Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

If someone had told Sasha when she first became a Shadow Knight that she would end up living a relatively peaceful life with 4 other Shadow Knights she had (begrudgingly) grown close enough to consider some type of family, she would not have believed you. Yet here she was, living centuries after she was born with her four roommates she’s known for just as long.

She’ll admit that there were definitely some tense moments between all of them, especially during the earlier years when they had mostly gone off by themselves. The “reunion” between Laurance and Gene had been particularly bad. Vylad and Zenix were probably the only reason those two hadn’t outright killed each other back then.

Sasha sighed, stopping her reminiscing as she looked around the room to see what everyone else was doing. It was one of those days where none of the house’s inhabitants had to go to work. Gene was sitting over on the table, doing paperwork that she quite frankly did not care about enough to help him with. Zenix and Vylad were hogging the couch so they could have a movie marathon, a cup of tea in Vylad’s hands. Laurance was reading a book on the armchair to the far side of the couch.

It was a peaceful day, much like the ones the group has had for years at this point. It was pretty nice, revelling in the simple pleasures of day-to-day life that most humans would enjoy. Not that any of them were human anymore, but that’s beside the point. Sure, it got a bit boring at some points though considering how hectic their mortal lives had been, many wouldn’t consider that a bad thing.

Although now that she thought of it, two of the nearby houses had recently gotten sold so there would probably be new neighbours soon. Did any of the other Shadow Knights know that? Maybe she should ask, it’d at least be a decent topic of conversation.

“So apparently the house next door and the one in front of it got sold recently,” Sasha said without prompting,

“Oh? Maybe we’ll actually meet these neighbours,” Laurance said, referring to the person that lived in one of the houses in front of theirs that they had never met despite the mystery neighbour having moved in a few months ago.

“Who knows, maybe whoever lives across is just dead and no one figured it out because they were such a hermit,” Zenix snarked, eyes not leaving the television screen.

“Be nice Zenix,” Vylad spoke up.

“Oh, I think I’m being perfectly nice.”

Vylad grew a more teasing smile that was hidden from their boyfriend’s sight. “Well then guess I’ll just have to withhold cuddles for a week since you decided to be so crude.”

“Wait WHA- '' Zenix sputtered but was interrupted by the small chuckles Vylad began to let out. Zenix calmed down and stared at Vylad, “You’re messing with me aren’t you?” he accused.

“Can you guys be quiet, I’m trying to get stuff done and we need most of these things done by the end of the month.” Gene chided them.

“Take a break, you’ve been at this for hours now and we’re only halfway through the month anyways, we have time,” Laurance shot back.

“Yeah, because none of you little shits know how to do any type of paperwork,” Gene responded

Well, now that was a blatant lie. “Excuse you, I can do paperwork. I just choose not to,” Sasha said.

Gene simply stared at Sasha in what most would probably think of as silent disappointment, though she could see that he had a small smile on his face.

“Well any idea on who’s going to move in, Gene?” Vylad said, trying to use the fact that the raven-haired man commonly helped members of the neighbourhood to glean more information.

“Nah, haven't heard much about them, just that it’s gonna be three girls and three guys,” Gene said, already turning back to his paperwork.

“Hey, maybe this means Laurance and Sasha will finally actually date someone,” Zenix teased the two.

“Oh shut up Zenix, just because you and Vylad have been dating for centuries doesn’t mean you get to tease us for being single,” Laurance told Zenix.

“You’re just jealous!” Zenix continued to tease.

“Am not!”

The conversation was interrupted by the doorbell ringing.

“Sasha, it’s your turn to get the door,” Gene reminded the grey-haired girl.

“Uhhh, fine.” She didn’t want to but the rotation order for opening the door was decided a while ago. It’d be annoying to fight about it now.

As she walked over to the door she wondered who it could be. They weren’t expecting anyone, none of them had any close friends that would visit unannounced after all. It might be food but she didn't think anyone had ordered anything so that probably wasn’t it.

She opened the door and her attention was instantly drawn to the meif’wa who was absolutely covered in bright pink, from her ears and hair down to the clothing she was wearing. Then she looked over at the woman standing next to her. The startlingly familiar woman had black hair and amber eyes. Who was around the same height as the woman from so long ago. And overall looked like a nearly exact replica that was uncannily similar to the woman who used to be the lord of Phoenix Drop.

If Sasha were a more expressive person she was sure that surprise would easily overtake her features. But she is not an expressive person, so her face remained neutral.

She made sure that her voice would not betray her shock before saying “Who are you?”

The shorter woman who looked weirdly similar to Aphmau spoke up, “We’re your new neighbours. Her name’s Kawaii~Chan and my name’s Aphmau.” Oh dear Irene they even shared the same name. The woman even felt familiar on a more magical level, it was uncanny.

“Nice to meet you. My name’s Sasha” Sasha said, it’d be weird if she didn’t say anything.

Kawaii~chan spoke up before Aphmau could, “Kawaii~Chan and Aphmau-senpai came to bring you a gift basket as a greeting.” What in the world was that? Why was the meif’wa talking in third person? Was this some kind of new trend? She didn’t think it was but maybe she missed it.

Kawaii~Chan was holding the gift basket which Sasha hesitantly took. “Thank you. I’ll give it to my roommates.”

There was a sparkle in Aphmau’s eyes as if she just remembered something. “Oh, we forgot to tell you. We have another roommate, her name’s Katelyn, she has blue hair, you probably won’t be able to miss her if you see her.” Katelyn… that name sounded familiar too. Wait, wasn’t she one of the Jury of the Nine?

Then the sound of a truck rang through the air. It parked in a house diagonal to Sasha’s own.

“Oh! Looks like the front door neighbours are moving in too. Come on Aphmau~senpai, Kawaii~Chan thinks we should say hi to them too.” Yeah, that was weird. It would be memorable at least.

The two walked off and Sasha closed the door. Now how in the world was Sasha going to explain the fact that their new neighbour looked like a carbon copy of someone all of them knew centuries ago? Someone that Laurance and Vylad both cared about too.

Those two probably weren’t going to react well. Well, those two learning about this because they randomly walked into them would probably be worse so she walked back to the group in the living room where the previous bickering had settled down.

“So who was it?” Vylad asked when he noticed that Sasha had returned.

It would probably be better if she gave context instead of just saying it was a woman who died centuries ago. So she began by saying, “Our new neighbours came to introduce themselves and give us a gift basket.”

“Oh, what are their names? We should go thank them later,” Gene said

Well, this next part is not going to be fun. “Aphmau and Kawaii~Chan.”

Chapter Text

“What!?” “HUh-” “The fuck you mean-,” the three that were in the living room shouted simultaneously, making it so that you couldn’t hear one over the others.

“Be quiet you three I can’t explain if you’re all talking over me,” Sasha said, shutting the three up. “Ok, so two of our new neighbours just came to introduce themselves to us. They were both women and one of them introduced herself as Aphmau and looked as well as sounded the exact same as that Aphmau. The other woman called herself Kawaii~Chan and was a meif’wa. She also talked in third person for some reason. That’s all I know, so now let’s discuss civilly and not shout over each other.”

Everyone was silent for a few moments, Vylad was processing all of this and the other two probably were as well. The silence was broken when Gene spoke up, “Oh, well that’s interesting.”

“How are you calm about this!?” Laurance shouted at Gene.

“I wasn’t really close to the other Aphmau. Sure it’s pretty surprising, but it’s not that big of a deal for me,” Gene shrugged, now turning away from his work. Well, that makes sense, at least. It felt unfair that Gene didn’t have to deal with shit like the rest of them, but still. It made sense

Regardless of how annoying that was, Gene had the right idea. It wouldn’t help to react overly emotionally to this information. The first thing Vylad should do is to organise their thoughts. Which meant going over the little information they have.

Ok so first off, there was a woman who looked and sounded the same as the Aphmau from centuries ago that was now living next to them and would probably interact with them. Depending on how similar the two are personality-wise, Laurance and themself might have some… issues with talking to the new neighbour. When it comes to the new Aphmau, that’s about all they know.

Another important piece of information is the fact that someone called Kawaii~Chan was there and was a meif’wa. Apparently, she spoke in third person which is yet another similarity to someone alive centuries ago.

“Hey did the meif’wa have pink hair?” Vylad asked Sasha.

“Yeah. How’d you know?”

Well, the fact that this meif’wa neighbour shared a name, had the same hair colour, and shared the same speaking style was pretty damning evidence. This was slowly shaping itself up to be worse and worse

“Well, this Kawaii~Chan lady probably also looks the same as someone from back then.”

“So that makes two neighbours that look the exact same as people that were alive back then?” Zenix asked, blunt as always but noticeably calmer than his earlier tone.

“Yeah, looks like it,” Gene responded.

Sasha perked up as if remembering something. “They also mentioned that a blue-haired woman called Katelyn was their third roommate.”

“So probably three people then?” Gene amended.

“It’d probably be a safe bet to assume that we’re gonna meet a few other people with the same situation,” Vylad added.

“Fuck,” Laurance said.

Yeah, that’s a fair reaction.

There were so many things that they didn't know about this. Are there more people that look the same as people from back then that they would meet? Would they have similar personalities? Would the personalities be completely different? Which of the two options would be worse?

Oh, dear Irene what if they met a new Zane? Or even worse, Garte? What if this version of Garroth is cruel? Would they be able to deal with that if they met people that looked the same as their family?

Hell, would any of the Shadow Knights be able to? Vylad knows that most of them have some type of issues involving people from back then, Zenix and Sasha were the only real exceptions and even then Zenix might have particularly nasty interactions with certain people based on personality alone.

Zenix lightly put his hand on Vylad’s shoulder. “Are you ok?” Zenix was asked in a tone much softer and more concerned than the usual loud and boisterous voice he normally spoke with.

Yeah, they were fine. They were just panicking. It’s not like there was any guarantee of any of the stuff they were panicking about actually happening anyways. And if any of those things do turn out to be true… then Vylad wouldn’t have to deal with it by themself. It’ll still be an absolute mess to be sure, just not one they’ll be alone in.

Realising that they still hadn’t responded, Vylad nodded their head.

“Well there’s no real point in dwelling on it now,” Sasha said.

Vylad had to admit that Sasha had a point. Focusing on the what-ifs wouldn’t help anyone.

So all of them went back to what they had been doing before the revelation. They spent the rest of the day completely calm and eventually went to sleep when it got late enough (well those of the group that chose to sleep that night did. It’s not like any of them needed it anymore).

The next morning, Vylad woke up around the same time they always did. Zenix had probably already gone to his morning shift at the flower shop. Everyone else was probably already at, or getting ready for their respective jobs.

Meanwhile, Vylad could afford to stay in bed for a little bit longer. The joys of working as a freelance photographer that didn’t have any jobs booked for the day.

They could probably stay in bed all day, though they probably wouldn’t. It’d be boring, and they could do more productive stuff anyways. But before anything else, Vylad did some light exercise to wake themself up a bit more.

When Vylad went down the stairs and reached the bottom, they noticed that it was pretty quiet. Looks like they were right and everyone had already left to work. Well seems they had the rest of the day just to themselves

Vylad decided to eat that morning and went to the fridge, only to be pleasantly surprised when they saw a meal was already prepared there. Upon closer inspection, they noticed that there was a note that read, “Hey Vylad, made this for you in case you wanted to eat when you woke up. -Zenix” Vylad smiled as they finished reading the note and then began to eat the prepared food.

Vylad spent the rest of the morning just relaxing. Especially helpful after the metaphorical bombshell of information they had gotten the day before. No need to worry about the possibility of having to talk to someone that shared a face with a long-dead friend or family member. They can just calm down for the day.

After a few hours, Vylad decided to go take a walk around the neighbourhood. It was around time for lunch too, so they could go to one of the nearby restaurants to eat. Maybe they could get some food for the rest of the Shadow Knights for later. Assuming they would choose to eat of course.

As they got ready to leave the house, they saw someone familiar walking down the street. Someone who had black hair up in a bun. Someone who was wearing a mask that was covering the lower half of his face. Someone who looked eerily similar to Zane and very well could be this time period’s version of the man.

Fuck that. There’s no way they were risking having to deal with that possibility. They could stay inside and order food or something.

Chapter Text

It’s been a few days since the revelation that at the very least, there were modern versions of Aphmau and Kawaii~Chan. And according to what Sasha and Vylad had said, there was a very real possibility the same went for both Katelyn, and much more worryingly, Zane. Although Zane was a much more tentative possibility.

Laurance was still trying to figure out how exactly he felt about this. He had no idea how he might react to seeing old friends of his. Even if he was much better than he was centuries ago, he still knows that his emotions can be particularly… volatile, especially with his Shadow Knight form thrown into the equation.

Sure, the anger he once might have held towards Aphmau may be long gone but that didn’t mean that he didn’t still have a lot of negative emotions surrounding her. That’s not even mentioning the whole slew of emotions he still hasn’t completely dealt with about Garroth. Thankfully, no one had seen him yet, but that didn’t mean that Laurance wouldn’t see a version of the man eventually.

Of course, this assumes Laurance actually interacted with any of the people he’s worried about. He could reasonably just avoid all of them.

Laurance was pulled out of his musings when he heard the doorbell ring. He went to open the door since even though it was Zenix’s turn, he was at work and Laurance was closer to it than Gene. Laurance walked over and opened the door only to be faced by Aphmau.

Aphmau, seeming to not notice the shock that was probably on his face, began the conversation, “Oh! Are you one of Sasha’s roommates?”

“Yeah,” Laurance replied dazedly.

“Well, I guess I can just ask him if Sasha’s inside as well,” Aphmau muttered under her breath.

So she wanted to ask Sasha something then?

“Whatever, my name’s Aphmau. It’s nice to meet you,” she said as she put her hand forward for a handshake.

Laurance shook her hand. “Yeah, nice to meet you too,” Laurance said extremely awkwardly. He was not prepared to deal with someone that looked the same as the person he was once in love with, especially considering he’s not quite sure as to how he currently feels about her. Sure it’s definitely no longer love but he has no idea what exactly it is he feels towards her. The fact that this Aphmau has such a heavy resemblance with the Aphmau from long ago made it hard for him to know how he feels about the current Aphmau.

Guilt and grief at how things actually ended between the two mixed with the joy of seeing an old friend. Even though the person in front of her wasn’t actually his friend… His emotions however, did not care about that particular fact.

He definitely wasn’t going to be able to deal with this alone. Maybe he should just refuse. It might be a bit rude to be sure but he can just say that he’s busy or something.

“Hey Laurance, who’s at the…,” Gene said as he came from behind. “Well hello, who might you be?” he asked instead of continuing his previous sentence.

“I’m Aphmau, one of your new neighbours. I’m guessing you’re also one of Sasha’s roommates.”

“Yep. Name’s Gene. This dolt over here is Laurance.”

“What do you mean, dolt!?”

Ignoring Laurance’s protests, Gene continued speaking to Aphmau, “So what were you coming over for? And what’s with the cake?”

“Oh, the people that live in front of my house are some friends from school that wanted to show me around their house. I thought that maybe I could bring over Sasha to introduce her to them. The cake’s sort of a ‘new home’ gift.” Looking down at the woman’s hands, Laurance noted that she was in fact carrying cake in her arms.

Well, it was nice of her to invite the two, but kind of weird. Aphmau had only met Sasha once, so why would she invite the grey-haired woman to do something that would make more sense to do with those that are already friends, or at least acquaintances to whoever these neighbours were?

Gene seemed to catch onto this as well as he proceeded to ask Aphmau, “Didn’t you just meet Sasha a few days ago? Why would you bring her over to talk to some friends who we haven’t even met?”

“Oh, well I thought it’d be a nice opportunity to introduce her to some friends, plus this would mean if she went over she would know where everything is. It’s just more convenient,” Aphmau rushed out a touch too quickly. There’s no way that’s the truth. Not all of it anyway. “Maybe you two could come with me instead?” Aphmau asked

There’s no way. Aphmau was clearly hiding something. It would be outright stupid of them to accept this under the pretense of such an obvious lie-

“Yeah sure, we’re free today anyways.” Wait what!?

Laurance turned to glare at Gene who had what to most would be a completely normal smile but on him was essentially a shit-eating grin. Oh, that little-

Laurance’s thoughts were interrupted by Aphmau's cheerful response, “Yay! Now come on, let’s go.”

The moment Aphmau turned around Gene started pushing Laurance out the door as he glared at the black-haired Shadow Knight. Gene just had a smile on his face as he continued to force Laurance to follow Aphmau.

“What in the nether are you doing?” Laurance whispered to Gene.

“Oh come on, if she's anything like the Aphmau from back then, then she’s going to get us to meet them eventually. We might as well just get it over with,” Gene responded in the same whispered tone,

“She’s clearly not being honest though,” Laurance retorted.

“Well, that’s just stating the obvious.”

“Then why in the world are we going with her?”

“Well, I doubt she’s gonna try and hurt us. Plus in the worst-case scenario, we could easily overpower both her and most other people she could be with.”

“You’re just doing this to try and force me to actually interact with Aphmau,” Laurance accused in the same whispered tone.

“Yeah,” Gene said, completely unrepentant. Damn sadist.

They were nearing a wooden house with a brown roof that seemed to be their destination. Ugh, why couldn’t this walk be longer? It felt too short, he wasn’t ready to possibly deal with yet another person that shared a face and voice with an old friend.

Well, too late to turn back now or whatever, not that Gene would let him either way…

Laurance felt Gene’s hand squeeze his shoulder a bit. He turned back to face his raven-haired friend who said, “Look, I’m here with you. It’s gonna be ok.”

Well, that is true, Laurance’s not going through this by himself. A small comfort, but a helpful one nonetheless. He knew Gene would let him leave if it ended up being too much for his emotional state.

Aphmau stopped in front of the door and rang the doorbell. She turned around to face the two and said, “Just as a warning, my friends can be a bit much sometimes.” Well, that just gave Laurance the weirdest sense of foreboding.

Soon after, the door opened to reveal another painfully familiar person. This time it was a short guy with snow-white hair who looked almost the exact same as yet another old friend of his. Though perhaps quite a bit shorter than he remembered his friend being. If this situation was anything like the one with Aphmau then his name would be- “Hey Travis!” Aphmau said excitedly.

There it was, the name he was expecting, coming out of Aphmau’s lips.

Travis quickly responded, “Hey, Not alone buddy!”

