheel. He blinked sleepily, seeing the garage through the windshield of the van. 

“Yay…” He rasped. Lance popped open the front door, hopping out and making his way over to Arthur. 

“Thought you’d be more excited, kid.” He said, opening the back door. Arthur blinked, scooting out of the car.

His legs still felt like jelly- despite taking a few walks around the hospital in the last few days, it was still hard to walk at all. 

“Of course I’m excited, I’m just…tired, that’s all.” Arthur was telling the truth, he was happy to finally be away from that hospital, but something in his chest rattled ominously when he thought about any of his emotions- like they were unlockable characters. He didn’t feel right in any way in the slightest, as if his bones and organs were blended into a mushy, clumpy mess that not even experts could sort out. 

Lance stared at him, setting his hand on the doorknob to the inside of their house. 

“...you can talk to me, y’know.” 

“I'm fine, Uncle Lance.” Arthur smiled sadly. “Thank you.” 

“...if ya say so.” Lance turned the knob of the door- seeming somewhat released as he entered. Arthur followed behind, blinking around the house for a moment, before starting to stride over to his own room. 

“Ah- not yet.” Lance walked towards the kitchen. “When was the last time you ate?” 

“Uhm-“ 

Lance smirked at him. 

“I have a cold Surfs Up surprise in the fridge, kid.” 

Arthur suddenly felt very hungry. 

“Really?” 

…

After eating(decently, for once) Arthur trudged into his room, flopping down on his bed face first before immediately feeling pain in his arm. 

Oof, bad idea to do that. 

He hissed a bit, rolling over and then laying on his back, staring at his ceiling. 

He never realized how...bare it was until now. 

Is that a thing people do? Decorate their ceilings? 

He frowned a bit, thinking back to his childhood. 

Here's the thing about thinking about childhoods- it’s not a good idea. 

His parents weren’t...the best. Especially his mom. 

Nope. Shutting that can of worms. 

Happy memories. Memories of Lewis and Vivi. 

He had more, he had thousands. 

Either his anemia was making him too cold, or the air conditioner was on too high, cause he felt coldness nip at his nose. 

Then, like the sheets were torn out from under him, he started to spiral. 

...

Arthur felt like he was about to throw up gallons and gallons of paint onto the fucking cement. 

Day in, day out, he’s spent working, staying up, testing, fucking everything up. He’s tried to be the best person he can be but there was still a burning fire in his chest. 

That fire could never be quenched over any form of affection, care, or validation. 

No matter what, he was never good enough. 

He already felt this way about his field of work, he’s felt like this since he was 11. 

But seeing Vivi and Lewis was sometimes...too much. 

He felt like fingers were weaving into his ribcage, squeezing their fists to a close and ripping at him. He felt like white-hot blood would spray out of his mouth. 

They were only holding hands. That’s all they were doing. 

They were on a neighborhood walk. That’s all. 

You’re not good enough for them. 

He clenched his jaws. The world was spinning and he needed out. 

“Hey- uhm- guys?” 

Vivi and Lewis turned to look at him, ready to listen. Arthur’s voice was trembling. 

“I uhm- can I take a second? I need to go uh- I need to go to the bathroom.” 

“Yeah, we’re right here, catch up with us or we’ll see you when we get back to your place.” 

Arthur smiled at them. “Thank you.” 

The second he turned around, he was making the most stoic face, jaw clenching and head lowered as he shoved his hands into his pockets. 

It was cold, tonight. Arthur didn’t like the cold, but he felt like a burning fire right now. 

He didn’t want to worry Lance, so he didn’t bother using the front door to his house. He simply climbed onto the garbage cans, struggling with his poor motor skills, and jumped over the wall into their backyard. 

Once he was out there, he grabbed a rock, holding it tight in his hand. 

There was boiling in his chest. 

“FUCK!” 

As hard as he could, he slammed down the rock, watching it shatter against others. Huffing, feeling his nose and eyes wetten, he knew it wasn’t enough. 

He grabbed a shard and threw it again. 

And again. 

And again. 

And he was suddenly very aware of the heat on his hand. 

He looked to see it- slices from the rough mineral cutting up his fingers- a few were bleeding. 

He didn’t care. It wasn’t fucking enough. 

He threw again, and again. 

