Chapter Text
Outside a café, that was most known for its sweet coffee and boba, sat a white furred cat with gray blue-green eyes. It was always hard to tell what color they were. Red bandana wrapped loosely around his neck, white wrappings around his stomach, red with gold lined gloves and socks to match, and maroon pants with a gold fanny pack, he stood out in normal settings but Pure Heart Valley was full of colorful people. Niko slurped his cold coffee through a reusable straw, savoring every last sip. These drinks weren’t expensive in the slightest but he didn’t have a lot of spending money. His roommate, a panda named Christopher, had a job and that’s where that ends. Niko earned some money but it wasn’t enough to sustain himself if he was alone.
Drink coming to an end the white maine coon sighed, saving the last bit for when he was ready. He took his black cased phone from the golden fanny pack, which he would never admit was one, and turned it on. The screensaver was him with one of the deputy sheriff’s, Badgerclops to be specific, another sigh left him but this time it was more dreamy. Romance was a one sided feeling between the two, or at least as far as Niko was aware, it was painful but there’s nothing he could do about it. That man was so much more than him, so cool and strong and smart. SO smart, he plays a dumb exterior but what lies deep within is almost scary. And extremely attractive if the cat was honest with himself.
He shook his head, realizing he was staring at his lock screen for too long. Sure it was a picture with the two guys in it but it wasn’t much more than acquaintanceship captured in time. A huge monster had just been defeated, the whole city was saved, and Niko, who was pretty new to Pure Heart Valley, was astonished. He stood in awe at the heroes in front of him, knowing he could never do anything like that since he’s just some guy. The clothing he wore mocked him, he didn’t deserve such cool clothes. But the three stood in front of the crowd who had just been saved and soaked in the love all the townspeople poured out. The white fluffy cat's tail twitched with interest and he got the confidence to talk to Badgerclops, ask him for a picture together and thanked him for saving his life.
An acquaintanceship was all it was, they could hardly say they knew each other, they’ve talked a total of two times. Once being when Niko and Christopher first arrived at the island and a second time when Niko asked for the picture. This is a strange occurrence, the intense feeling of love for a man he hardly knew, as the feline was really only into people he was at least friends with at first. Something was different about Badgerclops, something made Niko go absolutely bonkers. Watching him from afar was the cat's favorite thing to do. Seeing him do his work or just eat his lunch and joke around with his friends, it gave Niko the information about his personality. He loved it. Every time he giggled Niko’s heart became warm, when he was sassy or just a tad bit rude Niko found himself sighing with love. And when he looked at Niko, a passing glance, that shook his entire world. Don’t even get him started about when they met eyes and the badger's single eye was open.
God, he’s a strange little man and he knew it. Shameful.
Niko sighed once more, this time in disgust with himself. Swiping up the screen changed to his home page, wallpaper being the most random thing it could ever be. He defended himself to his roommate by saying the image called to him, it tingled his brain in no way an image has ever tingled his brain before. Niko is neurodivergent, by the way. What was the wallpaper? Niko was too stupid to know the words, lots of pretty blue wires neatly plugged into some tan thingy was his go to description.
Onto social media he goes to scroll the next few minutes away, avoiding that last sip of coffee to savor it. Image after image he went until he saw a picture of Badgerclops, it immediately caught his eye and he couldn’t help but stare. The man was closest to the camera, beside him was sheriff Mao Mao looking uninterested and attention away from the camera. Below the caption read, “Just beat the homie at his favorite game” with zero punctuation and in all lowercase letters, the tags that followed were ‘#heroloser #gitgud’ Niko gasped out loud and looked around to make sure no one cared or heard, back to the screen he took a look at the user who posted.
“Badge underscore gaymer,” A silent voice whispered, “Hm, he’s out, at least I know he’s into guys.” Niko felt an excited bolt of emotion strike through his chest, a smile forced its way onto his face and to remove it as quickly as possible he sipped the rest of his drink. No one actually cared why he was smiling but he thought he looked suspicious.
The username flashed a lighter color once tapped and to the profile he went. In the bio was “Deputy sheriff of PHV, but mostly a gamer.” His follows were nearly the same amount there was of Sweetie Pies, the ones who liked him or cared to follow him. Following was 24, lots of game development pages, food pages, and of course his best friend Mao Mao who’s username was just maomaom.
“Mao Maom.” Niko said out loud, feeling the way it felt in his mouth, he continued to mouth it as he scrolled around on the deputy sheriffs page.
Pictures of mostly the badger in question were presented with the occasional video game post and invention update. The white fluffy cat felt his heart flutter as he went deeper and deeper into the page. Chin now rested in hand, he tapped on a picture where Badgerclops was smiling, his friends were next to him and smiling just as wide. It was sweet. Eyes flickered back and forth between the grown men in the picture, from black cat to cyborg badger. Both were extremely attractive. Thought being dismissed, Niko shook his head again and squeezed his cheeks with one hand, mentally cursing himself. His heart stopped, a pop sound was heard and his greatest fear became true.