Laurance couldn’t say that he was ever really close to the Travis of his time. But they were still friends, and Travis was still a fellow guard who protected Aphmau. Regardless of how short the time they worked together as guards actually was.

As the memories swirled in Laurance’s head, the white-haired man turned to him and Gene, seeming to have just noticed the two. “Who are these two, Aph?”

“Oh, these are some of our neighbours. I thought it’d be a good opportunity to introduce you so I brought them. Hope you don’t mind?”

“I’m sure it’s gonna be fine with those two. It’s always nice to meet new people anyways.” Travis turned to the two Shadow Knights and smiled. “I’m Travis, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Yeah, nice to meet you too. I’m Gene and this is Laurance. We live over by that black house over there.” There was an odd tilt to the man’s voice. One that most people wouldn’t notice, but Laurance has known Gene long enough to know when something’s wrong.

“Well, come inside, I’m pretty sure my roommates are getting a few things set up or something,” Travis said as he side-stepped to let them go into the house. Looking around, Laurance noticed the house looked remarkably empty, the only decorations being the generic ones a house would come with.

Travis seemed to notice him looking around as he said, “We still haven’t unpacked most of the moving boxes so it’s pretty empty around here.”

“Where are they?” Aphmau asked

“We sort of shoved all of them in the basement. Out of sight, out of mind and all that.”

“I just shoved all my spare boxes into the closet, not sure what Katelyn or Kawaii~Chan did with theirs,” Aphmau shrugged.

Being unable to relate to the conversation since he’s never really moved in the conventional sense, Laurance changed the subject. “So, Aphmau brought you some cake.”

“Oh, thanks for reminding me,” she held out the cake to Travis, “it’s chocolate, is that still your favourite flavour?”

“Oh yeah, thanks for remembering! Come on, let me take you guys to the kitchen.” Travis began walking to where Laurance assumed to be the kitchen as Aphmau followed behind. Seeing the two walk next to each other really put into perspective how much shorter this version of Travis was. Aphmau had always been short and this person that looked the same seemed to share this trait, but this Travis was barely taller than she was.

Travis turned to face Gene and Laurance once he placed the cake on the kitchen table to talk. “So what brings you around?” Hadn’t Aphmau already explained they were brought over for the sake of introductions? Travis seemed to take note of the very same thing as he instantly backtracked and instead asked, “So how’s your dating lives?” Well that came out of nowhere. Still, it brought a small chuckle out of Laurance. It was nice to know that this version of Travis could be just as awkward around strangers as the one from Laurance’s own time period.

“The two of us are single. Though two of our other roommates are dating each other,” Laurance said.

“Oh! Sasha’s dating someone?” Aphmau asked

“No, it’s our two other roommates that are dating. Don’t think you’ve gotten the chance to meet them,” Gene said, the small hint of discomfort that he had when speaking to Travis no longer in his voice.

“Wait, your house has 5 people? How’d you deal with that?” Travis asked.

“The house has enough space, and we’ve known each other for so long that living together just sort of felt natural,” Gene shrugged. He was trying to keep his voice light and casual but the barely noticeable discomfort was there again.

“So does that mean that this Sasha lady’s single?” Travis asked.

“Yes, but don’t bother flirting,” Gene said.

Laurance was distracted by the sound of footsteps coming up from behind him. He guessed that this would probably be one of Travis’ roommates. Well, he probably wouldn’t have to worry about who it was too much. After all, even if it is someone who looks the same from back then, there aren’t that many people left who he was particularly close with. There’s no way that his luck would end up being that bad.

“Oh, hey Garroth!” Aphmau greeted the person behind him, promptly shattering any and all hope of this not getting more complicated for him. He slowly turned around, desperately hoping that this guy wouldn’t look too similar… And fuck he looks nearly identical. The same blue eyes that seemed to reflect the sky. The same blonde curls that reminded him of fields of wheat on a summer day. The same sun-kissed skin that even seemed to be similarly muscular to Laurance’s version. This version didn’t even have being a guard as an excuse as to why he was that muscular, dammit! Why’d he have to be so similar?

Looking at the blonde's face, Laurance noted that it was tinted scarlet… and directed at Aphmau. Seems there are some things that simply won’t change.

“A-Aphmau,” the man stuttered like a love-struck dork. Well, that just seemed to confirm it for Laurance. Garroth looked at Gene and Laurance, apparently only having just noticed the two strangers standing in his kitchen. “Oh, who are you two?” he asked them.

Aphmau responded before Laurance or Gene could, “These two are some of our neighbours. I invited them over to introduce them.”

“How’d you meet them anyways?” Travis asked.

“Technically she hadn’t met the two of us until today. She introduced herself to one of our roommates a few days ago so she came to our house with the intent of bringing her along.” Gene explained.

“So let me get this straight, you brought two complete strangers to our house, just because you thought it’d be nice to introduce them to us?” Travis asked

“Yep. It’s not like making more friends would be bad for your communication skills.”

“Huh- what’s that supposed to mean!?”

“I’ve seen you try to flirt before, Travis,” Aphmau deadpanned.

“I’m great at flirting!”

“No, no you’re not.”

Garroth, clearly trying to redirect the conversation, said, “Hey, Aph, why don’t I show you around the house?”

“Oh, I’ll order some pizza to go with the cake!” Travis said as he ran off.

At the mention of pizza, Aphmau’s face slipped into a grimace. Gene noticed this along with Laurance and asked, “Why the long face?”

“Eh, last time I ordered pizza, Kawaii~Chan sort of accidentally knocked him unconscious.”

“Now how in the name of Irene does that even happen!?” Laurance asked

“Kawaii~Chan sometimes makes some special cookies for when me and Katelyn have trouble sleeping. She was distracted by him so she accidentally gave one of those to the delivery guy instead of the regular ones so he fell asleep.”

“Well, that’s certainly in character for her. I’m guessing he found the guy attractive?” Garroth said with an annoyingly endearing chuckle.

“Yep.”

So apparently this Kawaii~Chan was some kind of airhead? Laurance couldn’t tell if that rang true with this one’s counterpart. They hadn’t really interacted much after all.

“Well, why don’t I show you around?” Garroth phrased it like it was directed at all three, but by the way he was looking at Aphmau, it was pretty clear he just meant her.

They were taken around the house and shown where the rooms were, Garroth’s and Travis’ rooms were both pretty barren and they didn’t see the final roommates' room since according to Garroth the final man was busy. Laurance had mixed feelings about not seeing him as on one hand it may be a similar situation to Aphmau or Garroth, on the other hand, it may be better to just get it over with. Overall, the house was pretty normal, except for the two sinks in the bathroom. Seriously no one would need that. Ever. It was excessive.

At the end of the mini tour, the group was led to the backyard of the house to find a small hot tub.

“Oh, you have a hot tub?” Aphmau asked

“Yeah, got my dad to buy it for me,” Garroth responded. So it seemed that Garroth's relationship with his dad was actually decent. That’s… nice. This Garroth didn’t have to deal with all the shit he had to go through because of his dad.

“Maybe I could come to try it out sometime? I got a new swimsuit recently and one of my coworkers said that coming out of a hot tub when it’s cold is a really nice experience. Sounds like you’d get sick but it’s still worth trying out,” Aphmau rambled, not noticing that Garroth’s face was progressively getting redder. He threw out some flustered excuse and ran back into the house.

Aphmau turned to look at the doorway with an exhausted look and asked, “Why’d he leave?” Did she truly have no clue about how she flustered Garroth? It’s not like the man was particularly subtle about his feelings.

Gene answered in Laurance’s place, “Pretty sure he got flustered after you started talking about the swimsuit.”

Aphmau just let out a tired sigh but said nothing. The three were interrupted by the sound of someone stepping out of the house. Laurance turned to face whoever came outside to see possibly the worst possible option for who the final roommate was. Laurance turned to look at Gene and saw that his face was carefully blank. Honestly, a pretty decent reaction considering he was now staring at a carbon copy of his now-dead younger brother.

“Hey, Aph, nice to see you again.”

“Hi, Dante.”

“Why’d Garroth run off?” Dante asked.

“It’s not important.”

Dante seemed to let it go as he turned to Gene and Laurance to ask them, “So who are you two?”

Laurance answered in Gene’s place as he wasn’t fully sure the other man would be willing to answer. Dante may have been a close friend of his but at least one he actually got closure with. The same could not be said for Gene’s relationship with the man. “We’re some of your neighbours. Aphmau brought us along to introduce us to you.”

“Well nice to meet you, name’s Dante.”

“I’m Laurance and this here is Gene.”

He turned to Aphmau. “So how have you been?”

“I’ve mostly just been moving everything in, it’s pretty tiring though,” Aphmau responded

“Yeah, I hear ya. It’s exhausting!”

“I’ve actually been looking around the mall to relax and bought some cute posters recently, a few more are coming through the mail.”

“You’ve always loved cute things, huh?”

“Yeah, but can you blame me? They’re just so cute!” Well, that was redundant.

“Well talking about cute things, I have something pretty cute to show you in my room.” Was that flirting? If so, damn that was a smooth transition.

Aphmau turned to Laurance and Gene who had been awkwardly standing off to the side during the conversation. “Do you wanna come see whatever this is too?” Aphmau asked.

“Umm, I think we’ll just stay out here actually,” Dear Irene that sounded awkward. He’ll need to get better at hiding that if he doesn’t want to cause any suspicion.

Aphmau shrugged and walked back into the house with Dante. Laurance turned to face Gene and said, “So how are you holding up after all… that.”

Gene snorted, “I could be asking you the same thing.”

“I’m not the one who had to meet someone that looks the same as his dead sibling.”

“Please, it’s not like the two of us particularly got along back then.”

“We both know your feelings are a touch more complicated than that.” They were Shadow Knights after all, emotional issues practically define their existence.

Before Gene could let out his own retort, the sound of something breaking rang out from in the house. Laurance and Gene both rushed into the house and stopped when they didn’t find anyone injured. It was just Travis and Garroth standing in front of a doorway that Laurance could swear had a door earlier with a disappointed Aphmau and Dante staring at Garroth. Looking around better, Laurance noted that the entire door was on the floor in a way that made it seem like Garroth managed to break down the entire door with his bare hands.

“Were you listening in through the door?” Aphmau said in a disappointed tone.

“Yes…” Garroth said in a sheepish tone.

Aphmau let out a tired sigh and walked out the door frame and stopped in front of Gene and Laurance. “Sorry about that.”

Well now was as good a time as any to leave. “No worries, though I think it’s about time Gene and I leave.”

Aphmau nodded, “Yeah that’s fair.”

With that eventful day done, Gene and Laurance left the house and returned to their own. They had so many things to tell the rest of the Shadow Knights.

Chapter Text

The walk back to the house was tense and quiet for the two. If Gene had to guess he’d say that both of them had the same reason for not saying anything. They were still partially processing the entire experience. Who could blame them in all honesty? Gene had just met someone who looked the same as his estranged younger brother and Laurance met someone who looked the same as his… well Gene didn’t know what to call whatever Laurance and the old Garroth had going on.

Not to mention how weird that Travis guy felt. It’s not something Gene could describe other than the guy just felt off. Like his very magical presence was out of place in the current era, especially as magic in most people had significantly weakened over the years.

He’d definitely have to ask Sasha to try and check that better, she’d always had the best sense when it came to magical things out of all the Shadow Knights. Laurance had the worst sense so he might not have even noticed anything was wrong.

When the two came back into the house, they stood in front of the kitchen table for a few minutes before Laurance decided to break the silence, “So that's gonna be fun to explain to the others.”

“That’s one way to describe how that’s gonna go,” Gene snorted

“Any chance we could find a way to not deal with all of that?”

“By doing anything less than me altering several people’s memories? No.”

Laurance sighed disappointedly, “Thought so.”

Gene let out a small laugh at that but had to agree with the sentiment. Zenix and Sasha would probably deal with these people fine… well maybe not Zenix, who knows how he’ll react. But Laurance and Vylad both have a lot of feelings about Garroth and then there are his own feelings about Dante. Really, the less he thinks about those the better.

Another angle to think about is the possibility of even more people one of the Shadow Knights used to be close to showing up. There’s that potential Zane look alike to think about, and Gene vaguely remembers Sasha having a fiancé at one point so who knows if he’ll show up.

The two stood there for the next few hours, both engrossed in their own thoughts and not paying attention to the world around them. Then he heard the sound of the front door opening and Gene looked over to see Zenix, Sasha, and Vylad walking together.

Zenix seemed to notice that Gene and Laurance weren’t particularly doing well and asked, “What’s up with you two?”

“Well, Aphmau came by looking for Sasha earlier…” Gene answered.

“Why?” Sasha questioned.

“Well she wanted to take you to introduce you to some friends but she ended up taking me and Laurance instead.”

“Oh, that must’ve been hard to deal with,” Vylad winced. “Were the people you met also lookalikes?”

“Yep,” Laurance jumped in.

“So who are we gonna have to deal with now?” Vylad sighed

Time to rip off the bandaid. “Dante, Travis, and Garroth.”

Vylad let out a shocked noise at the news. “What? You’re joking right?” Oh yeah, Vylad said at some point that those three had been close to him. Makes sense he may not be taking it well.

“Just what I said, 3 of our new neighbours are Dante, Travis, and Garroth.”

“How similar do they look?”

“All three look pretty much identical, although this Travis is shorter,” Laurance said. Was this Travis shorter? Gene doesn’t believe he’d ever met Travis so he couldn’t say.

“Did you learn anything else about Garroth?” Vylad asked, digging for information about his brother’s lookalike.

“Well, he probably has a crush on this Aphmau. Also, it looks like he might have a decent relationship with his dad, not sure who his parents are though.”

Vylad nodded at the last piece of information. “So this Garte isn’t an asshole.”

“I mean, Garroth didn’t sound bitter or angry when he talked about his dad so we can assume he’s not horrible.”

“Are we even sure the piece of shit is even this version’s old man?” Zenix asked.

This brought a pause to the conversation, as Laurance and Gene didn’t have an answer for that.

“Even then, we still don’t know how similar these lookalikes are from their counterparts. Other than in physical appearance of course,” Sasha pointed out.

“That… is true,” Laurance said after a bit of deliberation.

“Still, it’s tough to interact with people who look the same as people you once knew,” Gene said, thinking about Dante.

Sasha shrugged, conceding the point to him.

“Anything else?” Zenix asked

“Not really. No,” Laurance said.

“Well, in that case, I’m gonna go upstairs,” Zenix said as he turned around.

“Shouldn’t we keep talking about this?” Laurance asked

Zenix turned his head to look at Laurance before saying, “Not really. It's not like talking about this more is gonna lead us anywhere. Outside of just up and leaving, our options are outright avoiding them, or actually talking to them.” With that said, Zenix went upstairs, presumably to his room.

“Well he has a point,” Gene sighed. There was one thing he wanted to ask Sasha about the new neighbours. Well Travis specifically, but that could be in private, no need to tell everyone else.

Soon enough, everyone else had left upstairs except for Laurance and Gene. “So you’re not gonna mention how you reacted to Travis?”

“So you noticed.”

“I’ve known you for long enough to know when you hide stuff.”

“Look, I’ll look into it myself, it might not even be anything important. Don’t worry about it.” Laurance just looked at him with a deadpan stare. “I’ll tell everyone if it’s actually something worth mentioning, ok?”

Laurance hummed in satisfaction and headed up the stairs.

The next morning, Gene was the first downstairs, as he usually was. He was on the computer doing some work when Sasha came down the stairs. It was early enough that it was still, dark out. The two earliest risers of the Shadow Knights looked at each other.

“Well you’re up early,” Sasha said as she moved toward him.

“No earlier than any other day,” Gene said before taking a sip of coffee. “Could you do a favour for me?.”

“Is it about our neighbours?”

“Yeah.”

“I thought we agreed there wasn’t anything we could do about them?” Sasha asked with a questioning tilt of her head.

“I know but, when I went to Dante’s house yesterday, one of his roommates felt weird to me.”

“In what way?”

“His magic signature was… weird, especially for this era.”

“You sure that he’s not just a warlock?”

Gene shook his head. “No, he felt different to how warlocks and witches feel. His magic felt wrong, not newly-born Shadow Knight or imp wrong, but still pretty bad.”

At this knowledge, Sasha’s face shifted into a more serious expression.

“Eh, I was thinking of checking something out so I might as well.”

“Thanks, Sasha.”

After that, the two just sort of did their own things as everyone else came down. Vylad and Laurance were on the couch, arguing over whether tea or coffee was better. Zenix was still not fully awake so he was just laying on Vylad. Gene looked outside and noticed that it had begun to snow at some point.

“Looks like the first snow of the year happened,” Gene told everyone else.

“I’m not gonna be the one to shovel it all,” Sasha said.

“I can handle doing that,” Laurance said, effectively ending the discussion between him and Vylad.

“I’ll join you,” Gene said as he stood from the table.

“I’ll make something to drink for when you’re done,” Vylad said as they went to the kitchen. Zenix proceeded to fall down and fully lie on the couch. Vylad looked at Zenix and said, “Maybe I’ll get him some tea if there’s any left.”

“There isn’t,” Gene said as he walked past.

Vylad groaned, “Coffee it is.”

Gene grabbed some of the shovels and winter gear that was stuffed in a walk-in closet near the door. He threw a sweater and a shovel to Laurance who caught both of them.

The brunette glared at the sweater in his hand and asked, “Do we have to?”

“Yep, we need to keep an appearance and that involves dressing for the weather.”

“I hate this part of being a Shadow Knight so much,” Laurance sighed as he began to put on the sweater.

“Well too bad, cause we’re Shadow Knights and that means ridiculously high temperatures at all times.”

“Hooray…” Laurance deadpanned

“Now come on, the quicker we get this done, the quicker we can get back to regular clothes.”

The pair went out to do their job in the clothes that were admittedly uncomfortably warm. In the end though, it appeared to only motivate the two to work faster as they were quickly finished with their task and ready to go back inside.

Or they would be if it weren’t for the loud noise that was coming from down the street.

Gene turned to look and saw… a snowball fight? Well, more like a massacre considering how aggressively that black-haired guy was throwing snowballs at Garroth. That was probably Zane, wasn’t it?

He looked at Laurance and asked, “Hey, is it just me or is that Zane pelting snowballs at Garroth?”

“Yeah,” he responded.