Suddenly, the cold was starting to get to him, and he bit his tongue, letting his knees fall onto the dirt. 

He wanted the cold to freeze out the fire inside of him, God he wanted it to do that. 

But it wouldn’t. He was shivering, the skin of his vessel feeling freezing, but he was still burning. 

He knew he’d never make it in life. He’d be nothing but an envious coward all his life and if he died it wouldn’t change a goddamn thing. That’s how little people he’s affected in his life. 

When he came back inside, they were sitting on the couch, proving his point. Not worried or looking for him. 

“Hey, Artie!” Vivi chirped. 

“Your nose is all red, things too cold for ya?” 

Arthur sniffed. His head hurt. 

“Yeah.”  

Then he snapped back into the present, realizing he was tearing up. 

He hated how jealous he was. 

Part of him screamed that jealousy was what made Lewis go missing. 

And...that didn’t make sense. He didn’t even know where Lewis was. 

Lewis. His heart yearned. How could I just...leave you behind? 

He sat up, feeling guilt burn into his chest like it would explode. 

I’ve done nothing to find him. 

He sat up, dragging his legs to his desk and sitting down. 

Grabbing his bag, he slid his laptop out and turned it on. 

I’ve just been rotting away in my hospital room, why haven’t I tried to help you? 

He immediately opened a document and got to making a list of notes.  

• Cave 
• Lewis missing 
• Vivi doesn’t remember Lewis 
• Arm torn off 
• No memory after splitting off with Lewis 
• Mystery??? 

Okay, that’s what he had so far, though typing with one arm was harder than it seemed. Time to brainstorm. 

• Memory loss possibly comes from anemic anoxia, according to doctor 
• What I DO remember: waking up all bloody on the cave floor and mystery nearby.  
• Was it Mystery??? 
• Lists of reasons it could be mystery: white, stupid glasses, hair 
• Lists of reasons it can’t: HUGE, many tails, long snout, sharp teeth

Arthur blinked at what he just typed, and then raced to google. 

“Large, dog-like creature with many tails??” 

A wiki for canids, a wiki for Weimaraners, and...great now he was a tropes page for fictional beasts. 

...huh. 

He opened google again. 

“Kitsune” 

“Kitsune in the literal sense is the Japanese word for fox. Foxes are a common subject of Japanese folklore; in English, kitsune refers to them in this context. Stories depict legendary foxes as intelligent beings and as possessing paranormal abilities that increase as they get older and wiser.” 

He blinked at this information, trying to process it and render it in his brain. His ADHD was making his eyes slip off of the website's words, he needed to look at images. 

His heart dropped. 

Familiarity exploded in his head, and he felt himself freeze up, staring at the images. 

Sharp teeth jutting from every angle of their mouths, angular eyes that watched with such intensity, claws sharp enough to stab someone’s skull, and huge. 

...he closed the tab. 

• Kitsune. Definitely a kitsune. 

Chapter Text

Arthur was already awake when Lance walked in. 

“Oh- hey, kid, you’re already up?” He had a puzzled look and an even more puzzled look when he gazed down at the towels that were under the door. “...what’s with that?” 

“Um-“ Arthur blinked, having ABSOLUTELY no explanation. I plugged it up so you can’t hear me in case I scream from a nightmare. 

Lance stared at him, waiting for an answer, but upon none, he just sighed and leaned against the doorframe. 

“I have to head to the shop- Vivi will be stopping by in a few hours to make sure you don’t die, whether it’s from your own negligence or hubris.” 

“Uncle Lance, I’m 22.” 

“And you’re missing an arm.” He began to turn away. “I left 20 bucks on the counter for pizza. Let her choose what half of it is, please.” 

“Alright, alright.” Arthur sighed, rolling his eyes. 

“Also- no gettin' up too much. Don’t rough around and take it easy, twerp.” 

“Alright!” 

“Hey.” 

He looked at his uncle. 

“Love ya, kid.” 

Arthur smiled softly. “Love you too.”

As soon as he heard the door slam, he immediately got up. 

He felt like he couldn’t bolt to his computer faster. He was immediately sitting down and switching it on. 

He loaded up the document he was working on previously. 