A little heart floated onto the page and dived into the post, adding the double tap like Niko just accidentally gave it. Figuring it wasn’t so bad if the picture was at least sort of recent the cat checked the date and his body went cold. This was posted long before he even moved into the valley. Panicking, the cat unliked the post and shut his phone off with a million thoughts running through his mind a second. His body urged him for a distraction and without thinking he reached for his empty coffee cup and frowned once it was pulled up to his face. Right, he forgot he drank the rest already. This was his cue to go home and he met it by tossing the cup into a recycling bin while making sure to keep his straw. Can’t afford to accidentally throw this one away and replace it like last time.
A gentle breeze glided through the air, it brushed through the trees and the maine coons long fur. Niko took a deep breath, he felt his mind clear and began to enjoy the weather. The walk home wasn’t long thankfully, no one wants to be alone with their thoughts for too long. Just a few feet away was the home he and his roommate rented out, home sweet home for who knows how long. It was never really clear if the duo would move somewhere else, Christopher and Niko have discussed it before but it always was left unanswered. They figure if they find a reason to stay they’ll stay but if they get bored or find a reason to leave they’ll go. For now though this was their home. Door mat so close Niko could almost read it he shivered thinking about the accidental old picture like again, it was going to plague his mind and even though he would get laughed at for it he was going to tell Christopher.
The ground shook and stopped. Another quake then silence. It continued in a pattern similar to walking. Niko couldn’t see over the buildings next to his house but the terrifying roar in the distance solidified his assumption. A monster was attacking, this kind of thing always freaked Niko out, it sent him into immediate panic as well as a meltdown. Sudden loud noises, an instant change in plans, and the thought of an imminent and painful death is what did it every time. He felt his body tense up and switch to fight or flight mode which was always flight. The crashes and roaring got louder, closer and closer, before he knew it the beast was on his neighborhood street and ran through it, right towards him. The feline felt his heart jump into his throat and tried to make it into his home before the worst case scenario that was currently playing vividly in his head came to life. Cursing under his breath he struggled with the door before remembering he locked it when he left earlier. The monster only drew closer. Niko couldn’t think of anything except to bang on the door only to realize Christopher isn’t home either. There is no way he was going to be fast enough to wip the key out of the bag positioned above his tail and unlock the door.
Just before tears threatened to fall the monster stopped and squealed in pain just before turning around and heading right for none other than Badgerclops. Perfect timing. Relief and awe set aside Niko fumbled the keys from his fanny pack and shakily unlocked the door, awkwardly going inside and sliding down to the floor. He wrapped his arms around himself and took deep breaths. There have been times death nearly fell upon the cat but this was definitely the closest it’s gotten to being real. Terrible sounds of the monster getting beaten down and sent away felt like they went on forever. Once all was quiet the cat unraveled himself, realizing he had been digging his claws into his own arms a bit too late. A knock on the door jolted him from his thoughts and pulled him from the floor before he could think straight.
Outside stood the trio, Mao Mao cleared his throat, “We noticed you were locked out and almost got eaten. Wanted to make sure you’re alright before we left.”
“Oh,” Niko’s mind was still half in panic mode and was pretty fuzzy, he shrugged and checked his body for any wounds, “yeah no I’m good. Thanks for saving my ass.”
Mao Mao’s expression soured before his attention was given to the little bat on Badgerclops shoulders, he went on about not saying a word like that until she was much older. Or something like that, Niko wasn’t super invested in their conversation, not like he could hear it very well anyway. Realization dawned on the white cat, just minutes ago he accidentally liked a super old picture on the deputy sheriffs account. Clearly his discomfort was plastered across his face because the badger tugged him from his cringe by asking if he was alright.
“Yeah, yeah I’m fine.” Niko tried playing cool, acting casual, “Just a bit traumatized I guess.”
At first it felt like the joke didn’t land, the maine coon didn’t consider if Badgerclops didn’t exactly care for that sort of humor. Before he knew it there was a smile on the other man's face. They shared a chuckle before Mao Mao dismissed himself and his friends. Door shut with complete silence made for a really lonely mood, it was almost painful going from standing in front of your crush to suddenly alone for who knows how long. That feeling was overshadowed by the lingering fact Niko almost died, his heart thumped in his chest as he thought about it longer which is never fun.
“Ugh, yeah it was scary but you’re fine, get over it.” Niko was talking to himself, as all people clearly do, and plopped onto the couch.