Looking to the house in front of Garroth’s, Gene could see Aphmau and who he assumed to be Katelyn laughing as they watched Garroth and Travis be decimated.

“Do you want to deal with that right now?”

“No, not particularly,” Laurance said in an increasingly strained voice.

The two walked back into the house, resolute to absolutely not deal with that other than confirm that they had now seen both Zane and Katelyn.

Chapter Text

Zenix and Vylad were walking around the mall while on a date. The two hadn’t been able to go on one for a few weeks. So Zenix had picked the next day that he was free and had asked if Vylad wanted to go on a mall date. Vylad had accepted, so the two of them went off to the mall.

It was a pretty casual and relatively unplanned thing, just the two going around the mall and talking to each other. Neither of them had dressed up much for it, nothing more than jeans and a t-shirt for him. Vylad hadn’t really dressed up any more than him, they had just decided to put on a bit of makeup (which they looked absolutely amazing in).

The two were browsing through a clothing shop that both Vylad and Zenix happened to like. Normally the two had pretty differing tastes in clothing. Zenix preferred sharp blacks and dark reds in his clothing, small traces of silver from time to time. His prefered clothing style was “tight-fitting, but not uncomfortable”. Vylad, in contrast, had no spoken preference for colour, though Zenix noticed that they tended to drift to more earthy tones of brown and green. The clothing they prefered were those that were more loose and allowed them to move around more.

Currently, the two were looking over a button up shirt that in Zenix’s opinion, was absolutely amazing. Vylad, however, vehemently disagreed.

“Oh come on! It looks great,” Zenix argued.

“But the way the colours mix Zenix!” Vylad argued in return.

“They look great together,” Zenix said with a laugh.

“Just because black and red are used together, does not mean something looks good,” Vylad stressed with fake seriousness.

“Who’s the one that has a job that involves knowing when colours look good together?”

“One, that’s for flowers, a different thing than clothes. Two, I’m a photographer, you can argue I have just as much experience when it comes to that,” Vylad shot back.

Zenix couldn’t argue that last point, so instead he pivoted to a different one, “Well it’s my shirt, not like you’re gonna be the one wearing it.”

“Considering how much we tend to accidentally share clothes? Yes, yes I will at some point.”

He stared at his partner for a few moments. “We both know that us sharing clothes is a lot less ‘accidental’ than either of us act so don’t try that argument,” Vylad kept staring with a determined look in their eyes. “Also that just makes me even more tempted to buy it.” Zenix snatched the shirt and fled to the counter.

“Wha- DON’T YOU DARE!” he heard Vylad shout as they chased after him.

“AHAHAHAHA! I WILL AND YOU CAN’T STOP ME!”

By the time Zenix reached the cashier and slammed the shirt down, the worker just looked quietly resigned. Vylad caught up to him and tried to grab the shirt but Zenix just blocked their way with his larger body.

“Could I buy this shirt please?” Zenix asked in a slightly strained voice as he fended off Vylad.

“... Sure,” the exhausted-looking cashier said in a monotone voice

Zenix struggled to pull out the credit card connected to the most recent fake identity that Sasha had created. Vylad shrieked when Zenix managed to slide the credit card over to the cashier who quickly scanned the tag of the shirt and used the credit card to pay. The moment it was bagged and in Zenix’s hands, Vylad drooped down in an admittance of defeat.

The two walked out of the store, Zenix with a grin on his face, while Vylad had a small scowl. Zenix leaned down and kissed Vylad, the brunette’s mouth perking up as they kissed. “Better now?” Zenix teased.

“Yeah.”

Their moment of peace was interrupted by loud, shrill sobbing. Zenix looked at Vylad who stared back at him. “We’re going to see what that’s about,” Vylaad said, leaving no room for argument.

“Fine by me.”

As the pair walked, Zenix noted how most other people at the mall were keeping a deliberate distance from the origin of the sound.

When they got to where the crying was coming from, they found a bright pink meif’wa crying on the floor. Almost as soon as they got there, someone else came from the other side. Zenix looked at who it was and… wow, the other three were not kidding when they said that this lady looked identical to the Irene lady from years ago.

It was late enough at night that the mall didn’t have many people in it, and the few people who were in the mall seemed to not want to deal with the crying meif’wa.

Not sure if his partner was fully capable of saying anything when faced with someone who looked like an old friend, Zenix decided to start the conversation, “What’s up with her?”

“Some of the salespeople convinced her to buy some stuff she didn’t want,” the lady who Zenix thinks is called Aphmau explained sympathetically.

“Good for them, sounds like they did their job well.” Zenix was promptly elbowed by Vylad. “Ow! What was that for!?” It’s not like Vylad did it with enough force to actually hurt. But it was the principle of the thing.

“Be nice!” Vylad hissed at him before turning to the two ladies. “Sorry about him.”

The meif’wa continued crying, seemingly not paying attention to the world around her. “Kawaii~Chan just wanted to buy a gift for Reese~senpai, but now she used all her budget on things she didn’t even waaant!” she said as she cried. Dear Irene, Sasha hadn’t been joking about how weirdly she talked.

Still, there was something bothering him about this. “So you bought that because the salespeople did a good job at convincing you?”

“Mhm,” she sniffled.

Vylad shot him a look that clearly said they didn’t like where this was going, but he was gonna say it anyway. “Then why are you whining about it?”

“Zenix!”

“What? I’m just saying.”

Vylad sighed, “While I wouldn’t say it as… bluntly as him. He does have a point. It sounds like you just agreed to buy some stuff you didn’t actually want because you were sweet-talked into it. That’s your fault, and there’s no point in crying about it. You’re an adult aren’t you?”

“Ha! Knew you’d see it my way!”

“Hey, there’s no reason to be mean,” Aphmau said as she glared at the two.

“But are we wrong?” Zenix asked as he raised an eyebrow. Seeing how annoyed the tanned woman got whenever he riled her up was always fun… At least for the brief period she didn’t outright hate him.

Before either of the two could say anything to dispute him, however, someone else came into the conversation. “Is there a problem here?” Zenix turned to look and saw someone that was vaguely familiar. He was pretty sure that guy was the High Priest of O’Khasis or something. Zenix didn’t really talk with the guy much back then, he just remembers the man being annoying and not much else. Though he was wearing a guard uniform, he was probably working as a security guard here.

“Why are you asking, Zane?” Wait… Zane, that name sounded familiar. Oh shit. Zenix glanced at Vylad who was completely tense. Zane had been Vylad's brother, hadn’t he? The one with whom he had a horrible relationship with. This might not go over well.

He took a closer look at his lover and noticed how their normally green eyes seemed to be developing the small pinpricks of red all Shadow Knights had trained themselves to see in each other’s eyes.

This might really not go over well.

Zenix moved to subtly grab onto Vylad’s hand behind their back.

“Well as should be obvious, I’m a security guard here.”

At this, Aphmau snorted, “You? A security guard? How do you keep getting jobs you aren’t qualified for?”

“I lied in my job interview, I’m sure my last name didn’t hurt either.” So his family is still fairly influential. That’s a useful tidbit to file away for later. Zenix felt Vylad’s grip tighten. “Now why is this cat girl crying?”

“None of your business. But if you’re so curious, she got sold all this stuff she didn’t want.”

Kawaii~Chan then pulled out a figurine from her bag. “All these pony things. She already has enough, Kawaii~Chan doesn’t need anymore,” the meif’wa continued to whine. Geez, the way she spoke was annoying.

And felt unnatural. Not in what she was saying in itself. (though the whole third person thing was weird) No, what felt off was more in the way she spoke, the delivery of her words.

The moment Zane’s eye landed on the figurine, however, it widened. He started mumbling something Zenix didn’t understand and frankly did not care to understand. Then he moved up to the meif’wa, pulled out cash, and… offered to completely buy them all at the same price they were sold for.

Kawaii~Chan excitedly agreed. “Thank you so much Zane~kun!” She then ran off to somewhere else in the store while Aphmau followed close behind her.

Zane then turned to Zenix and Vylad. “What are you staring at? You’re loitering,” he said with a defensive tone to his voice.

Well now seemed like a good time to leave. Zenix doubted Vylad would be able to continue their date today anyways. The slight paling of of Vylad’s skin added a layer of urgency to the sentiment.

Before he could answer, however, Vylad took a deep breath that restored a little bit of their natural skin tone. Not as much as was probably healthy, but it was better than their state worsening.

“Sorry, we were just leaving,” Vylad said with the distinctly fake politeness that Zenix hated. Then they turned away, dragging Zenix along by the arm.

Once the two were a bit farther away, Zenix whispered, “How are you holding up?”

The lack of response was more than enough of an answer for him.

Chapter Text

Aphmau had no idea how she managed to end up in this situation. All she did was agree to catsit for some old lady because Kawaii~Chan’s schedule had issues. But now she’s stuck as a cat because the lady’s cats were magical and didn’t like her dog taking a spot on the bed.

Now, she has to “spread Catmas Cheer” whatever that means. Also, she’s a purple cat for some reason. Well, now she’d better just try and do that, somehow. Aphmau began walking down the stairs and came across Katelyn frantically running around the house.

“Katelyn, hey, Katelyn!” Aphmau called out.

Katelyn jumped back a bit and screamed, “Gah! A purple cat!”

“Look Katelyn, I need to make you happy because the cats the lady gave us are magical and cursed me-”

Katelyn cut her off, “Shoo! I already have enough to deal with thanks to those other cats.” Wait, Katelyn probably couldn’t understand her. Aphmau probably sounded like a regular meowing cat.

Katelyn began chasing Aphmau around the house and after a brief moment of considering going to the basement, (she ultimately decided not to go in because she refused to be in the same room as that “shrine” for longer than necessary) was chased out the house.

Aphmau turned around and saw that Katelyn had closed the door on her. Well crap. What was she supposed to do now? She had to make someone happy or something, but who should it be? She could go find a stranger but who knows how that would go. So that meant it should be someone she knows. But that left the question of who lived nearby that she also trusted…

Aaron. It was definitely Aaron. Probably the one person that lives nearby that she’d trust with a random stray. Sure there are people at Travis’ house, but she is not sure she fully trusts them with animals.

So after a quick walk to Aarons’s house, Aphmau faced her first hurdle. How was she supposed to get him to open the door? It’s not like she could knock with her small paws, and there was no way she was going to reach the doorbell.

So what was she supposed to do now? So now this meant that she had to find someone else to “Spread Catmas Cheer” towards. Across the street, she saw Laurance walking down the street to his house. If she ran she could probably reach him before he could reach it.

Well, risking it with someone that she had at least met before was better than looking for a complete stranger. Or Garroth and the people at his house.

She rushed down the road and slipped into the house as Laurance was closing the door. Now came the part she had no idea about. To spread cheer. It probably meant to make someone happy, but how to do that?

Well, cute cats tend to make people happy, right? “Ugh, this is gonna be embarrassing,” Aphmau muttered.

Laurance seemed to have heard her as he looked down and saw her. He crouched down and scratched her behind the ears and wow did that feel good. Was this how all animals felt when pet like this? She’s a bit jealous.

“How’d you end up all purple little cat?” he softly asked.

Wait, now’s not the time to get distracted. Aphmau rubbed her head on his hand. Just act cute and make him happy. She can do this!

She heard footsteps coming from deeper into the house. Maybe it was Gene or Sasha, or maybe one of the mystery roommates Laurance had mentioned before. The person speaking came into view and it was… one of the jerks from the mall. Ugh, why did it have to be him? Well, at least it wasn’t the brown-eyed one, that guy was just plain rude. At least this one tried to be polite at first.

Wait, does this mean this guy was one of the other roommates? Damn it, does this mean she had to deal with this guy regularly now? What if the mean one also lived nearby? That’d be even worse.

“Hey, Laurance?”

“Yes, Vylad?” So that was his name.

“What’s up with the cat?”

“Not sure, guess it just sort of wandered in when I came in,” he said as he continued to pet her.

“Ok, why’s it purple?”

“No idea,” Laurance shrugged.

“Ok then.” It was quiet for a moment before someone else started to come nearby.

It was Sasha this time. “Hello- Achoo!” She interrupted herself by sneezing. She sneezed again before looking around and her eyes locked on Aphmau. “Ugh, why is there a cat here? You two know I’m allergic.”

“Oops, guess I forgot. Sorry,” Laurance said apologetically.

“Whatever- Achoo! Just get it out of the house.”

Laurance then proceeded to pick her up and take her outside. He kept holding her for a few seconds as he had a thoughtful look on his face. “You can’t stay with us, but I can’t exactly leave you out here alone…” He perked up after a brief moment. “Oh, I can just take you to Garroth’s house.”

Great… now she’s gonna have to hope someone at Garroth’s house is good with animals. Fun. Well, there’s nothing she can do about it now. She drooped down in Laurance’s hold and waited as she was carried over to the nearby house.

Laurance knocked on the door and soon it was opened by Garroth. She felt the brunette’s hold slightly tense for a second.

“Hey, you’re Laurance, right?” Garroth asked.

“Um, yeah. And you’re Garroth?”

“Yeah,” he paused for a second and looked down at Aphmau. “Why do you have a purple cat?”

“That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about. So I found this cat just now but can’t bring it back because my roommate’s allergic so I thought maybe you could keep it,” Laurance explained.

Garroth’s face grew slightly excited at this but then became confused. “Not that I’m complaining, but why did you come here specifically?”

That was a good question actually. As far as she knew, these two had only met once she introduced them. So why was Garroth his first thought and not an animal shelter or something?

She looked up at Laurance with what she imagined would be an expectant look on her face. He developed a small blush and stuttered out as he pushed her into the blonde’s hands, “No, reason. Bye!” He ran off after that.

Garroth looked at her for a few seconds. “What a weird guy,” he said as he shook his head. “Well let’s get you washed up. Who would be cruel enough to paint a cat anyways?”

Wait what? No no no no no. She is not going to let Garroth bathe her! She struggled to get out of his grasp but couldn’t get out in the end.

So after a particularly embarrassing bathing that she refused to ever think about, she was sitting on the floor of her friend's house. Still stuck as a cat. No progress made in any way, shape, or form.

Now, Dante and Travis were also in the living room and were talking to Garroth about what to do with her.

“So are we keeping the cat?” Travis asked.

“I’m pretty sure it was found with the sweater so I think it might have an owner so probably not. Maybe if the owner passes by they’ll recognize the sweater. If not, we could give her over to the cat lady down the street.” Oh, Irene please no. Aphmau doubts that would go over well.

“Absolutely not. That lady already has way too many cats. She doesn’t care for them properly.” Oh, Dante, thank you so, so much.

“Maybe we could give it to Aphmau? She likes cats and the colour purple,” Travis suggested

“She has a puppy though,” Garroth retorted.

“Right, well the option of keeping it is still there,” Travis responded.

“We’d have to get it spayed in that case,” Dante pointed out.

That’s her sign to leave. There’s no way that she’s gonna let them take her to the vet. She knows full well what happens there and she’s not letting that happen to her. Cat body or not. She quietly ran off to the rooms and saw that inside of Garroth’s room, the window was open. There was a chair near it so as long as she jumped onto the chair, she should be able to leave through the window.

Aphmau ran to the chair and leaped. She landed, a bit wobbly and she nearly fell over the edge. But still, she made it. The jump out the window was easy in comparison. She ran a bit farther to get farther from the house before finally stopping to rest.

“What now? I didn’t even get the chance to act cute in there before they started talking,” Aphmau sighed out between breaths.

“A purple cat?” she heard a deep voice behind her ask.

“Z-Zane?” Great. What now? What’s he gonna do to her?

“What are you doing out in the snow alone?”

“I’d ask the same thing, but frankly I don’t care,” Aphmau said, even though she knew Zane wouldn’t understand.

“You could come home with me. I have warm milk at my place,” he said kindly.

‘H-huh. Is he being nice? Well, going with him is better than a stranger, plus everyone else I know is already not an option,’ Aphmau thought. What was the worst thing that could happen anyways?

Zane started walking somewhere, presumably his house, and Aphmau walked to follow him. A short walk followed, on which she wondered about why Zane was seemingly being nice. Sure, she knew that he wasn’t a completely horrible person… objectively speaking. But still, it’s hard to correlate that jerk from high school that seemed to take joy in making fun of others, with the person in front of her that saw a lost cat and decided to bring it home with him.

Soon enough, the two were sitting on Zane’s couch, The Grinch playing on the TV.

“Feel better?” Zane asked.

Yeah, this was actually pretty nice.

“What not gonna say anything?”

“Meow,” Aphmau deadpanned.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he hesitated for a moment before saying something else, “you know, you’re the first animal to follow me home like that. Telling you to follow me was a joke at first, but you know…” he trailed off. Oh, so this was just a joke. That made a lot more sense. “I never actually had any pets as a kid. Most animals tend to not like me.”

Oh dear Irene this is actually gonna happen. He’s gonna keep Aphmau and get her spayed. She knew this was too good to be true.

“Well, the door’s that way,” he said as he gestured to the door.

What? He’s letting her go? Just like that? Out of nowhere?

“I’m sure you have an owner waiting out there for you somewhere. Plus if I keep talking to a cat like this, people will start thinking I’m like that cat lady down the street,” Zane muttered that last bit under his breath.

So he really is just gonna let her go. Well, he had been really nice to her, even if he thought she was a cat. She wished there was a way to show her gratitude. Then, an idea struck her.

She struggled a little, Zane raised his one visible eyebrow in confusion in the process. But still, she managed to get her cat sweater off and hand it to Zane. Then she immediately realised that it was way too small for him and definitely wouldn’t fit.

“Huh? You’re giving this to me?” Zane asked in a disbelieving voice.

“No, I’m asking you to wash it. Of course, I’m giving it to you! Even if it doesn’t fit…”

“The first gift I get from someone that isn’t family comes from a purple cat. Who’d have thought it,” he said in a shaky voice. Wow, was he really tearing up from this? “T-thanks.”

“You’re welcome, Zane.” Then, with a flash of light, Aphmau felt her body change and realised she was suddenly back to her human self. Thankfully with the clothes she had on before she became a cat.

“Wha- Is this some kind of prank!” Zane demanded in his natural O’Khasis accent.

“Haha, well you see the thing is… Bye gotta go!” She stood up and fled out the door. Still hearing Zane screaming behind her.