• Cave 
• Lewis missing 
• Vivi doesn’t remember Lewis 
• Arm torn off 
• No memory after splitting off with Lewis 
• Mystery??? 
• Memory loss possibly comes from anemic anoxia, according to the doctor 
• What I DO remember: waking up all bloody on the cave floor and mystery nearby.  
• Was it Mystery??? 
• Lists of reasons it could be mystery: white, stupid glasses, hair 
• Lists of reasons it can’t: HUGE, many tails, long snout, sharp teeth
• Kitsune. Definitely a kitsune. 

He sat back, going over the points in his mind- memorizing them. If only he had more details- if only he had more ideas. 

• Kitsunes can shapeshift. Can they erase memories? 
• Is mystery hiding his identity? Why?
• The doctor said my injury was like a bear or dog attack… was it Mystery? 
• Mystery might’ve chased Lewis off, or attacked him first- I don’t believe he’s dead. I refuse to think that. He’s alive until proven otherwise and that WONT HAPPEN. 
• Why would mystery attack me? 
• Why didn’t he finish me off?

That last bullet hit him in the gut, making him still with fear. 

He then opened up the wiki on kitsunes again. The words made his adhd swarm, so he started copy-pasting it in a separate document, double spacing it and changing the size, then changing the font to comic sans. Yes, it was stupid but it was dyslexia friendly. 

It wasn’t perfect, but it made it slightly easier. 

Now to ignore the ungodly throbbing in his arm. 

…

Arthur felt like his brain was rotting when he heard a knock on the door. 

He got up, legs nearly collapsing under him as he sauntered through the halls and swung open the door. 

And there stood Vivi. 

Dressed in a blue t-shirt and jeans, smiling up at him and tucking hair behind her ears. God, she was pretty. 

Stop it! She’s in love with Lewis! 

“H…” he licked at his dry mouth. “Hi.” 

“Hey!” Vivi chirped, striding on one. Arthur shut the door, staring at her still. She giggled and looked over. 

Arthur heard the familiar clicking of claws and jumped when he saw Mystery there, too. 

He stared until he heard Vivi speak up again.  

“Wow, you’re still a sickly mess, huh?” 

“I’ve been taking my iron supplements.” 

“Yeah- but your eyebags say you need to do more.” She booped his nose. “You take your other meds today?” 

“Um-“ Arthur stared. Vivi frowned, furrowing her brows. 

“Arthur.” 

“Sorry?”

“Have you not taken your goddamn opioids!?” She cursed. “No wonder you’re pale, you idiot! Come here.” 

She grabbed him by the wrist, dragging him towards his room, however, he cleared his throat. 

“They’re- they're uh-“ he blinked. “They’re in the kitchen.” 

“You-“ she blinked back. “You don’t keep them in your room?” 

“It’s- it’s food, so,” 

“NO?” She started laughing, tugging him the opposite way to the kitchen. “THIS IS WHY YOU FORGOT, DUDE!” 

“Sorry!” Arthur laughed a bit this time, looking around as he entered the kitchen. Vivi grabbed the bottle and unscrewed the cap, dumping them into her hand and setting them on the counter. Mystery sat by her legs as she spoke. 

“Have you not been in agony all morning?” 

“I’ve been reading.” 

“Reading?” She looked over. 

“About- um-“ he blinked. “About kitsunes.” 

“Kitsunes?” She laughed, opening the fridge. “Why the sudden interest in kitsunes?”  

Arthur felt like he was about to throw up. He looked to Mystery. 

The dog was giving him a stare that felt like a razor. 

That thing wants me dead. 

“Arthur?” 

He looked back up at Vivi. 

“Yeah! Uh- I-I dunno! Just- they- um…” he rubbed at his neck, wincing. “I think it’s...interesting.” 

“Yeah, they are cool! My grandmother RAISED me on stories about them! I’ll have to tell you sometime!” She poured a glass of orange juice, handing it to Arthur. 

“That sounds nice.” Arthur smiled softly, gripping the cup in his hands. Vivi gestured to his meds. “Oh, right!” 

He grabbed the opioids, swiping them into his hands and shoving them into his mouth, listening to Vivi talk. 

“You’re such a funny dude, you know?” 

Arthur swallowed. “I am?” 

“Yeah- you’re so terrified of monsters but you still research them. It’s hilarious.” 

…

They were set in his room, Arthur sitting on his bed. Vivi walked around, and Mystery had found an old chicken bone to chew on outside the door. 

