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Taranza made microscopic snips at one of the topiary trees in Dedede’s royal garden. Taranza wasn’t working that day, didn’t need to be there. The tree definitely wasn’t overgrown, but he was there snipping at it and had been for roughly a half an hour.
Truth was, Taranza was hiding.
Magolor had invited him to watch a movie that night, an adaptation of a comic he enjoyed- the doom something or other, and Taranza adamantly insisted that he was dreadfully behind on his landscaping work.
It wasn’t that Taranza didn’t enjoy spending time with Magolor. He loved it, loved it entirely too much, and that was a big problem.
Ever since Sectonia’s passing, Taranza’s had a complicated, pretty much nonexistent relationship with his own happiness. It started with his moving to Popstar in the first place. He wanted to stay in Floralia, keep his job as the royal gardener- they were a democracy or something now but surely the flowers still needed watering.
Instead, Taranza moved to Dreamland. Told himself that no one would want him in Floralia after all he’d done. Now there was no doubt a new gardener, all the personal touches Taranza had in the royal grounds were now no doubt scrubbed away. The little rings of clover for him and Sectonia to sit and talk for hours were now filled with bushes, or bird baths. He had run and now there was no place for him in Floralia.
And now, after Taranza had carved out a bit of a life for him in Dreamland, a good job, a nice side outlet in his puppet shows, a couple of good friends in Magolor and Susie- he was shutting down. Eventually there would be no place for him here either.
It really was that Halcandran’s fault. He saw how summoning Sectonia’s image during the Void incident had rattled him, he broke his stride just to make sure Taranza was okay. He invited him to all his stupid, loud, not at all actually fun parties and let Taranza stay until everyone left just so they could talk.
They talked about their homes, about flowers and galaxies and stars and Magolor had so much energy about it all! It was like when he and Sectonia were young, but it was also different, the feeling Taranza got was more than devotion and a fluttering chest.
It was like something missing had finally slotted into place.
Absolutely horrifying.
So it was time to withdraw.
No staying after the get-togethers, no “hanging out” unless someone else was there as a buffer. Stay in the garden and out of the Lor.
Now Magolor was trying to pull him back in and if the two pulled in opposite directions long enough, surely the relationship would snap. What was Taranza to do?
“Tell him how you feel, you dramatic weirdo!”
Taranza threw down his clippers and dragged himself into a hammock near the back of the garden. He didn’t need this right now.
“Yes you do. You know you do!”
Taranza threw an arm over his eyes. His inner thoughts took the voice of Sectonia whenever he was facing uncomfortable truths. The Sectonia from before the mirror, who never told him what he wanted to hear but somehow always knew what he needed.
“Are you going to make yourself miserable forever? That’s not what I want and you know that! You’re clinging to a relationship you never had and you’re killing this one before it begins.”
It stung knowing she really would be that blunt-
“Well maybe your friend might pull his punches for you. Won’t know until you try~!”
Sluggishly, Taranza pulled himself out of the hammock, picked up his clippers and headed to his quarters in the castle.
He really can’t know exactly what she would want for him- surely she wanted him happy though. Even if he didn’t deserve it.
Striding past groups of Waddle Dees, Taranza slipped into his room and set to making himself presentable. A few more minutes than exactly necessary to smooth out his hair and he was headed to cookie country.
The Starcutter was nestled in the same crater it always was, and Taranza took a deep breath as he stood at the mechanical door.
“Ah, Lor? It’s Taranza, may I come in?”
Magolor mentioned that Taranza had “special access” to the Lor, something that only Marx and Kirby also had, and that he-quote- “just gotta yell to get in.” That sounded rude though, so he didn’t really have a graceful phrase to open the door.
Perhaps he should have just knocked, but then he’d look like he wasn’t listening when Magolor had told him about such a nice gift, surely it was annoying opening the door for someone with a key-
“Popstar to Ranz! You good?”
Taranza was startled by the sound of Magolor calling to him from across the room.
“Oh! Yes, I’m fine!” Walk in you idiot! “Just thought I’d pop in since all my work is done! I hope you’re free!”
Magolor, ever jovial, beamed from under his hood buckle and gestured Taranza in as the door closed. “Tell Dedede to stop overworking you, it’s bad for your health!”
“Tell that to yourself, I can see open notes on the front panel right now.”
Magolor made a show of being caught. “Oof! You got me- I wanted to squeeze in some translation work before sundown. All my stuff is sedentary though so it doesn’t count.”
He floated through the kitchen and returned with iced tea.
“Maybe we both need a break. That’s why I’m here, I missed your movie but maybe you could show me more of that singer you like?”
Sweeter than the tea was Magolor’s freshly brightened demeanor. He strode to the Lor’s main console and started clearing away his notebooks.
“Sure! The new album just dropped- it’s got a really nice romantic feel that I think you’ll be into, you said you liked love songs, yeah? Pull up a chair, this’ll be good!”
There was that feeling. That jigsaw piece slotting into place.
While Magolor’s back was turned, Taranza put his fist over his heart and gave a whisper so quiet he could barely hear it himself.
“I hope this makes you happy too.”