Chapter Text

It was now “decoration hell” as Zenix liked to put it. Every time Christmas came around, there was a day in which Vylad strong-armed the group into decorating to an extreme amount... According to Zenix at least. Gene wouldn’t go that far, but he knew what the brunette meant, and that he wasn’t quite serious when he said things like that. At least most of the time. There have definitely been moments in which the decorating process had been… interesting to say the least. The neighbourhood competition was also pushing things though.

Vylad, the most vehement celebrator of Christmas out of all the people that live in the house, was probably the most excited. None of them really cared about the religious connotations of the holiday, none of the Shadow Knight were particularly religious after all. But the holiday was still a pretty personal thing for Vylad, so all of them made an effort to celebrate it anyways.

It was still funny to Gene how what was originally just a small tradition from an extremely small village ended up spreading to a nearly worldwide phenomenon. Well, when the goddess Irene herself spent quite a while living in said small village, it only makes sense the religious masses would adopt at least a few of those traditions. The fact that it ended up being quite marketable probably didn’t hurt it either.

So here he was now, putting up decorations in his house to celebrate a tradition from a village he never even actually stayed in for longer than maybe a few weeks. When he used magic to trick the village of the brother Gene felt he hated at the time to think the black-haired man had always lived there. How did he end up like this again?

“Put those a bit higher,” Vylad said. Ah yes, there’s the reason. He had gone and befriended someone that greatly enjoyed the holiday. Well, it’s not like there’s any harm in helping to decorate. It always tended to put Vylad in a good mood too, so that was a nice bonus.

“Sure thing, Vylad.” Still, he was curious about that thing Zenix had said.

“Hey, could you keep an eye on Vylad for a bit?” Zenix asked as soon as Vylad was out of earshot after the two came back from their date.

“Sure, but why?” Gene asked a little perplexed.

“Not my place to say. Just… can you make sure they’re not doing too bad?”

“... Sure.”

After that, Gene had kept his promise of keeping an eye on the brunette. He’d noticed that Vylad had seemed a little off from time to time. Normally he’d attribute it to exhaustion, but considering what Zenix had said, it may be something else entirely.

Regardless, he’s gonna trust Zenix on this one.

“Anything else you need help with?”

“Help me with the tree!” Laurance shouted from his place in the house. Vylad and Gene shared a look, already having an idea of what happened. They moved over to the tree and saw a sight that confirmed the two’s suspicions. Laurance had somehow managed to tie himself up in Christmas lights. Again.

“Every time,” Vylad mutters.

“Why do we keep letting you put up the lights?” Gene asked

“Shut up and help me out!”

“Ok, on it.” Gene moved to start untangling him. He started with the knot closest to the plug. He started making loops to pass it through. Again, and again… he could barely move it a few inches before he had to make another loop to pass it through. “How did you manage to tangle them this badly?” he asked surprised. This was legitimately the messiest thing Laurance had done to himself when using Christmas lights. What had he done to end up like this?

“While I was putting them up, I noticed one had wrapped around my arm. I tried using my hand to deal with the mess but it got stuck in. Then I tried shaking it off but that made it get worse. So I sat down and tried pushing it off with my feet so… yeah,” Laurance sheepishly admitted.

This was a Shadow Knight everyone! Fearsome demon-like warrior of the Dark Lord Shad and enemy of Irene. Taken down by Christmas lights.

Oh, he could probably still get out if he really wanted to. But that would involve shattering the glass and no one wanted to deal with that. Not the cleaning up, or the insane amount of cuts that would be received. Even with the added resistance to physical pain from immortality, it was still annoying to deal with injuries like that.

“Just sit tight and let us handle it,” Gene said.

“Not like there’s anything else I can do,” Laurance sighed.

“Let me handle it,” Vylad said as he came over and took over untying Laurance.

“Well in that case I’m going to help Sasha with the outside decorations.”

Vylad waved him off as Gene started to walk outside. He put on a thin jacket on the way out and saw that Sasha was done with putting the inflatable and figurine-like decorations outside.

The only thing she had put on for the weather was a scarf and a beanie. The rest of her outfit was the same as usual.

“Need any help over there?” he asked Sasha.

“Help me with the fairy lights please.”

“Ok.”

So Gene began putting up the lights around the house. There’s no way their meagre lights will match up with the actual light show happening in the house across the street (subsequently confirming whoever lived there wasn’t actually dead as Zenix had joked about). At some point, he caught himself humming to a song that had been playing repeatedly at work.

“Damn it,” Gene sighed.

Sasha seemed to hear him and made a questioning noise.

“Got a song stuck in my head.”

“Is it All I Want For Christmas is you?”

“Yeah, I hate this song” Gene said.

“It's what you get for working customer service.”

“Fair enough,” he snorted. The silence continued for a while before Gene walked closer to the sidewalk and asked, “So, any progress on what I asked you?”

“No. Haven’t gotten the chance to look into it. I should have a few more free days soon though, so I’ll try to do that then.”

“Thanks. I know I already told you but I really appreciate it.”

“It’s not a problem. And who knows, it might even end up being interesting,” she shrugged as she continued to set up the lights.

Gene heard something from the direction of Aphmau’s house and turned to look. He was greeted with the sight of Aphmau running around while shouting across the street. Looking over to Dante’s house, he saw Travis doing much the same thing.

It looked like they were putting up decorations..? At a weirdly frantic speed too. A bit further back, he saw what looked like a person walking down the street and stopping in front of houses for a few moments before continuing.

“Say, is that the judge?” Gene asked, pointing at the person he was referring to.

Sasha turned to look at who he was pointing at. “Hmm. Maybe,” she shrugged noncommittally.

As the person got to Aphmau and Dante’s house, Gene began to be able to make out more details. The figure appeared to be around the same height as Aphmau, maybe a bit taller. Their hair was black and pulled into a bun. They gestured towards the house in front of them that had at some point turned on an actual light show. Not just a ton of lights, but an honest to Irene light show.

Well, Gene definitely knew who was winning now at least.

Soon enough, the judge came by his house, finally getting close enough for Gene to be able to recognize who it was.

Zane. It was unmistakably Zane. Even if the blue-eyed man looked a bit different, he was still similar enough to be recognizable.

Zane walked up to the two and looked at the house for a few seconds. “60 out of 100,” he said without any prompting before walking off to the next house.

“Ok that felt weird,” Sasha muttered.

“I mean he was…” Blunt isn’t the correct word, “apathetic,” he tried instead. “But that’s not really weird,” Gene said.

“No, I mean he felt weird. He felt… weirdly familiar I guess? Not just how he looked. It’s something deeper than that but I can’t tell what it is. Aphmau felt a similar way when I talked to her.” She took a moment before sighing out, “Guess I’ll look into that too if I can.”

Great, just great. First, there was that weird magical feeling with Travis and now there was this. Well, looks like things might just begin to get interesting soon. Sasha would be happy about that at least.

Chapter Text

“You get the mail, it’s your turn,” Sasha said.

“But, it was your turn last time yet I did it. So I’m cashing in a favour,” Zenix argued back.

Fifteen minutes. Those two had been at this back and forth, for fifteen minutes. If one of them didn’t just shut up and grab the mail, Vylad was going to snap. They just wanted to read a book and drink some tea, but no. Instead, they had to listen to the two bickering Shadow Knights. They were bickering, because Sasha didn’t feel like doing it, and Zenix just felt like arguing. So it was an entirely pointless argument.

“Well, I still think that-” Screw it. Vylad was getting the mail themselves. Anything to get rid of that argument. Abruptly, they closed the book they had, stood up, and walked outside to get the mail. They found a red letter alongside everything else that is usually in the mail and walked back into the house.

“Got the mail, now look through it,” Vylad said as they slammed it all on a table in front of Sasha and Zenix. Was the slamming necessary? No. Did it feel good to do it, however? Yes, very much so.

Zenix immediately moved to sort through everything and Sasha joined in a bit after him. Vylad opened their book again and continued their previous reading in a much more calm manner.

“Well that’s nice,” Zenix said. Vylad looked over and saw that he was holding that red letter from earlier. “Looks like we’ve been invited to a party at Aphmau’s that’s meant to happen tonight.”

A few hours later and now all the Shadow Knights were standing in front of what they think is Aphmau’s house. They were a few minutes early, it was always polite to show up early, and all of them were fully ready. Physically at least, emotionally that depended on who showed up. Hopefully, Zane wasn’t there, he was the only one Vylad really didn’t want to talk to.

At least they were doing better than Laurance was, who Gene had to fully grab so the brunette didn’t run off. Sasha walked up and rang the doorbell. A few moments later, Aphmau came by and opened the door.

“Hi, thanks for coming to the party-” she abruptly stopped once her eyes landed on Zenix and Vylad. Oh yeah, they didn’t have a particularly good first meeting. Well, this might go to shit.

Gene stepped up to talk, “Hey Aphmau.” He pointed at Vylad and Zenix. “These two are Vylad and Zenix, the other two roommates Laurance mentioned.”

“The ones that are dating, right?” So someone had mentioned their relationship with Zenix before. Well, that’s one explanation out of the way.

“Yep, we’re dating. Sorry about before, by the way,” Vylad said.

“I’m not,” Zenix said. His foot proceeded to be stepped on by Vylad.

“Oh? You’ve met already?” Gene asked

“We met in the mall a few days ago, we had a bit of a… talk, with my friend.”

“I still think we were right,” Zenix muttered.

“Shut up,” Vylad quietly hissed. Even if they were arguably correct, they were still guests. Zenix should at least be polite.

“Sorry about them, they’re idiots. Mind if we come inside?” Sasha said.

“Yeah, you can come. Thanks for showing up!” Aphmau perked up now that she wasn’t talking to Zenix or Vylad. They internally winced at that, having an old friend have a noticeably negative reaction to them hurt more than they thought it would.

Vylad walked to the main room, where everyone else seemed to have already settled themselves in. It didn’t sound like anyone else was in the house, so their group was probably the first to arrive.

Vylad looked around the room and took notice of the fact that the room wasn’t particularly interesting. Not that they had much room to talk, the living room at their house wasn’t interesting either after all. Just that the living room was pretty bog standard. It had a television, a table, and a few places for people to sit down. Exactly what you’d expect from a living room and nothing more.

Looking at the area that led to the dining room, however, something caught his eye. Mistletoe. Well, they couldn’t not take advantage of it. They walked over to the other side of the mistletoe and called Zenix over.

“So what’d you need?”

“Look up.”

Zenix looked up and a smile came across his face. “Well, rules are rules.” He leaned down and kissed them. When the brown-eyed man leaned back, he had a self-satisfied smile on his face.

“Aphmau~senpai! Have the first guests arrived?” a voice said from up the stairs. Oh, that voice could only be one person. Hopefully, she wouldn’t be too angry about what happened at the mall.

“Yeah, can you come downstairs and greet them?” Aphmau said.

“Of course Aphmau~senpai!” the pink meif’wa said as she came down the stairs. Her face seemed to fall once she saw them and Zenix. “Oh… you’re some of the guests?”

“What? Disappointed?” Zenix asked.

“No. Of course not! Kawaii~Chan was just… surprised.” Well, that was a lie. At least the lady was trying to be polite.

“You can just say you don’t like us.” Why was Zenix like this?

“Sorry about him,” they said. “His name is Zenix and I’m Vylad. It’s nice to meet you properly.”

“Yeah,” Kawaii~Chan said, still uncomfortable. “Aphmau~Senpai, Kawaii~Chan feels like she should go help Katelyn~Sama.” And before getting a response, she rushed back upstairs.

“What’s up with her?” Laurance asked.

“I’ll tell you later,” Vylad said. They could already tell this situation would absolutely suck to deal with.

They went back to sit and talk with their friends and soon enough the next group of people arrived. Aphmau went to get the doorbell and greeted the person on the other side.

“Oh, hi. You’re Michi, right?” Aphmau greeted the person at the door. Michi, huh? The name also sounded familiar. Maybe they’d remember who it was after seeing this mystery person.

“Yep. Now move aside.”

“Sure…” Aphmau said, with faked politeness.

Vylad looked around at their friends and stopped once they saw the expression on Laurance’s face. The man on the chair had an expression that could only truly be described as utter horror.

The newest guest came into the living room with a confident gait, allowing Vylad to see who it was. It was a purple-haired meif’wa with tanned skin. Definitely someone familiar, but not in a way that Vylad can quite place.

The mystery meif’wa walked up to Laurance and leaned down slightly. “Hey, hot stuff. Who might you be?”

“Laurance.”

“Well, Laurance~. How about we go somewhere and… talk a bit,” she said with a wink and leaned ever farther down, so much so that her chest was only a few inches away from touching Laurance.

“Not interested,” Laurance said as he nudged himself farther away in a practised apathetic tone. Vylad recognized that tone. This could very easily go wrong if Michi didn’t back off.

“Aww come on cutie. I promise it’ll be fun,” she said in a sultry voice.

Yep, that definitely had to be stopped before it escalated into a bad situation.

“Come on, he already said he wasn’t interested,” Vylad said once they saw the twitch in Laurance’s eye.

“Ugh, who are you supposed to be?” she scoffed.

Aphmau came into the conversation before they could respond, “Michi, he already said he wasn’t interested. Leave him alone.”

The meif’wa rolled her eyes and walked off.

Aphmau turned to the group with an apologetic look on her face. “Sorry about her. That’s Michi, she’s Kawaii~Chan’s coworker. Pretty sure she went to high school with us too.” She stopped talking for a few seconds before restarting with, “Why don’t I show you around the house?”

None of the Shadow Knights had any reason to deny so they agreed. “Up the stairs are our rooms, so we won’t be going over there.” They started going through the area that didn’t have the mistletoe hanging off of it. They saw the bathroom and garage, but Aphmau hesitated in front of the basement door. “It’s sort of a mess down there. Best we don’t go.” Aphmau quickly walked past without giving the group a chance to say anything.

Then they went through the small kitchen where they spotted a small tray of treats on the table. Then, to the dining room. Neither were particularly remarkable, even with Aphmau’s input throughout. Outside the door leading to the yard was Michi, just lounging around on the wooden platform.

“Well, that’s the entire house,” she was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. “And that’s my cue to greet some more guests. Hope you enjoy yourselves,” she said before running through the area with mistletoe. The Shadow Knights returned to the living room (though not before they and Zenix could share another kiss below the mistletoe) and found that the group to arrive had been the people living with Garroth.

“Hey, guys! Glad you could make it,” Aphmau said, her voice a lot happier than with Michi.

“We would’ve gotten here earlier if someone took less time getting ready,” Dante said while not so subtly side-eyeing Travis, who looked entirely unrepentant… He really was shorter than the one from back then. Laurance and Gene weren’t kidding, the height was sort of an off-putting contrast.

“What can I say? Perfection takes time.” He looked around at the Shadow Knights and stopped at Sasha who was looking at him in a way that could only be described as analytical.

Travis misinterpreted the look or something like that since he walked up to her and said, “Hey cutie, the name’s Travis. Now is it hot in here or is it just you?” he said with a wink and finger guns.

“Must be your imagination. Get you some ice to cool yourself off,” Sasha said with a completely blank face and a bored tone, apparently finding more interest in twirling a few strands of hair.

Vylad had to hold in some laughter. Dear Irene, that was an ironic line. Zenix, however, had no such reservation and had started full-blown cackling.

“What’d I tell you?” Gene said in an amused voice.

“Oh, shut up,” Travis whined. He turned to them and Zenix. “So what are your guys’ names?”

“Not a guy. I use they/them pronouns,” Vylad said offhandedly. Now hopefully no one would be an asshole and make a fuss over it.

“Oh, sorry about that,” Travis said apologetically before turning to Zenix. “So what about you?”

“I’m Zenix. I use he/him. Same for everyone else in my house except Sasha and Vylad.”

“He/him for everyone in my house,” Travis said.

“And she/her for every one in mine,” Aphmau cut in.

“Well now that we have that out of the way, what about some actual introductions?” Dante suggested. “Name’s Dante.”

“And I’m Garroth, it’s nice to meet you three.”

“Likewise,” they said.

Vylad finally turned to fully face the man that looked like their brother and felt something in the crack. They were lucky they’d been told of just how similar the two men were, because if they hadn’t… Well Vylad wasn’t sure if he’d be able to handle all the similarities without warning.

The same blond hair, the same blue eyes, the same skin tone and even general build of body. It felt unfair, why the hell did all these people get to look so similar to all those people from the past. To all of their friends and family.

Why after so long? Why did they even have to see these people? Why’d they have to show up when the Shadow Knights had been living in that house for well over a year and moving somewhere else out of nowhere would raise too many questions?

Vylad didn’t even notice their vision begin to go red as their thoughts swirled in a cacophony of-

whywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhy

Suddenly, Vylad felt Zenix grab their arm and shoot them a veiled, concerned look. The anger and grief that they felt they were drowning in and burned by. They took a small breath and released, feeling the last remains of that… emotion, wash away. Or at least be buried deep enough it wouldn’t be an issue for that night.

It appeared Vylad had an even worse handle on their emotions when it came to family than they thought they would. They turned away from the lookalike of his eldest brother and back to Zenix, maybe it’d be best to not interact with Garroth. As much as they could help anyway.

Aphmau brought out some soda after that and they all mostly remained silent after that. Both of the small groups mostly just kept to themselves.

After a few minutes, Dante spoke up, “How about we get to know each other better?”

“And how do we do that? Play a game?” Sasha said.

“Yeah, more or less. Ever heard of ‘Never have I ever’?”

“We’re not in high school, Dante,” Garroth said in an unimpressed tone.

“Of course not. This time we have alcohol.”

“You’re not getting drunk right after getting here, Dante,” Aphmau said.

“Aw come on,” he whined

“Dante,” she warned.

“Fine, fine,” he said as he held his hands up appeasingly. “Still think we should play though.”

“Sure,” Aphmau said warmly.

Vylad could feel themself smile a bit. They could swear that for a moment they saw flashes of their own Aphmau and Dante happily talking to each other. Even if they didn’t feel it was safe to join in, maybe just watching would be enough to assuage those emotions.

They started the little game and it was kind of boring. They had all agreed on telling some stories if asked but still, it wasn’t that interesting. Sure, they learned superficial things and they absolutely had something they could use as a conversation starter for most everyone. All the Shadow Knights lied for a few questions, mainly because there was no way to answer those without raising questions they couldn’t answer, but again, nothing truly interesting. Some lied more than others (Gene).

Travis said his next statement, “Never Have I Ever had a one-night stand.”