“So, what’d’ya wanna do?” 

Arthur shrugged. “Beats me.” 

Vivi seemed to think for a moment and lit up. “I know!” 

She strode over to his desk, picking up his switch and bringing it over. 

“How about a game of Smash?” 

Arthur felt his heart sink. “Vivi,” 

Vivi tilted her head. “What? You love Smash!” 

Arthur felt his heart sink lower. 

Vivi’s eyes eventually traced to his missing arm. “...oh.” 

Arthur frowned, looking at his bed. He heard Vivi set down the switch. 

“Well, okay,” she hummed. “What about...we watch a show or something?” 

“Like what?” 

“I dunno. Sailor Moon?” 

Arthur’s heart sank again. That was Lewis’ favorite show. 

“...maybe.” 

Vivi frowned, walking over. 

“You okay?” 

She sat down, and Arthur started between his feet. 

“...I just- AH-!” 

He quickly sucked in air between his teeth, gripping at his arm and squeezing his eyes. Vivi flinched. 

“What’s wrong!?” 

“N-“ Arthur panted a bit. “Nothing- sorry- I-“ he gestured with his hand a bit. “...phantom limb.” 

Vivi frowned. “You mean the thing where you still feel your arm?” 

“Y-yeah- it-“ he grit his teeth, the white-hot pain ebbing away. “It hurts like a bitch sometimes- sorry-“ he frowned. “It usually only happens at night.” 

Vivi stared at him. 

“...have you been sleeping okay, Arthur?” 

Arthur stared at her, and her blue eyes grew full of sorrow. 

“Please don’t lie to me. You look like a raccoon right now.” 

Arthur frowned. She was probably right, the day before he got a peek at his completion in the mirror and his skin was so pale and sallow, while his eyebags stuck out like black paint on white paper. 

He grimaced. “...it’s hard.” 

“What’s so hard about it, Artie?” 

Arthur laid on his bed, frowning, and looking away from Vivi. It was so hard to lie when she sounded like that. 

“It’s...hard to sleep when it gets dark, I guess.” He mumbled. “All I can think of is...that cave. Whatever hurt me before will hurt me again.” He shut his eyes. 

“...I don’t really... like the dark.” 

He felt like a child. An embarrassing, idiotic toddler that was gonna get laughed at any minute. 

But...he just heard Vivi sigh, and stand up. 

“...Gimme a sec.” 

He gazed over, seeing her unzip her backpack and dig through it, in search of something. While more organized than Arthur, Vivi still had quite the mess strone about her belongings. She was calculated, but busy. 

Lewis was always the organized one. 

“Ah-Ha!”

She tugged something out- a bag of little plastic stars. 

Arthur snorted. 

“Why do you have those on your person?” 

Vivi shrugged. “Tomb Tome was using them for our SCI-FI week, and we didn’t want them anymore, so when I scraped them off I took them.” 

“Your boss say you can do that?” 

“They don’t say anything, ever.” Vivi shrugged, walking over and opening the bag. “I know I’m trying to get you to sleep properly, but get off your bed.” 

“Oh...Kay?” 

Arthur tugged his legs around the side of his mattress, stepping off and stumbling on the floor. Vivi took his place- but stood up. 

She took out a handful of stars, and then jumped. 

Arthur snorted. “Vivi, What Are you doing?” 

“Gimme a sec!” She hopped again, and, this time, a little Star was left on the ceiling. 

Arthur’s eyebrows went up, and he huffed out a tired laugh, taking a few steps back and then sitting himself down on his chair by his workbench. 

“You having fun?” 

“Of course!” Vivi chirped, hopping up and leaving yet another. 

After a few more were stuck on, Vivi looked over, smirking. 

“Wanna join?” 

“Yeah, sure.” Arthur laughed, standing up and striding over. “Just jump and smack them on?” 

“Yup!” Vivi handed him a few stars. “And watch your balance, if you fall your uncle will make me lose an arm, too!” 

Arthur let out a huff of amusement, standing up onto the bed and stumbling in place for a sec. his balance was a little off, but he was still getting used to it. 

He squatted down, and then jumped up! 

Stick! 

Okay, this was kinda fun. 

He let out a small noise of surprise at it actually working, and he could feel Vivi smile next to him, jumping up to place another. 