Mind switched from fear of a near death experience to the old picture incident again, oh well, anything to take his mind off the scary stuff. The cat switched the TV on and set up his favorite show to play in the background while he went through his social media again. Seems he found himself back on the deputy sheriffs page once again, that soft face beckoned him. If he had courage they would be chatting, sending direct messages back and forth to get to know one another but here Niko was, sad, alone, and socially awkward. His mind racing from thought to thought wasn’t unexpected so when it began replaying his crush asking if he was okay he relished in the thought.
The worry on Badgerclops face, it was expressed in an upturned brow with a slight hitch in his lip. A slight head turn really made it special, his voice was soft but loud enough for Niko to hear. Oh, the attention was all on him while his friends weren’t paying any attention to them at all. Breaking the rose tinted image in Niko’s mind was the door opening, in walked Christopher with an armful of groceries and a very clear annoyed expression on his face.
“Oh man, rough trip to the store?” Niko propped his head up by folding his arms behind it, crossing his legs and reclining further into the couch.
The panda quickly set the groceries down on the little area the two called their ‘booth’, it was a place to eat and a window into the kitchen right next to the entrance. Anyhow, a rant was about to begin.
“You have no idea.” Christopher motioned to the groceries, “I’ll put those up in a sec. GOD, dude that pink guy with the horns was causing me some major issues. Not only did he cut in line to check out but he made a huge deal about not having money to pay for what he picked up and said some wild stuff. Something about gum being covered by food stamps.”
Niko never had to mask in front of Christopher but it was a reflex, his facial expression was wildly overexaggerated to express how bewildered he was, “Wow, that dude is a Lot. I kinda like him though, weirdly enough.”
The panda chuckled, “Yeah, of course you would.” He moved to begin putting up the groceries he purchased and continued their conversation with a question, “So, how was your afternoon?”
A million images flashed through the cats mind, it was hard to pick what to start with. “Man… Where do I even begin.” He relaxed more, lying down and taking up the entire seating.
“That wild, huh?” Christopher stated, nearly surprised. “You just went out for coffee, right?”
“Yeah but a lot happened. Well. Like three things but that’s a lot.” The maine coon gathered his words, talking was pretty hard in general but after a scare like earlier? Yikes. “So I was enjoying my coffee and scrolling through Blimstabam and you’ll never guess who I found on there.”
“Hm.” Christopher humored his friend's suspense, placing the last container of food in the cupboard before leaning on the booth.. “The king guy?”
“Badgerclops, the big deputy guy.” A shake was apparent in his voice but maybe he could blame it on the monster, Niko didn’t need his best friend to know he had a crush.
“The sheriff's department is on Blimstabam?” A laugh divided the panda’s words, “Wow, I can only imagine what they post.”
“I checked his account, it was selfies and video game posts. Some pics of his inventions. Did you know he does inventions?” His excitement unconsciously grew. “Super weird, right?”
Nice save, Niko.
Christopher laughed, nearly in disbelief, “No way? He seems, like, a doof.”
The white cat tried calming himself, it took almost everything in him to not spill everything about Badgerclops right now, “I know.” Now comes the hard part, Niko prepared himself for the inevitable laughter and jokes to come, “I was scrolling through and accidentally liked one of his super old pictures.”
Niko knew his friend well. Laughs bellowed through the home and echoed in the cats ears, it sounded like the man was crying. To no one’s surprise he was, tears streamed down Christopher's cheeks as he tried gasping for breath between laughs and hitting his fist on the counter top he was currently leaning on.
“Oh my god, it’s not that funny!” Niko sat up, a smile couldn’t help but tug at his cheeks
“IT IS!! How did you manage that!? You know you look like a stalker now, right?” The larger man's laughs and playful mocking continued.
A stalker, that word dug into Niko’s chest. That’s what he is then, huh? Nothing more than a stalker, no chance of romance between the two now that Badgerclops felt that way about him. The cat laughed it off but feared the worst deep down. Now that he’s thinking about it, the expression given to him minutes ago wasn’t just worry. A slight lift in the lip, it wasn’t just a cute way to hold his face while speaking. That was slight disgust. It felt as if the whole world was shattering, nothing could ever bloom from this now.
“Niko? You okay? Sorry if my jokes went a little too far…” Christopher was right next to the cough his friend was zoned out on.
“Huh?” He snapped back to real life. “Oh, oh no you’re fine.” Should the rest of his story be told? It must. If it meant he could get advice and fix this, it must. “I think I need advice. A monster came by while I was headed home and the sheriff’s came to get rid of it and obviously Badgerclops was there.”
“Ooo. Awkward.” The man cringed as he sat next to his friend, adjusting himself and his crop top sweatshirt to get comfortable. Deep talks lasted a long time between the two.
“Yeah. Um…” Niko hesitated. It was becoming clear he might have to open up a little more than he wanted to initially, this was his best friend so there shouldn’t be hesitation. Yet it was still hard for the cat, to bail or to go through with it was the question plaguing his mind.
Find out in the next chapter, whenever that’ll be posted :) !