Aphmau, Dante, Sasha, and Laurance all immediately put a finger down without hesitation.

“Aphmau?” Garroth asked nonplussed.

“College,” Aphmau shrugged.

“I feel like I should be more surprised about Sasha but I’m not,” Gene muttered. Vylad felt much the same way.

“It was before we all started living together,” Sasha offered as an explanation. So it was at some point before the living Shadow Knights all reunited after the final battle between Shad and Aphmau. Well, not really any of their business.

Then Laurance said, “Put your damn fingers down you two,” while gesturing to Zenix and Vylad.

What in the world did he mean…? Wait a damn minute. “That doesn’t count!”

“Oh yes the fuck it does.”

“Actually… it probably would, wouldn’t it?” Zenix said as if thinking out loud.

“Don’t agree with him!”

“I feel like we’re missing something here…” Travis said.

“How about I tell you all the story of how Vylad and Zenix got together,” Laurance said.

“Ugh. Fine,” they groaned. Did he have to do this in front of Garroth of all people? He wasn’t the same person, sure. Still, it didn't mean it felt less awkward.

“So for context, these two might’ve been the first to meet before the rest of us all met up together. Surprisingly, they didn’t get along at all. Now to start the story, me and Zenix were living together by ourselves for a little bit and we came across Vylad. Me and Vylad actually were sort of friends so I offered them the chance to live with us for a bit.” Ugh, the next part was- “Now, I didn’t expect Vylad and Zenix to outright antagonise each other. I thought things would be awkward but mainly civil, well civil by Zenix’s standards anyways. What I did not think would happen was for them to use frustration as an excuse to fuck, which they did for a while. Loudly-”

“Dammit, will you not let that go? It was years ago,” Zenix interrupted.

“No. Anyways they continued like that for a while before eventually growing to actually like each other and then start dating,” Laurance finished.

“Well now I’m just disappointed I didn’t hear that story sooner,” Gene said.

“So you two got together because you two were horny? Nice,” Dante said approvingly. Ok, that just felt weird. Seeing Dante of all people act so casually about sex stuff was sort of offputting.

“Absolutely. And I don’t regret it either,” Zenix stated proudly.

Vylad couldn’t say anything about that, it’s not like they didn’t feel the same way. Before the game could continue, the doorbell rang.

“Oh, I have to go get that. Please enjoy yourselves,” Aphmau said before walking to the door.

“So no one’s gonna question why Laurance lowered a finger?” Garroth asked

“We already knew he slept around a few years ago,” Sasha said.

“Eh, I’ve calmed down since back then,” Laurance said.

“No, it’s just that no one wants to sleep with you and you use how Vylad an I got together as an excuse to whine about not getting laid anymore,” Zenix goaded

“Shut the fuck up,” Laurance said as he looked like he was ready to jump on Zenix. Though the smile he sported was noticeably not angry.

Gene jumped in between them. “Ok, calm down now,” he said placatingly.

“It’s not like I’d actually hurt him.”

“I know that. But Zenix would try to start a fight and we’re not doing that in someone else’s house.”

“I would,” Zenix confirmed, not a shred of remorse in his voice.

Laurance rolled his eyes and walked back to his previous spot while muttering, “Still don’t get why only I get teased like that.”

As he said that, the guest that Aphmau greeted walked into the room, and Vylad could not keep their eyes off this person. Their skin was bright pink, how was this person’s skin pink? Where the fuck did this pink-skinned person come from? The hair was pink too, was it a theme or something? At least the eyes weren’t pink, they were blue.

Vylad distractedly continued to listen to the conversation happening around them. “Gene isn’t even interested in sex stuff,” Zenix said.

“What about Sasha?” Laurance asked.

The aforementioned woman just turned to him with an expression that made a shiver run down Vylad’s own spine.

“Fair point,” Laurance muttered.

“Plus, don’t act like you yourself can’t be just as bad with him sometimes,” Gene reminded, calling back to previous instances where Laurance ragged on Zenix.

Then someone else came in, this person looked like what Vylad could only describe as a pirate. He had an eye patch, an old-timey wooden mug (geez people still used those?), and even the Santa hat he was wearing looked like a cartoonish pirate hat. Now that they were looking again, the pink person (who was now talking to Dante) was also wearing a Santa hat.

Seeing any Santa-related things always felt weird. They had no idea how that little habit of theirs got that famous, or even how the modern view of Santa spread that much. They didn’t even wear that much red for crying out loud! And they absolutely didn’t look that old either.

Then yet another person who presumably came with the pink person (who was named Reese and presumably a guy based on some of Dante’s comments) came into the living room. This one was blue. This person’s skin and hair were both blue. Just straight up blue. Nope, they weren’t gonna question that. The migraine was not worth it.

Aphmau came back to the main room and up the stairs with an annoyed expression on her face. They could see her talking to Kawaii~Chan through the glass balcony next to the stairs. The meif’wa looked a bit frantic with her body movements, while Aphmau just shook her head exasperatedly.

Vylad tuned back to the conversation happening around them.

“So why are you blue?” Zenix asked the blue person. “Same goes for you, pinky,” he directed to Reese. Well, leave it to Zenix to ask questions bluntly. Not that there was really a more subtle way to ask that particular question.

“Well, it’s a bit of an interesting story actually-” Reese began to say before being interrupted by the doorbell ringing yet again.

Deciding that one of the others could fill him in on the pink skin situation, Vylad went to the front door, giving an excuse as he left. Once they got there, they saw a familiar red-haired woman moving up the stairs. They knew that she was dating Dante at one point, she might’ve been the mother of Dante’s… son? Though that part was harder to remember. Her name was Nicky? Nicola? Something like that at least.

“What in the world are Katelyn and Kawaii~Chan doing,” Aphmau muttered.

Aphmau turned to him with a small smile on her face that became more surprised when she spotted them. “Oh, hi Vylad. Didn’t see ya there. Why aren’t you with everyone else?”

“Got a bit too crowded for my tastes. New people can be nice and all, but sometimes they’re too much.”

“Yeah, I get that,” she said with a nod. “Well, the cookies should be about ready now, you can come get first pick if you want.”

“Actually, mind if I help you give them out?” Vylad suggested.

“You’re a guest. You shouldn’t be doing that type of stuff.”

“It’s not like I’m doing anything. Also, I kind of feel bad about the mall,” Vylad admitted.

“Well if you insist. Thanks.”

The two headed to the kitchen and began taking out the cookies from the oven. They were waiting for them to cool down when Aphmau said, “Sorry the cookies weren’t ready before you got here. I wanted them done earlier but me and the girls were in a bit of a rush.”

“Eh, it’s not really a problem, and they look ready so don’t mind if I do-” they said as they grabbed a cookie. They bit into it and were a bit shocked at the taste.

“You made these? They’re pretty good.”

“Thank you, but it was actually Kawaii~Chan who made them. I can bake a little, but not as well as she can,” Aphmau said.

“Well, I’ll have to compliment her when I can.”

“Yeah, she’s great at this type of stuff,” she said with a hint of pride in her voice.

“Actually, talking about Kawaii~Chan… I really do feel bad about the mall thing. We… probably shouldn’t have been that rude to her.”

Aphmau sighed, “Look, I appreciate it. But you should apologise to her instead of me.”

“Fair enough. No promises about Zenix apologising, but I’ll see if I can get him to play nice.” Their lover’s bluntness was one of his best traits in their opinion, though it didn’t always mix well with apologies. A questionable trait when it came to interacting with strangers.

“Well, thank you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I'll hand these out.”

She picked up the cookies and moved to the dining room. In which the pirate guy was dancing on the table, Michi was cheering him on, and the blue guy was trying to get the pirate person down.

Shockingly, the alcohol didn’t appear to have spilled anywhere.

Vylad heard a door open and looked over to see Katelyn and the red-haired girl go down into the basement. Aphmau said it was messy, they should probably just tell her Katelyn is down there and leave it alone. It’s not even their house, it’d be rude…

They quickly moved down the basement stairs while no one was looking. There was something that Aphmau didn’t want anyone to see and they wanted to know what that was.

They stealthily moved around the basement, careful as to not be seen by the two women. At first, they didn’t find anything out of the ordinary, just the expected boxes and shelves. Then they went to the opposite end of the basement and hid behind some boxes to hide. What they found there could hardly be described.

What was there looked like some sort of… shrine? It was small, and the word didn’t quite fit, but it was the first word that came to mind. The shrine was full of pictures, most likely printed (though one or two looked like they were hand drawn) of Aphmau next to… SHAD!?

But that didn’t make sense! Why would this Aphmau have that many pictures with someone who looked identical to the Irene forsaken Shadow Lord?

…Unless this person wasn’t identical to the Shadow Lord Shad, and was instead the person who became his vessel. That idea was a touch more likely. Though that just makes Vylad question where exactly this person (Aaron?) was.

“Oh damn, what is this?” the redhead asked.

“You know how Kawaii~Chan gets weirdly invested in other people’s relationships? This is the result,” Katelyn snorted. Does that mean that Aphmau and Aaron are dating in this time period? Actually, ignoring that, this is really fucking creepy.

“Pfft. Does Aphmau know about this?”

“Yeah and she HATES it. Pretty sure she finally managed to convince Kawaii~Chan to take it down recently.”

“Well good for her.”

“Yeah, I know right,” Katelyn said with a laugh. “Thanks for getting me out of my room Nicole. Really needed a laugh.” Vylad could hear the sound of someone rushing down the basement stairs. With the way everything around them was set up, unless this mystery person passed next to them, they shouldn’t be seen.

“No problem! What are friends for, you know?” Nicole responded. Then a mischievous look crossed her face. “Though if it’s gonna be taken down, wouldn’t it be better to conserve a memory with a picture?” The mystery person from before came behind Nicole and Vylad saw that it was Aphmau.

Katelyn then got this feral grin on her face and Vylad couldn’t help but think that she might get along with Zenix. “You read my mind.” She ran forward with her phone out as Nicole turned around.

“See? Told ya I could get her out of her room. Now, why don’t you go lock it before she can shut herself in again?”

“Fine, not like I’ll be the one she gets mad at anyways,” Aphmau chuckled.

Aphmau walked back up the stairs and that was Vylad’s cue to do the same… Though not before snapping a quick picture with their phone of the shrine through the spaces in the shelves.

Vylad came back upstairs and found that the people there had greatly dispersed. Of the men that lived with Garroth, only Travis could be seen. Sasha and Laurance also appeared to be gone, leaving only Travis, Zenix and Gene in the living room.

Vylad went and sat down next to Zenix, who momentarily stopped the conversation to ask them:

“Where were you?” curiosity was clear in his tone.

“Figured out why Aphmau wanted us out of the basement.”

“Oh? Do tell,” Gene said.

“It’s actually really weird. See, the thing is-” they were interrupted by the sound of Aphmau and Laurance frantically going down the stairs.

The two were about to run into the dining room, actually if they continued like that they’d end up under the mistletoe.

Then, before the pair could end up under mistletoe, the sound of hissing rang out as Kawaii~Chan no less than fully leaped down the entire flight of stairs and pushed Laurance back.

What the actual fuck?

Chapter Text

Sasha was beginning to understand why Gene wanted her to check on Travis’ weird magic signature. It felt entirely average on a surface level, but only on a surface level. Hidden deep beneath the initial impression, was a spark of magic that should not be there.

The innate spark, or aura that resides in all sentient beings. The closest thing to a soul that can really be perceived to those with magic nowadays. It was like a signature, unique to the individual that was invisible to most. The only way to truly notice it was by magic perceptiveness.

Travis’ magic signature was distinctly not human. Not to the same extent as the Shadow Knights, but far too similar to be human. The Shadow Knights’ own signature felt rotted, like something that was once vibrant was beginning to break down. Travis had a hint of that rotten feeling, though it was much more hidden away.

The fact that whatever made the white-haired man’s signature feel hidden away was suspicious in and of itself. Sasha was potentially one of the few still living beings with a truly powerful perceptiveness for magic. And yet she had to actively search for whatever was wrong with Travis to actually find it!

It was no wonder that Gene felt so unsettled by it, he would know enough to be able to tell something felt off but not what that thing was.

It was one of the most intriguing things Sasha had encountered in a good long while. Then there was the other thing she discovered, this one by accident.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of people going down the stairs. She looked over and saw Katelyn and the red-haired woman from before walking down the stairs.

The pair went behind the stairs and moments after that Dante and Garroth shared a look and stood up.

“Where are you going?” Laurance asked.

“We’re gonna go look around Katelyn’s room,” Dante said while Garroth nodded.

“Why?” asked Laurance.

“She hit us with snowballs really hard and now we’re gonna mess with her. Wanna join us?” Dante answered.

“Sure…” Laurance said hesitantly.

“I’m going too.” Sasha wanted to see what more she could tell about the other thing she found.

Laurance shot her a questioning look but dropped it once Garroth agreed and began going up the stairs. Sasha followed and tried to focus more on Garroth and Dante’s signatures.

She could technically be doing this with a few other people but the two men were the closest so she chose to follow. Their signatures felt odd in their own way, not to the extent that Travis’ signature was odd. In fact, both signatures were unremarkable, not having any odd feelings to them.

She and the Shadow Knights were probably the only people who might think something was off. Sasha herself hadn’t noticed it until she began focusing on Travis’ and noticed the two on accident. Both of the signatures just felt… familiar. Everyone had a distinct feeling to their magic, and never in her life had Sasha ever felt any two types that were that similar. The weirdest thing was why it felt so familiar.

The magical signatures of the men in front of her were nearly identical to their respective counterparts from long ago. The feeling was pretty uncanny. As far as her memory served, the feeling of their magic only had some minute differences between the two doubles.

The original Garroth’s had felt like a shield of some sort, a barrier whose purpose was to keep dangerous things away. The magic of the one in front of her didn’t quite feel like that, it was no less defensive but not as specialised as a shield. Perhaps a wall would make for a better analogy?

Which should not be possible. A person’s magic was practically an imprint of the soul. For two people to feel that similar, their souls would need to be equally similar. There may be similarities on a more surface level but that’d be it. A deeper look would reveal a great number of differences.

But not with the people in front of her.

Which admittedly brought out a few implications that Sasha would be particularly interested in discussing with the group. Regardless, she wanted to see what more she could find out about this little mystery.

She was actually getting excited by this. It’s been a while since something interested her this much.

Once the small group got upstairs, Sasha could see that there were three rooms as well as a bathroom. Of the three rooms, one’s door was open and Dante and Garroth entered it.

Laurance and Sasha were quick to follow inside. The room was painted a soft beige and was decently sized. Well, decently sized for one person anyways, with four it felt a little cramped. The room didn’t really have much. There was a bed, a desk with a laptop on it, and a punching bag off to the side with boxing gloves resting on the ground next to it. There was a closet door and a few posters for shows Sasha vaguely remembered hearing about.

Overall, it was a pretty normal room. Nothing stood out in any particular way.

“Well, looks like there’s nothing here. Let’s go back down,” Laurance said.

Dante chuckled and said, “Oh you naive boy. We still haven’t checked…” He moved to the closet doors and opened them. “The closet!”

The closet just had the expected clothes, though hidden behind them was another poster. A part of Sasha wondered why this specific one was hidden but it was just a poster. It was probably nothing important or interesting anyways.

Instead of closing the doors after not finding anything like Sasha expected, Dante started laughing and Garroth pulled out stickers of what looked like Zane’s face..?

“Are those stickers of that neighbourhood watch member's face?” Laurance asked.

“Yeah, he’s my baby brother so I have enough pictures I can make stickers of,” Garroth said.

“That doesn’t explain why you have the stickers though,” Sasha pointed out.

“He says it’s just in case his mom asks for them but it’s really so he can tease Zane with them,” Dante said.

Laurance just nodded like it was completely reasonable to carry stickers of one’s sibling for the sole purpose of teasing. Sibling relationships were weird.

Garroth and Dante moved to put on some stickers on the poster while Laurance moved closer to get a better look. Meanwhile, she just leaned on the opposite wall and crossed her arms. Standing back and watching it sounded more fun anyways.

Sasha heard someone coming up the stairs and tilted her head to see who was coming. If it was Katelyn then it might be fun to see how she reacted.

However, the person to come into the room wasn’t Katelyn but Aphmau instead. Sasha quickly took a look into the olive-toned girl’s magical signature to see if she found the same thing she found in Garroth’s and Dante’s.

What she found was yet another hidden oddity. Initially, she had only thought it was a surface level similarity and nothing more. But now that she’s taking a deeper look, she’s noticing that Aphmau’s magic felt special in a completely different way.

It felt like the woman’s soul was a cross of the old Aphmau’s while certain aspects felt entirely new and unique. Yet neither part felt out of place, it was completely natural. The magic signature felt like a cross between what was going on with Garroth and Dante’s signatures, the uncanny similarities. As well as the unique and distinctive signatures she’d feel from most other people.

That made three incredibly odd signatures that she felt in a single night. Interesting.

Aphmau saw what the guys were doing and promptly freaked out.

“Oh my Irene!” Aphmau screamed as she rushed over to the closet, pushing her way through the group of men. “Shit. Shit. Shit. Katelyn is gonna be so pissed when she finds out.”

“Is there anything we could fix it with?” Laurance asked

Aphmau closed her eyes, began pacing and bit her thumb. Laurance held a shocked expression at the short woman’s action.

Before Sasha could question the action, Aphmau stopped and snapped her fingers. “The kitchen! There should be some rubbing alcohol in one of the cabinets.

“I can help you look for it if you want,” Laurance offered.

“Thanks, follow me. We need to clean it before Katelyn comes back and notices the poster. Garroth, Dante, take off the stickers.”

“Yes ma’am,” both the aforementioned men said sarcastically. Still, they did begin to take off the stickers.

Aphmau and Laurance rushed out the room and Sasha walked out after the two. They were going down the stairs and if they’re going to the kitchen…

They’ll probably pass under the mistletoe. That’ll be a fun thing to tease him about later. Not that Zenix won’t do it first but she can always join in.

Before that could happen, however, Kawaii~Chan walked out the door and looked down the stairs. Then at that moment, the meif’wa pounced and jumped on/shoved Laurance onto the floor.

“WHAT THE FUCK KAWAII~CHAN!?” Laurance shrieked.

“No one gets in the way of Kawaii~Chan’s ship!”