The two just...jumped there, placing stars like idiots. 

Finally, they both flopped down, laying with their backs and panting. 

Vivi looked to him, smiling, and Arthur thought his heart would melt. 

“Lemme show you the best part.” 

She stood up, closing the curtains, then walking over and shutting off the light switch. 

The ceiling jumped to life. 

Each star, glowing against the dark blue walls of his room. Beautiful shades of teal, blue, and purple. 

Arthur didn’t realize how entranced he was by it until he felt Vivi lay back down next to him. 

“Aren’t they pretty?” 

“Yeah,” Arthur blinked at her. Not as pretty as you. He thought. 

Vivi let out a giggle. “I thought you’d like them.” 

“I do.” 

Vivi laid her head near his shoulder, and he felt himself tense a bit. 

She then let out a snort. 

“Do you think your uncle thinks we just had sex?” 

“WHAT?”

“Oh, y’know, the mattress and-“ 

“SHUT-“ Arthur’s face was bright red. “SHUT UP!” 

Vivi let out a row of cackles, rolling on her side. Arthur covered his eyes with his hand, whining in embarrassment. 

Vivi rolled back over and looked at him. 

“Oh calm down, he knows you aren’t the type to just do that so casually.” She then snorted. “He’s not even home right now, Arthur! He’s at work!” 

“Still…” 

Vivi laughed again. 

Arthur smiled at her. As much as she sometimes said the worst things she could think of, he still loved her every second. 

He felt her head on his shoulder again. He inhaled shakily. 

He looked over to see Vivi looking at him. 

“You doing okay, champ?” 

Arthur smiled softly. 

“Yeah,” he swallowed. Now that you’re here. 

Vivi smiled. “Arthur, I know you.” 

Arthur looked away. She simply smiled at him. 

“It’s okay to struggle, Artie.” She set her hand on his arm, looking at the ceiling. “Tell me what’s wrong.” 

Arthur swallowed. He couldn’t possibly talk about how much he missed Lewis. But...that wasn’t his only issue. 

“I guess,” he blinked at the stars. “I guess I feel...like I’m rotting away.” 

Vivi stared at him to continue. He did. 

“I feel like, like because of what happened, I’m just...stuck. And- and I've felt this way for a while, I’ve been desperately hoping for some...some better work- I want to invent something I want to leave a mark on this world, but I can’t get that.”

“I feel like my life is slipping away before I can appreciate it-“ He continued. “It’s gone before my very eyes and I can hardly grab onto a single thing. I’m already 22 and everything has faded beyond my goddamn reach.” 

Vivi was silent for a moment, before sighing. 

“I get it, trust me, I do…” she muttered. “I… Arthur, since I was a kid I’ve wanted nothing more but to be the one to prove supernatural entities exist. There is so much out there that people just don't...appreciate or understand! There’s so much lore that’s misconceived and I want to be the one to bring the truth out and give them a voice! I’m 25 and I’m working at Tomb Tone.” 

Arthur laughed emptily. “At least you don’t live with your uncle.” He muttered. “The amount of times where I could save up for an apartment or something but instead buy more spare parts for random shit.” 

“You’re passionate, Arthur, just like me. We’re both passionate and we’re both gonna change the world.” 

Arthur felt his mind lingering away from the scene. 

It was around April, Lewis was talking to Vivi over a milkshake. 

“Being passionate is just… so HARD sometimes, you know?” She laughed. “Every time you fail, it HURTS, but you HAVE to get back up again, y'know? It’s your only driving force in life!” 

Lewis let out a bubble of laughter. “But I love that you and Arthur are passionate.”

“It’s just-“ she stopped. “Hard, y'know?” 

Lewis smiled at her. 

“Sometimes, I wish I could be as passionate as you both. I get so...bored, you know?” 

“But don’t you want to avoid getting hurt?” Arthur spoke up. Lewis smiled. 

“Not if it brings me more joy in the end.” 

“Arthur?” 

Arthur blinked back into reality. 

“...I really care about you, Vivi.” He rasped. “...my mind hasn’t been thinking right lately, but...I really care about you. That’s all I know how to say right now.” 

“That’s okay,” Vivi spoke. He felt her hand wrap into his. 

“You could be dead silent, and I’d still care about you, Arthur.” 

Arthur felt his heart melt.