“What are you talking about?” Laurance asked as he struggled to get the meif’wa off of him.

“You were about to go under the mistletoe with Aphmau~senpai!” she accused.

At this point, Dante and Garroth had come outside and were also looking at the commotion happening at the bottom of the stairs.

“What happened?” Dante asked.

“Laurance nearly got himself and Aphmau under the mistletoe-”

“Oh no, he won’t!” Garroth rushed down the stairs as well.

“-on accident.”

“So now Kawaii~Chan and Garroh are gonna freak out about it?” Dante asked.

“Looks like it,” Sasha shrugged.

“They are so immature,” Dante chuckled.

“And you’re more mature than them?” Well, that lined up with what she knew of the old Dante.

“Of course, ladies are into mature men after all,” he said with a wink.

Or maybe he’s not as mature as he thinks he is.

“What? Planning to charm Aphmau?”

“Pfft. Nah, Garroth’s liked her for a while and I don’t wanna get in the way of that. Plus seeing him blunder around like that is fun.”

Kawaii~Chan had gotten off Laurance and was scowling at him. Laurance was glaring right back while Garroth and Aphmau looked like they were trying to placate the two.

“Well, it looks like things are calming down over there,” Sasha said

“Yeah, guess we should probably get down before Katelyn comes into the room,” Dante mused.

So without another word, Sasha walked down the stairs and heard Dante do the same behind her,

“I am so sorry about the mistletoe,” Laurance groaned, as he turned to face Aphmau.

“It’s fine. It was an accident,” Aphmau waved off.

She seemed politely ignoring Kawaii~Chan’s dirty stare and the awkwardness it was probably causing Garroth. Laurance in contrast was decidedly not oblivious if the look in his eyes when he glanced at the pink-haired woman meant anything.

Everyone around the group was saved from the atmosphere that debacle was creating by the sound of the doorbell.

Aphmau walked over to the door and opened it, revealing the orange-haired person that was standing behind the door. She had long hair that was nearly covering one of her scarlet eyes.

Sasha moved to the hallway entrance to see the person more clearly, but couldn't remember if the ginger in front of her looked similar to anyone from the past. Regardless she checked the magical signature and noted it had much stronger magic than most people did. Though strong in a way that felt natural. So most likely a magic user of some kind.

“Lucinda! You made it!”

“We’ve been friends since high school, I couldn’t just not come when you went out of your way to invite me.”

She looked behind Aphmau and made direct eye contact with Sasha. Sasha stared back unblinkingly.

Aphmau turned to glance at Sasha and turned back to Lucinda quickly after. She stepped aside so Lucinda and Sasha were able to fully face each other.

“Oh, yeah. I have to introduce you to some people. This is Sasha. She's one of my new neighbours. Sasha, she’s a friend of mine from high school, Lucinda.”

Lucinda walked up to Sasha and looked her over. “A pleasure to meet you.”

If this went where she thought it did, then the night may be more interesting than she thought it would. “Pleasure’s all mine.”

Aphmau walked back to the two after closing the door. “Come on, I should introduce you to her roommates.”

“No need. I can do it myself. You go host the rest of the group.”

“Are you sure? I can do it. Since I know her and all,” Aphmau said.

Practically on cue. The sound of high-pitched wailing rang across the room.

“That’s Kawaii~Chan… you know what? Go ahead and introduce Lucinda to everyone. Get to know each other.” The short woman quickly rushed out, presumably to see what the crying was about.

“Should we go check what that was about or…”

“It’s fine. Kawaii~Chan isn’t that loud when she’s actually sad about something. If anything, she’s just frustrated.”

“Well if you’re sure,” Sasha shrugged.

“Regardless, I’m sure we have much more… interesting things to talk about.”

“I’m sure we do. But wouldn’t you rather do it somewhere a touch more private?”

“Yeah, that’d probably be better… Any ideas? Lucinda says as she batted her eyelashes.

“I haven’t seen anyone go into the garage,” Sasha shrugged.

“I’d prefer somewhere more classy, but I suppose it’ll have to do,” she sighed.

“Well, follow me.”

The two had a quick and quiet walk to the garage. The two women stepped in and as soon as Lucinda did so she closed the door behind her.

Lucinda turned to glare down at Sasha from the singular step between the door and the rest of the garage. “What are you?”

Looks like the ginger wasn’t gonna bother faking politeness. Good, Sasha didn’t particularly feel like doing that either at the moment. Didn’t mean Sasha was opposed to messing with the witch in front of her a little.

“I’m not sure I know what you mean. I’m just a regular gal living with her friends,” she said in mock confusion as she held up her hand to her mouth in shock.

“Come on, the feeling of your magic is practically rotten. I’ve never felt anything like it in humans, werewolves, or meif’wa, so I ask again. What. Are. You. I know there are other people in the house that give the same feeling.”

Sasha raised an eyebrow at the declaration. It had been quite a while since she met someone who was that precise at sensing magic.

Sasha began slowly clapping her hands. “Good on you for noticing that.”

Lucinda rolled her eyes. “Drop the flattery.”

“Why do you even want to know? Is the little witch curious?” Sasha taunted

“I need to know if you’re a threat to my friends.”

So the witch thought she had a chance to do anything to the Shadow Knight as if she were an actual threat? How cocky of her.

“Let’s make a few things clear. First off, neither me nor my friends want to bring any harm to yours.” Sasha began slowly moving up to Lucinda and stopped in front of her. She leaned her head next to the other woman’s and whispered to her ears, “and secondly, It doesn’t matter how strong a witch you are, if we actually fought, and you tried to hurt us. You. Would not. Survive,” she said slowly.

Sasha leaned back down and smiled at the visible shiver that went down the witch’s body. “Well, we should probably go back to the party. This was a nice conversation, we should talk again sometime.”

Lucinda moved aside wordlessly and Sasha walked up to the door.

“One more thing, if you wanna know what I am, you’ll have to figure it out by yourself.” With her last words said, Sasha twisted the door handle and walked back into the house.

After a few seconds, Lucinda followed behind and Sasha decided she might as well introduce the rest of the Shadow Knights to her.

“That guy that’s talking with Garroth is Laurance.” Sasha gestured at the three chatting men.

“He keeps glancing at Kawaii~Chan…”

“Well, he nearly got under the mistletoe with Aphmau and nearly got tackled so…”

Lucinda nodded as if the fact that he got tackled for that was merely an expected if disappointing outcome.

“The guy with the dark green scarf under the mistletoe is Vylad, the person they’re kissing is their boyfriend, Zenix.”

“And the black-haired guy sitting on the chair by Travis is Gene.” It looked like the two were talking about something, whether or not it involved Gene digging for information was anyone’s guess.

She left Lucinda and quietly sat down at the edge of the couch.

“Yeah Zane is the worst,” Travis whined.

Instead of responding to Travis, Gene turned to her and said, “Hello Sasha. What have you been doing?”

“Not much, just talked to the person that just got here. The ginger, she’s called Lucinda.”

“EEP,” Travis screeched as he jumped from where he was sitting and turned to stare at her. “When did you sit down!?”

Sasha was going to ignore that. “So what were you two talking about?”

“Travis was just telling me about that neighbourhood watch guy that checked the house competition a few days ago.”

Travis responded much more calmly than his previous reaction, “Zane. He’s always been a jerk to everyone ever since high school. He always stays by himself and makes fun of people, pretty sure the guy doesn’t have any friends.”

“That’s Garroth’s brother, right?” Sasha asked.

Travis nodded. “Yeah but it sure doesn’t feel like it. The two couldn’t be more different.”

So this version of Zane didn’t appear to be particularly well-liked. Not by the group of people in the house anyways.

“Oh, do tell?” Gene prodded with an all too fake smile.

“Like I said, Zane’s just sort of a jerk to people for no reason. Garroth’s kind to everyone, heck I don’t think I’ve ever seen him be so much as rude to someone who didn’t start something first.”

“Hey, Travis! Come on over!” Dante called over from somewhere in the house.

“Coming! Well sorry you two, but gotta go.”

Sasha lazily waved him off as the white-haired man left the living room.

“So what’d you learn?” Sasha asked as soon as she was sure no one was close enough to listen.

“Not much,” Gene sighed. “According to Travis, his family isn’t particularly connected to magic in any way. No warlocks or witches in recent generations on either side of his family. The closest thing is that his dad apparently acts as a potions professor at a university, not that it actually tells us anything about why his magic feels like… that.”

“Yeah. I checked on it and you’re right, it’s… weird. It feels similar to ours but more… hidden in a way. If he really doesn’t know anything about magic then there’s a chance he isn’t even aware of what it is,” Sasha speculated.

“Well there’s nothing we can do about it right now, we should just stay here and enjoy the party. Relax, talk to people and all that,” Gene shrugged.

Ironic from the one whose primary use for casual conversation is looking for information from other people but sure. Whatever was most convenient.

“So how have you been enjoying this?”

“It’s been fine I guess. That witch that came by was able to tell I wasn’t human instantly so that was interesting.”

Gene raised an eyebrow and shaped his mouth into an ‘oh’ shape.

“Made sure she wouldn’t do anything so that won’t be a problem.”

“Sasha,” he playfully chided, “What’d Laurance and Vylad tell us about threatening people.”

“First of all, how are you so sure I threatened anyone? Secondly, you and I both know you can be equally bad about morality so don’t even start with that argument.”

“Yeah, that’s fair,” Gene chuckled.

“So how’s work been?”

“Same old, same old. The occasional asshole customer and all that.”

“Told you that you’d deal with that if you worked customer service.”

“And I believe I told you it was a good way to meet new people. Which it is.”

“Farm for local gossip you mean.”

“That’s a bonus of the job, yes.”

The two continued to talk for a while, bantering and sharing quips until Sasha decided to go talk to one of her other friends.

“Well, I’m gonna look for Vylad and Zenix.” The couple left the mistletoe a while ago and she hadn’t seen them since.

“Wanna bet they’re making out somewhere?” Gene asked.

“I’d rather not take a bet I’m likely to lose.”

“Fair enough,” Gene laughed. “I’m gonna go find someone else to talk to too. Have fun,” he said as he stood up and dusted off his pants.

“Same to you.”

Sasha began her search for her roommates in the dining area. Instead of the people she knew, however, she was met with the sight of Michi practically straddling Reese on one of the chairs.

Kawaii~Chan was pouting at the couple’s(?) general direction in a corner as Aphmau rubbed the meifwa’s back comfortingly. She wasn’t going to touch whatever was going on with that situation.

Sasha walked past the pirate wanna-be and the blue guy towards the two women in the corner of the room.

“Have either of you seen where Vylad and Zenix are?”

Aphmau got a contemplative look on her face before answering, “No actually. I saw them under the mistletoe a little while ago, but not after that. Do you want me to help look for them?”

“No, it’s fine. I’m sure they haven’t left the house itself. I’ll probably find them eventually.”

“Well if you’re su-” the tan-skinned woman was interrupted by Laurance calling her over from the living room.

“Hey, Aphmau? Could you help me with something over here?”

“In a moment!” she turned back to Sasha. “I hope you’ve been enjoying the party. Gotta go see what’s going on there.”

The short woman walked over to the living room. As she passed under the mistletoe, she nearly walked into Garroth, who was going down the stairs.

“Oh! Sorry about that Garroth,” Aphmau chuckled. Ignoring the fact that the two were now standing directly under the mistletoe.

Kawaii~Chan looked over to the pair instead of the couple that were barely a few steps away from making out on the dining table and growled.

Before she could tackle the blonde like she had Laurance, however, the doorbell rang.

“Looks like I’ll have to go get that,” she sighed. “See you in a bit Garroth.” Effectively cutting the man off from whatever he had opened his mouth to say.

Aphmau walked to the door and Garroth’s face immediately fell. Laurance went to stand next to the downcast man and hesitantly put his hand on the man’s shoulder.

“Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine. Just bad luck and all that,” Garroth groaned.

Well, Sasha couldn’t not take this opportunity to mess with her friend.

She walked past the pair. As she did, she casually stated, “You know, you’re under the mistletoe.” She sat down on the couch without waiting to hear either man’s response.

Sasha took a moment to preemptively check the magic of whoever was at the door.

What the actual fuck?

The magic of this mystery person felt distinctly like someone connected to the Nether. It wasn’t like that of someone who had been turned into a Shadow Knight, this felt significantly worse somehow. It didn’t feel rotten as much as it was weirdly tangled in itself.

She couldn’t quite tell what else was stuck in that mess but she recognized the corrupt touch of the Nether when she felt it in something. She turned to look at the hall where Aphmau and this mystery guest would step into view.

It took a few seconds but it happened, Aphmau walked into the living room and was followed by a tall werewolf. At least she assumed it was a werewolf.

The assumed werewolf didn’t have ears or a visible tail, but traces of that tangled mess of magic felt similar to that of werewolves. Really, except for that touch of Nether magic, the stranger’s magical signature was near something that could be considered normal. Not quite regular, but something nearing normal at the very least.

This person was wearing a red hoodie with the hood up, and tufts of black hair were visible beneath the hood. The eyes were covered by a red bandana for some unknown reason.

Aphmau walked up to Sasha and stepped aside, giving a more complete view of the stranger to the grey-haired woman.

“Aaron, this is Sasha, she just moved in next door. Sasha, this is Aaron, he’s one of our other neighbours,” Aphmau introduced.

“Pleasure to meet ya,” Sasha lazily waved.

Aaron didn’t respond but moved his head in what could generously be interpreted as a nod. Then he walked off to one of the corners in the living room and just sort of… leaned on it.

“Sorry about that, he’s kind of antisocial,” Aphmau sighed.

“It’s fine…” Sasha was completely comfortable with staying away for the moment and figuring out just what was wrong with the werewolf.

Aphmau Looked in the direction of one of the windows and sighed disappointedly.

“Waiting for someone?” Sasha asked

“Yeah, but it looks like he’s not showing up. I had a gift for him and everything, guess I’ll just have to get it to him when I see him,” she cheered herself up.

The short girl walked off somewhere and Sasha turned to keep an eye on Aaron. She’ll want to pay attention to him from a distance.

And if it turned out keeping a careful distance didn’t reveal enough… Sasha wasn’t opposed to a more direct investigation.

Who knows, it might be fun.

Chapter Text

Laurance had been walking down the aisles of the Home Depot for a solid 30 minutes looking for some damn lights. He’d come across chairs, power tools, fans, lightbulbs, and even entire kitchen sets.

But no Irene forsaken Christmas lights for the entire half an hour he’d been in the store.

He was sure that there had been several lights when he came to buy some the previous year, but he had had no luck in his current excursion.

He knew he could probably ask one of the workers where the lights were, but he refused to do so. He would find the stupid lights by himself dammit!

It shouldn’t even be this hard to find! It was Christmas time, so Christmas lights should be simple to find. But here he was, stuck in the store looking for something that wasn’t even that urgent of a need.

Laurance was sure he was going to lose his mind if he ended up searching for lights for another 30 minutes. At that point, he’d just leave the store empty-handed. The group's inevitable teasing be damned.

As the one to break the lights he should buy the replacements. He was fine with that.

But he refused to spend any longer than an hour looking for one thing. Especially since he knew they had enough leftover to make decent decorations. Maybe not enough for what Vylad liked but enough for everyone else.

He sighed as he continued to trek through the store before he came across the back of someone who looked familiar.

Travis.

The sight of the white-haired man brought back memories of the conversation he and the Shadow Knights had after leaving the party. He took a breath and honed his senses on the magical energy of the shorter man.

And sure enough, he found what he was looking for. His ability to sense magic may be the weakest among the Shadow Knights, but it was still leagues higher than regular mortals’. Combined with the fact that he had directly interacted with the Demon Warlock and his magic. Magic that was quite unmistakable at that.

It’d be nearly impossible for Laurance to miss that same magic if he was actively looking for it. Sure, it may have been dimmer in the man in front of him than it was for the original Warlock, but it was there nonetheless.

That feeling that was not quite Nether-like but just as intrinsically wrong in the way it wrapped around one’s soul. Laurance doubted he’d ever be able to forget just how overwhelming it was when he first felt the magic.

Travis turned around to look at him and grinned. The shorter man walked up to the brunette and said, “Hey, Laurance! Funny seeing you here.”

“Hi, Travis.”

“You know, it must be fate for us to meet here. Why don’t we follow fate and continue talking?” Travis said with a wink.

What. “W-was that a pickup line?”

“Yep! So, what’d you think?” he giggled.

Again. What. “Heh?”

“The pickup line. Do you think it would work if I used it on someone?” Travis looked up at him expectantly.

Ok that made more sense.

“Oh. So you just wanted to see if it would work on another person.”

“Yeah,” Travis nodded. “Not that you aren’t an attractive guy and I might seriously flirt with you if I didn’t know you-” Did Laurance hear that right? “-but I’m not sure if it’d be cool with you since we’re neighbours and all that. Might make things awkward”

Laurance was… flattered, if a bit unsure of how to react to that statement.

Though something stuck out. “Then why’d you flirt with Sasha?”

“Gene told me not to try, I wanted to see why,” he shrugged.

Travis continued before Laurance could say anything. “So, are you looking for anything in particular? Everyone at my house came to look for Christmas trees but I sort of wandered off,” he chuckled.

“Christmas lights,” Laurance sighed. “I’ve been looking for like half an hour and haven’t found anything.”

“Have you tried the Christmas products section?” The what now?

“That exists?”

“Ok then,” Travis said, sounding vaguely disappointed. Uncalled for, as far as Laurance was aware. “Follow me, I passed by it earlier.”

Travis started walking and Laurance followed behind. They walked past more aisles of products but the brunette paused when he saw familiar pink hair out of the corner of his eye.

He grabbed onto Travis’ shirt and tugged lightly. Travis made a questioning noise as he turned his head to Laurance.

“That’s Kawaii~Chan, right?” He pointed at the meif’wa who appeared to be shrinking in on herself. Right in front of her was Michi, who was standing with her hands on her hips and had a clear glare on her face. The two meif’wa were the only two present in the aisle.

“Yep, looks like her at least. And that other lady is… Michi. Mind if we go check out what’s going on with those two?” Travis asked.

“Not at all.” He may still have been miffed at the fact the pink meif’wa tackled him, but he also didn’t trust Michi in any capacity.

The pair of men walked up to the two women, beginning to hear the conversation as they got closer.

“But Michi~Chan-” Kawaii~Chan stuttered.

“Ugh. I just hit on the cute guy I see and you act like this. You know, this is why people find you annoying,” she sighed.

Kawaii~Chan flinched, causing Michi to smirk and Laurance to intervene.

Travis, however, beat him to the punch. “So, what’s going on here?”

“Oh! Travis~kun, Laurance~san. Kawaii~Chan didn’t know you were here,” the pink-haired meif’wa said softly.

There was that verbal habit Laurance remembered. He might’ve heard it briefly at the party, but it still felt weird to hear it out loud.

“None of your business, we’re just coworkers having a friendly chat. Now buzz off,” Michi scoffed.

“Really? Because it really doesn’t look like a nice friendly chat from what we saw,” Travis said far too casually to actually be casual.

“So what? Congrats on being nosy and wrong I guess?”

And that’s where Laurance decided to step in.

“See, I don’t think we’re wrong. Unless of course, I missed it when making someone flinch and being smug about it was just considered a part of normal conversation.”

“Well-” Michi started but was quickly interrupted as Laurance steamrolled on,

“Although the best way to clear all of this up would be to just ask Kawaii~Chan directly wouldn’t it?”

“Yep. So, Kawaii~Chan, what’s your side of the story?”

“Umm. Kawaii~Chan had told Michi~Chan of Reese~Senpai, the cute boy that she liked. Kawaii~Chan mentioned the Christmas party and that Reese~Senpai was going too. Michi~Chan asked if she could come and Kawaii~Chan agreed because Michi~Chan is Kawaii~Chan’s friend. But when she got to the party, she kissed Reese~Senpai even though she knew that Kawaii~Chan liked him.”

Ok, so if Laurance remembered the way her speech patterns worked… The baseline was that Kawaii~Chan had told Michi about the party and that Reese would be going. Then Michi invited herself to the party and purposefully flirted with the guy when Kawaii~Chan, her supposed “friend” had specifically talked about her own crush.

Laurance hated how he couldn’t honestly say that there wasn’t a point in time he wouldn’t pull similar shit.

Stupidity and bullheaded behaviour Laurance displayed in the past aside, what Michi did was pretty jerkish.

“So what? I saw a cute guy and decided to flirt with him,” Michi doubled down.

“Even though you knew that your friend was interested in him?” Travis questioned.

“Pfft. Who said that airhead’s my friend?” Michi laughed. “We just work together and she clings on to me for some reason. Irene, having someone like her as a friend sounds exhausting. I have no idea why in the world she calls me her friend, it’s so annoying.”

Kawaii~Chan let out a small whimper at her fellow meif’wa’s remarks.

Laurance decided enough was enough and tried to end the conversation.

“Michi, just shut up. Kawaii~Chan, want to help me look for the Christmas section?” There. A nice and simple way to leave the conversation.

Kawaii~Chan slightly nodded her head.

Laurance started to walk past Michi, feeling satisfied with how he handled the situation. Or at least he was until Michi moved to intercept him.

“Aww, come on hottie. We might’ve gotten off on a bad foot, but I’m sure we could talk it out,” Michi said in a flirtatious tone. Slowly moving so that there was no way she wasn’t breaching his personal space on purpose.

“Funny, I thought we already had this conversation at the party.”

“Well, I’m sure that I could change your mind,” Michi drawled and stepped closer.

Laurance closed his eyes and sighed. So, Michi was really trying this. Ok then.

Laurance moved and leaned so that he was looming over the meif’wa.

“You know, most decent people stop bothering others after being told to do so. You, however aren’t, so I’ll just be more direct. Fuck off. I have told you I’m not interested, and I really don’t have the patience for you to ask me again. So I’m telling you one last time. I! Am! Not! Interested!” Laurance snarled.

“A-and what if I don’t stop?” Michi stuttered, probably attempting to hide nerves.

How delightfully pitiful.

Laurance leaned back with a smile, a touch too wide to be natural. “Then you’ll really not like what happens next.” If he made sure to let a little bit of the aura that naturally came with being a Shadow Knight? Well, none of the others were there to reprimand him.

Deciding the conversation was truly finished, Laurance walked forward, only looking back to make sure Kawaii~Chan and Travis were following. Travis looked apprehensive while Kawaii~Chan appeared to be more thoughtful than anything.

Travis spoke up as they continued walking, “Dude, what the fuck was that.”

He’ll admit that he might have enjoyed that a little bit too much.

Laurance chuckled nervously, “Sorry about that. She just… pissed me off.”

“You threatened her,” Travis deadpanned.

Ok, he might have taken things too far. Not that he really regrets it, some of the things she said reminded him a bit too much of some things he’d said or done in the past. He doesn’t think he ever really took it to that level of creepiness, but he can’t honestly say it wasn’t a possibility. As much as he may loathe to admit it.

“Mind you, she was making me kind of uncomfortable and she wasn’t even talking to me but still.”

“I just… really don’t like people who refuse to take no for an answer like that.” That’s not important right now anyways. “Hey, Kawaii~Chan, are you doing ok?”

“Oh… um. I’m fine, Laurance~san,” she assured. Or tried to do so anyways, she still sounded pretty downcast.

“Are you really though? I mean, you thought Michi was your friend, right? Even if she was a jerk, it must still suck for her to be that mean,” Travis prodded.

“No. It’s fine, she’s always like that. We’ll just talk it out later.”

That brought both Travis and Laurance to a stop. Was Michi insulting Kawaii~Chan a normal thing for the two? If so, that rang more than a few alarm bells in Laurance’s head.

“So she always insults you like that?” Laurance asked.

“Yeah. Though, she was really harsh this time… But Kawaii~Chan’s sure it’s gonna be fine!” she said, with false confidence.

“Ok. That’s- that’s something we’re definitely going to have a talk about later. Preferably with Katelyn or Aph,” Travis said firmly.

Kawaii~Chan slightly winced.

“Right now though, wanna help me look for the Christmas section?” Laurance asked, giving the meif’wa a clear way to leave the conversation.

Kawaii~Chan nodded. “Kawaii~Chan can do that. She passed by it earlier, we’re actually pretty close. Did Laurance~san really not find it earlier?”

“Thanks.” Laurance ignored the latter part of what she said in favour of getting to the lights quicker.

The two men let the pink-haired woman lead the way and soon enough were standing in a section that was very obviously dedicated to Christmas decorations. There was a big, flashy sign and the section itself was also pretty big.

“How did you miss this?” Travis said puzzled.

“It’s hard not to notice it,” Kawaii~Chan added.

“Shut up,” Laurance whined as he hid his head in the palms of his hands in embarrassment.

After a brief moment, Laurance lowered his hands and went to pick up one of the boxes of Christmas lights. If his roommates didn’t like them, then they could go buy the ones they wanted by themselves.

As he turned around, he saw Travis staring in the direction of an open garage-like door that appeared to be selling pine trees. Kawaii~Chan missing from sight.

“Huh, so that’s where that was,” the white-haired man muttered.

Laurance moved next to his neighbour as he said, “Where’d Kawaii~Chan go?”

“To the pine trees. Apparently, she and her roommates were actually looking for them. So were mine actually.”

“Then why weren’t you?”

“Eh, I thought the tree we had was fine as it was. Wonder if we’ll find them if we go out there…” the last part was uttered silently as if simply thinking out loud.

“Wanna go check?” Laurance asked.

Travis shot him a weird look. “Won’t you get cold? It’s not like you’re wearing anything for the snow.”

“It’ll be fine. I don’t get cold that easily, and it’s not even like it’s particularly bad right now anyways.”

Not a lie on his part. Though he’d have to remember to actually use scarves and sweaters while it was still snowing. Regardless of how unbearably warm it would make him feel, that’d be easier than any questions he might receive.

“If you say so,” Travis shrugged.

The pair walked outside, where snow carpeted the ground in between the organised trees. They walked around the surprisingly spacious area, passing strangers along the way.

Laurance heard the high-pitched sound of Kawaii~Chan’s voice and headed in that direction with Travis.

“But Aphmau~Senpai, it’s PINK!” Kawaii~Chan exclaimed.

“Which is exactly why we’re not getting it,” Katelyn shot back.

Laurance walked past the trees covering the path and found what the commotion was about.

There was an obviously plastic, bright pink pine tree that was just sort of… there, in the middle of the actual trees. It looked… honestly Laurance did not have the words to accurately describe it. Gaudy came close but it wasn’t quite to that level.

Maybe childish would work better?

Standing in front of the tree, was Kawaii~Chan, in between both of her roommates. The meif’wa, previous downtrodden mood apparently forgotten, looked clearly excited, her tail quickly wagging. The two women beside her however, appeared to be exasperated.

“Well hello, ladies. Mind if I just join in here?” Travis said as he walked behind them.

“Oh, hey Travis,” Katelyn greeted.

“Travis, what are you doing here?” Aphmau asked.

“Aww. What? Am I not allowed to greet my friends? I’m hurt,” Travis dramatised. “Also Laurance is here too.”

“Hi.”

Aphmau and Katelyn both turned to face him. Kawaii~Chan was apparently too entranced by the tree to care.

“Hey, Laurance,” Aphmau waved.

Katelyn waved hello without saying anything before going back to arguing with Kawaii~Chan about the tree.

He walked up next to the short woman and took the chance to check her magic signature.

Instantly he understood what Sasha had told him about Aphmau’s signature. He could spot all the parts that were unnaturally familiar. The warm, comforting feeling that practically enveloped the entirety of the old Aphmau’s soul is just as present. Yet the parts that felt like sharp edges feel… softer somehow. Not quite weaker, just less prepared to attack somehow.

More comfortable with itself in a way.

It truly felt like it was simultaneously uncannily similar, yet still entirely unique.

Laurance… Laurance felt weird about it. The fact that the magical signature was so similar made the connection between this Aphmau and the one from back then undeniable. And he really has no idea what to do about that connection.

Should he really try and get closer to all of them just because of that inherent connection? After all, to some degree, it meant that all of them would be similar to many of his old friends.

But on the other hand, would him getting close to them just because of those similarities be ok? Would it just be him chasing after friendships and bonds that are long gone?

He was pulled back into the conversation that had continued around him as he heard Aphmau attempt compromise,

“Look, let’s look around at the other trees and then we can decide on the tree.”

“Fine,” Kawaii~Chan sighed. “But if someone else buys the tree when we get back, Kawaii~Chan will be really mad!”

“I’m sure that won’t be an issue,” Katelyn muttered.

“Katelyn,” Aphmau hissed.

Katelyn just sent Aphmau a deadpan stare through strands of blue hair before walking back into the sea of trees.

Travis was the first of the group to go after her, slowing down once he began walking at her side. Kawaii~Chan and Aphmau followed close behind and Laurance at the very back of the small group.

He could hear the quiet chatter of Travis and Katelyn, as his mind continued to wander in circles about whether or not he should attempt to get close to any of the people in front of him.

After a little while, the people in front of him stopped moving and he stopped his own moving soon after. He looked past the group to see what had stopped them in their tracks, only to find a tree that looked oddly majestic.

It was bigger than the rest of the trees, but that wasn’t quite what made it appear so different. Really, there might not even be a real reason as to why it felt different. It just sort of inexplicably did.

One of the other, more flowery or poetic Shadow Knights could probably explain it, but at the moment? Laurance just knew that the tree looked beautiful.

Then, two voices said, “This is the one,” at the same time, with certainty in their tones. One of the voices was Aphmau, and the other was a masculine voice in an O’Khasis accent that he recognized.

Laurance walked around the tree and spotted the blonde curls he expected to see. What he didn’t expect to see however, although he really should’ve, was the red jacket and blue hair of Dante.

Laurance heard his group walk behind him and Travis say, “Oh, hey guys.”

“Hey, Travis. So guess you found the girls while walking?”

“And Laurance.”

Laurance waved with his free hand.

“I think we found our tree, so we should be ready to go,” Dante said while gesturing to the tree they were next to. “Although… We could stay if you ladies need help finding one,” he said with a wink.

“Sorry fellas, but we already found ours,” Katelyn said as she pointed to the tree.

“But we found it first,” Garroth said as he took a step forward.

“No, I don’t think you did actually,” Katelyn retorted as she took a step forward and crossed her arms.

“Nuh uh, we totally saw it first,” Dante protested.

“Yuh uh! Kawaii~Chan and the girls definitely came across it first.”

“Wha- tell them, Travis!” Dante called.

“Sorry guys. I’m gonna have to side with the girls on this one.”

“Traitor!” both Dante and Garroth screamed at the same time.

Garroth turned to him. “Laurance, back us up on this. They didn’t see the tree first, right?”

Why was he getting dragged into this? These people barely knew him! He had no stake in this!

“Now, now. Let’s calm down. I’m pretty sure I heard both you and Aphmau say you saw it at once so-”

“Nope! You’re not part of either group so you decide. Who saw it first,” Aphmau interrupted as she stepped particularly close to him.

Garroth pushed himself just as close and said, “It was us, right?”

This close up, Laurance could clearly see the smaller details in both of their faces. The hints of hazel in Aphmau’s amber eyes. The traces of cyan in Garroth's cerulean eyes.

Laurance took a step back and raised his hands placatingly (and ignored the way his face felt ever so slightly warmer than usual. Something he would deny happening at all)

Before he had to respond however, the sound of a young girl rang out,

“Daddy! Daddy! That one! Let’s get that one!”

There! A way out of the conversation!

“Well come one. Are we really going to deprive a little kid of getting a tree they want for Christmas?” Now he just needed them to accept and not continue arguing.

Thankfully, everyone but Travis slumped slightly at Laurance’s words. Although Kawaii~Chan was noticeably the quickest to recover.

“Oh well, this just means we can get the tree Kawaii~Chan saw earlier!” Kawaii~Chan began walking back in the direction of the pink tree,

“Ughh. Fine,” Katelyn groaned as she followed behind the meif’wa.

Aphmau stepped back and sighed, “Nothing to be done about that I guess. Sorry for the hassle, Laurance, it was nice seeing you.” Then, she went to follow her two roommates.

“Well, what are we gonna do now?” Dante whined.

“I already said, the tree we have is fine. Just a bit small,” Travis said.

“Fine. I still think a bigger one would be better,” Garroth muttered that last part under his breath.

“Well, since you guys don’t want to see more trees, should we go back inside?” Laurance suggested.

“Actually… I think I’ll stay with the girls for a bit. I’m pretty sure they’ll be fine with driving me home, so don’t wait for me,” Travis said.

“Ohh. Trying to hit it up with the ladies? I approve,” Dante said with a thumbs up and a grin.

“Sure, sure. Whatever,” Travis chuckled. “Well, see you guys later,” he said as he went in the same direction as the girls.

“Bye, Travis,” Laurance waved off before he began going back inside. He’s pretty sure he remembers how to get back in there between the trees.

As he walked, Laurance took the silence as an opportunity to check Garroth’s magic signature. The moment he did, he had to use tremendous effort in order to keep his expression neutral.

Sure, Sasha had warned him about just how similar the signature of the Garroth next to him was to his Garroth. But he still didn’t expect this many similarities. Both signatures felt nearly identical with only small, near insignificant changes. If Aphmau’s and Travis’ magic confused him, this one sort of hurt. It was painful to be so close to the signature of someone that was so close to Laurance. The inherent protective nature that was just so Garroth remained there completely unchanged.

He can only be thankful he hasn’t spotted a Cadenza lookalike at all.

He’s not sure he could handle seeing his sister if she would feel as similar as the old one.

As the three men went back in the direction of the store, Garroth shocked Laurance from his musings, “Aren’t your arms tired from carrying that box? Also, aren’t you cold?”

Laurance had honestly nearly forgotten about the lights.

“Oh it’s fine.The lights aren’t really all that heavy anyways. Plus, I tend to deal with the cold easily anyways,” he waved off.

Garroth narrowed his eyes slightly. “If you say so.”

Laurance glanced to his side and saw that Dante was doing something on his phone and probably not paying attention to the conversation.

After that, things went quickly and silently. Dante and Garroth went back to their car and Laurance went to pay for the Christmas lights. He went to his own car and began the drive back to the house.

All in all, it was a surprisingly eventful shopping trip.

Chapter Text

“No-… -ur… –ault…”

Nonononono. Not him, please Irene anyone but him.

He didn’t mean to! Laurance had no idea that he would do that. That stupid, protective, idiot. He didn’t have to do that!

“No no no… don’t die! Please!, Laurance’s voice broke as he sobbed.

Chaos rang around the battlefield but that didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was what had happened. What Laurance had done.

A bloody hand raised to cup his cheek and Laurance held onto it tightly. Desperate to preserve the warmth of the man dying in front of him.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” he repeated like a mantra. Hoping against hope this was all just a bad dream.

Laurance woke up with a jolt, hot tears running down his eyes from the nightmare. No, not a nightmare. The memory that had replayed in his sleep.

He took a minute, or maybe it was a few minutes, for his body to stop shaking. He ran a hand through his brown hair and sighed.

He wouldn’t try to fall asleep again, he was aware he wouldn’t be able to do so.

He had thought he was getting better, but it appeared he would need Zenix’s help yet again. Hopefully, the man would be willing to help him… Irene knew this wasn’t the first time, and probably not the last either.

Yet again, his lack of need for sleep was a blessing.

Zane was walking down the sidewalk with his hands in his pockets late at night. Thanks to the clouds covering the moon, the Christmas decorations and street lamps made for the only lights in the night. The snow was a muted white that was nowhere near as whimsical as it felt in his childhood.

He couldn’t sleep so he decided that maybe he should take a walk, follow the advice people posted online and all that.

It really didn’t feel like it was working. Shocker. Warm milk, exercise, meditation. None of it worked.

Maybe he should invest in buying sleeping pills.

He looked at the houses he was passing through but stopped at a specific one. He hadn’t even realised where he’d wandered to in his stroll, just that he was still in the general neighbourhood.

He glared at the men who were laughing and messing around through the window. A short, white-haired man was laughing next to a taller blue-haired man. And finally, the one he recognized most, his “dear” older brother, Garroth. Doing some stupid thing he didn’t even want to understand.

He gritted his teeth behind his face mask and walked faster back to his house.

As he walked through the quickly darkening scenery as he neared his house, thoughts he really didn’t want to have swirled through his head. Specifically, thoughts of Garroth.

“Stupid freaking, well-liked by everyone, never struggled with anything in his life blonde,” Zane grumbled under his breath.

He reached his house and entered it. The cascading thoughts only escalated in pressure every moment that passed.

He locked the door and leaned his back against it, letting out a small sigh as the back of his head knocked against the wood. His hair acted as padding so he couldn’t really feel it as his head hit the wood.

Thoughts of his brother and his friends increased in intensity as he began to walk around in the darkness of his home. He stopped in front of his Christmas tree, a pathetic lonely tree, with only a singular gift wrapped under it.

At least he’d always be able to rely on his mother to send something every year… Plus whatever Garroth insisted on giving him for whatever reason. He’s never opened them and doesn’t plan on starting.

Garroth probably had a ridiculous amount of gifts from the people he knew. Not to mention the absurd amount of objects that would come from their father alone.

Sometimes there wasn’t even a reason. Garroth just had to ask and he was given what he wanted, or just given things unprompted. Regardless of how reasonable a gift it really was (A hot tub? Really? That was just excessive.)

Meanwhile, Zane knew that even if he had asked his father for something for Christmas, the best-case scenario was a gift card for some store he liked when he was 15. Even more likely was him simply not getting anything.

Something about “independence” and “not relying on the family’s money”.

A thought process that seemingly only applied to him.

“He could lose all of his gifts and father would probably buy him whatever he lost without question,” Zane mused bitterly.

Actually… he could probably test that theory out if he wanted to.

Garroth had for some inexplicable reason given Zane keys to the house. Going in, stealing gifts, and coming back out without being noticed would be easy and quick. Plus, it’s not like it’ll have any long-lasting consequences.

Worst case, Garroth mopes for a bit and then his friends cheer him up. He has so many, at least one of them was bound to do it.

But if Zane was going to go through with this, he’d have to be smart about it. And stealing from only Garroth’s house would probably be suspicious. So stealing from some of the nearby houses would be the smartest way to divert attention.

Yet another benefit to living farther away from Garroth, if he kept the area from which he took gifts from small, no one would question why nothing was stolen from him.

He looked down at the clothes that he was wearing. Long black pants and a comfortable My Little Horsies t-shirt that was hidden by a black jacket. As well as black shoes that would work for the snow. Nothing that would call attention to any people walking at night.

He took a moment of consideration and nodded, “Good enough to sneak around in.”

He waited for a little while before heading off. Before the night ended, Zane would have many more gifts than he began the night with, and a few people would suddenly have much less.

So with a large bag that he had gotten from his storage closet, Zane headed to his first target of the night, Garroth. It didn’t take long, but as Zane walked, he thought of the best way to go about this.

Garroth had, for some reason, insisted on showing Zane around the house, meaning he knew the general layout. He knew exactly where the tree would be, and thus, the gifts.

It didn’t take long for the half-blind man to reach his brother’s house. There was no light visible behind the windows, except for what little pieces of moonbeams made it through the cloudy sky.

It was like the world was setting things up for things to go well for him that night.

He went up the steps to the door and pulled out the keys in his pockets. He quickly unlocked and opened the door, stepping in only a moment later.

He could hear the sound of his brother’s loud snoring as he stilled past the door. As good a sign as any that no one there would wake up. If the infernal noises weren’t enough, Zane doubted anything was.

He could vaguely see what looked like the outline of a couch and chairs set out before a stupidly expensive television screen. To the right of the screen, was what he was searching for.

An admittedly surprisingly small Christmas tree adorned with lights. He began to stalk closer without making a sound, but he spotted something that forced him to stop in his tracks.

The star that was on top of the Christmas tree. Something small and innocuous to anyone else yet held so much meaning to the pair of brothers.

Of course his father would choose to give it to Garroth. Why wouldn’t he? Garroth always played the part of Garte’s perfect little prince. So of course he’d be given one of the few mementos they still had of their grandmother. Not only that, but Garte had lied to Zane about what happened to it.

He said that they simply couldn’t find it. That it had gotten mixed up and lost as they were moving all of her remaining things.

But apparently, that had been nothing but a lie. Because of course it was, because why would that man be honest with him when he could just lie and avoid any unnecessary conversation?

Zane doubted Garroth even knew about the lie. Garte could tell any old lie and Garroth wouldn’t even bother to question it. Damn golden child.

Zane gritted his teeth and looked down. About as many gifts as he expected.

More than they would realistically need.

He crouched down in front of them and forced his bag open as widely as he could. He grabbed whatever he could fit into the bag and left behind what didn’t with wild abandon. He barely even thought, single-mindedly focused on not making any sound through his rage.

Before he even realised it, he had finished putting what he could fit into the bag and was slightly panting. He stood up and took a deep breath, only realising his heart was racing after it returned to a regular pace.

He’ll admit he may have gotten a touch carried away. He lugged the bag over his shoulder and began the ordeal of getting the bag out of the house without making noise. Lifting the weight of the gifts without crashing into anything was harder than it had any damn right to be.

Eventually, though, he made it. He had gotten past the living room without knocking anything over. He walked back into the snow and locked the door before continuing to the next house.

He walked down the street to the brick house that he had previously walked by.

He went to look through the windows to make sure no one was there. Any sane person would be asleep at this hour but it wouldn’t hurt to look.

And he was glad he did because what he saw was an extremely tall man sitting on the couch with a baseball bat in his arms. The man had a red bandana around his eyes and looked vaguely familiar. Thankfully, he wasn’t looking in Zane’s direction.

That’s when it hit him. He was standing in front of the house of Aaron Lycan. Son of one of Garte’s most prominent business partners. And apparently, a complete fucking weirdo who waits in the middle of the damn night with a bat.

He backed away from the house slowly and carefully as if the man inside would jump out the window to attack him.

He’s only ever seen the man a handful of times and never truly interacted with him so as far as he’s aware, that is a completely valid possibility. All he learned from those interactions was that Aaron really didn’t feel like most other spoiled, rich kids Zane had met. He wasn’t annoyingly outgoing like Garroth, but he wasn’t stuck up. Aloof as all hell, sure, but not in a way that came off as self-important.

Even the man’s older sister fit in pretty well with some of the rich kids Zane’s seen. Acting like some sort of business-woman wannabe while she wasn’t even out of high school.

The only time he could remember having something verging on an actual conversation was when he was judging decorations and that was barely a few words.

Zane quickly decided to leave this house alone and move along to the one across the street. He walked through the falling snow towards the stranger’s house and once again looked through the window.

He went around to look through as many ground-floor windows as he could. It didn’t look like there was anyone awake inside the white brick house. Though Zane did spot some stairs that lead to an upper floor, hopefully, the lack of turned-on lights meant no one was awake.

He went up in front of the door and laid the bag of gifts next to the wall.

He pulled out the bobby pin that kept his hair bunned up and put it into the lock. It took a few attempts, but he managed to pick the lock (the slightly questionable interests he developed as a teenager really were useful sometimes).

Surprisingly fast considering how out of practice the black-haired man was.

He grabbed the bag and edged the door open, careful to not make any loud noises. He tiptoed in but didn’t account for the size of the bag that pushed the door far enough to lightly knock against the wall.

He winced, but the sound of the door was drowned out by a loud crash that came from what Zane assumed to be the basement. A bit off-putting but Zane steeled his resolve.

He needed to steal from at least one nearby house of people he didn’t know to not come off as slightly suspicious.

As long as whatever is going on down there stays down there, Zane will be fine.

He took a deep breath and tip-toed closer to the inside of the house. Approximately a singular second after his body was fully past the space in front of the door, he smelt the faint smell of coffee and shivered as he felt as though he were being watched.

He looked back out the door and closed it, but there wasn’t anyone there. He looked around what appeared to be the living room, but it was far too dark to make out anything clearly. Occasionally, the same crashes and bangs from before rang out from the basement.

Zane shook his head, it must just be his imagination. After all, no sane person would do nothing but watch as someone with a giant bag just broke into their home. The noise from downstairs would probably drown out whatever noise he made too. He’d be just fine…

He sped up his search for wherever the gifts were located.

Thankfully, the gifts weren’t in the basement, as he found them under a decently-sized tree past the living room after a few minutes of searching. He gently placed the bag next to the gifts and opened it widely.

He grabbed the considerably smaller amount of gifts (at least compared to the ones at Garroth’s house) and fed them to the bag in armfuls. As he did, he really couldn’t shake the feeling he was constantly being watched like an insect under a microscope.

He quickly finished and tied up the bag before going back to the door. The feeling of being watched, and the sounds from the basement, didn’t let up until he was safely out the door.

He hadn’t even noticed until after they relaxed, but Zane’s shoulders were both tense the entire time he was inside the house.

He locked the door with the bobby pin and fled to the house where he knew Aphmau lived.

As he walked in front of the garage door, he heard the door of the house open.

Crap, he still had the massive bag over his shoulder and that would definitely raise more than a few questions. Questions that he absolutely had not prepared for.

He quickly ran towards the large gate and laid the bag against it. Thankfully, the snow managed to assuage most of the sound he made in his wake.

Now, hopefully, he’s able to annoy whoever it is into going back to the house. It’s not like anyone in the house likes him, so he reckons there’s a good chance of this going how he wants.

Zane took a deep breath and casually walked in the direction of the house’s front door. It was simple, one step after the other, if his face showed any worry for if things went wrong, his mask would hide it.

He stepped in front of the corner and found that the one who had opened the door was Aphmau.

Great…

“Oh! Zane! How are you?” Aphmau asked with far too much cheer for Zane’s liking.

“None of your business. What are you doing here at night?” Zane said as coldly as he could, putting as much annoyance as he could muster.

“Well, it is my house. But I honestly just couldn’t sleep so I decided to take a walk,” Aphmau said weirdly happily. He could swear that the last time they talked she still didn’t like him.

… Except for that weird cat thing which he still isn’t sure wasn’t a really weird hallucination.

Aphmau perked up for whatever reason and said, “I was meaning to see you actually! Wait a bit, I have something for you.” She rushed back into her house, closing the door behind her.

What.

Why would she have something for him? The last time they had a positive interaction was when they were children. Except for that thing with the cat…

Oh, dear Irene, Aphmau was going to mock him because of that wasn’t she? She was probably getting her roommates so they could come out and laugh at him or something.

As he began to turn to pick up the bag and leave, he noticed the door reopen. Aphmau practically ripped the door open with how excessive she was, her hair visibly more dishevelled than it had been earlier.

“Sorry, couldn’t find it for a little bit, but here,” she gasped. Zane noticed the small gift that was in her hand.

He apprehensively stepped closer to the woman holding the gift. It was a small, mostly green box with red stripes converging at the top in the form of a bow. Gingerly, he raised an arm to grab the box. Once he was close enough, he quickly nabbed it and stuffed it into the pocket of his hoodie alongside the hairpin.

It was light, light enough that he could only barely feel its weight.

“Why’d you get me something?” Zane asked, his accent slipping out but he couldn’t bring himself to try and hide it.

“I just think it sucks that you’ve only gotten gifts from your family,” she shrugged as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Despite that, the simple action shook Zane to his core.

“Oh,” Zane let out a small shaky breath that was muffled by his mask.

Aphmau appeared to not have heard him as she continued saying, “I actually invited you to the party I threw a few days ago, but you didn’t come,” what, “were you busy or did you just not want to come? Maybe starting this with an invitation to a party after the cat thing was too much,” she muttered the last sentence.

“W-What do you mean you invited me to a party?”

Aphmau tilted her head slightly in a confused manner, “The party invite I sent you? You know, the one that was in your mailbox?”

“Who checks their mailboxes nowadays?” Zane asked incredulously.

“You don’t!?” Aphmau asked with equal incredulity.

“I use emails for anything mail might be needed. Like a sensible person.”

“I don’t know your email though,” Aphmau pointed out.

“You’re friends with Garroth. If you really want to invite me, you could get it from there.”

“I mean… yeah, you’re right,” she conceded. “Guess I’ll just need to ask Garroth for it next time I want to invite you to something. Unless you want to give it to me now?”

So Aphmau wanted to invite him to things in the future. That sounded… really nice actually.

“I’ll do you one better. Give me your phone.”

Aphmau’s eyes narrowed and one of her hands moved to rest above the pockets of her pants. “Why?”

Zane rolled his eyes. “It’ll be more efficient if you just had my phone number.”

Aphmau’s eyes widened. “Oh. Yeah, sure. Here,” she said as she handed over the unlocked phone.

Zane quickly did the process of adding his contact to the shorter girl’s phone and adding her’s to his phone before handing it back.

The two stood in silence for a moment, neither knowing what to say before Zane started, “Well, it’s getting late. I should leave.”

“Yeah. Good night, Zane,” Aphmau smiled and waved as Zane began to turn.

“Bye,” Zane said curtly, but as he began to walk away, Aphmau said something,

“Tell me if you like the gift!”

Something about the excited and hopeful tone in the woman’s voice made him chuckle behind his mask and a warm feeling began to grow in his chest. He turned his head so Aphmau could see him and nodded slightly before leaving.

He went back to the bag of stolen gifts and just stood in front of it for a bit. Distantly, he heard the noise of the house’s front door closing but didn’t change any of the thoughts going through his mind.

Realistically, he could grab the gifts in front of him, and take them to his house as he had originally intended. It’d be easy, just grab the bag and lug it back to the house. It’s still late enough no one should be awake and he doubted he’d get caught now.

But the small gift weighed in his pocket, feeling much heavier than it actually was.

Irene, he was pathetic. Just one gift and he was willing to break back into houses, risk getting caught, and return the gifts because it made him much more guilty than it previously did.

Yep. That was exactly what was happening.

He sighed, putting the gifts back should be easier than taking them. Right? He could do this quickly.

He picked up the bag and rushed back to the second house he had robbed and lockpicked the door for the second time that night.

Thankfully, the loud noises from before appeared to have stopped, though the feeling of being watched was still there. Somehow, it felt even worse than the first time.

He quickly made sure to put all the gifts that he had taken from the house and put them on the floor. Grateful that they were on top of the bag and he didn’t have to stay in there for any longer than he absolutely had to.

The moment he was finished, he picked up the lighter bag and escaped from the house (and the feeling of being some sort of prey).

He went, much more calmly, to his brother’s house and opened the door. This time, the process was much simpler, he simply poured all the gifts in the bag around the tree. With a final glance at the star on the tree, he left the house and began returning to his own.

As he walked, the Christmas lights and decorations guided him. At some point in the calmer walk, his hands reached down to his pockets and began fiddling with the small wrapped gift.

He reached his house and entered it quickly. He comfortably manoeuvred through the darkness that enveloped the furniture of his house and landed on the couch. He nudged himself closer to one of its sides and turned on the lamp next to the couch.

He brushed hanging strands of his hair away from his good eye and pulled the gift from his pocket. It didn’t look any different from when Aphmau had given it to him.

He gingerly undid the bow and opened up the gift. Zane gasped as he picked up the figure inside and started inspecting it.

It was a figurine for My Little Horsies. A limited-time figurine of the main character that he knows he didn’t get.

How did Aphmau even get this?

He looked back at the box and noticed there was a small slip of paper at the bottom. He took great care to place the figurine on the table next to the couch before grabbing the note.

He began reading over the note in his hands.

‘Hey, Zane! I wanted to get you something for Christmas, so here! I think I remember you liking the show when we were kids, and I know you bought some other figurines from Kawaii~Chan. So I got you a limited edition figure! I’m not sure whether you actually like it, but I had an extra and now I’m giving it to you. Hope you like it! She’s my favourite character. :)’

‘P.S. Maybe we could hang out and talk about the show at some point. It’d be nice,’

“Of course, the main character’s her favourite,” Zane muttered. Pinkie Cake was clearly superior.

Although… It might be nice to talk to someone about the show in person for once.

He felt himself smile against the mask on his face.

Chapter Text

Zenix blearily pulled the covers further up with one hand and used the other to bring… whatever his arm was wrapped around closer. He didn’t care what it was. He liked how it felt around his arm so he was bringing it closer to him.

The nice, comfortable object struggled a bit and Zenix tugged with an incoherent mumble. Whatever he was holding stopped moving and Zenix felt himself smile as he curled in closer.

He heard a chuckle from someone around him. He frowned in annoyance and groaned,

“Shut up… wan’ sleep.”

The chuckling quieted down and he settled back against the nice thing in his arms. It might be a pillow? He isn’t sure, but it’s nice, and he likes how it fits against him. So of course, he’s getting as close to whatever it is as he possibly can.

So nice and warm…

And bright. Why was it suddenly so bright?

Zenix sleepily blinked his eyes open to the sight of his partner being wrapped around his scar-littered arm. So that’s what his arm was wrapped around. He slowly noticed the amused expression on his lover’s face and the fact that their arm was in a position to open the window.

Damn window. He’s moving the bed to be farther away from the window.

“Well, good morning,” Vylad laughed as they placed a kiss on his forehead.

Zenix stuffed his face in the bed mattress and grumbled, “Close the window. Wanna sleep.”

“Come on, we need to get up,” Vylad said as they tried to wriggle their way out of his arm.

“No, we don’t.” It was still in the stretch between Christmas and New Years when no one in the house had work.

“We need to go downstairs and say hi to everyone.”

He turned his head so he was no longer face-first in the mattress. Vylad was just laying on their side and watching Zenix with a smile on their face. Their normally well-kept brown hair was messily sprawled on the pillow they rested their head on.

“Do we really need to though?”

Vylad shook their head good-naturedly. “Zenix,” they said in a jokingly warning tone.

The light was making him feel more awake. Dammit. He definitely wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep now.

“I didn’t sleep until past midnight last night,” Zenix lied through his teeth. Vylad had gone to bed before him, so it should be believable, right?

Vylad just gave him a saccharine-sweet smile. “If that were true, you wouldn’t be coherent enough to speak right now.” Ah, damn it. Vylad knew him too well for that to work. Oh well, it was worth a try. “But, I suppose another hour wouldn’t hurt,” they said with a softer smile.

“Thanks,” Zenix muttered as he closed his eyes and curled into his lover’s chest. He felt the soft press of lips unto his hair and he sighed contentedly.

The couple laid comfortably on the bed for a few minutes. Just enjoying each other’s presence and all the comforts such an action provided.

And as much as Zenix would like to go back to sleep, he was far too awake for that and decided conversation would be just as pleasant a way to spend their time in bed.

“Hey, Vylad?” Zenix asked as he moved a bit to turn and see his lover’s face. They had closed their eyes at some point but were likely still awake.

“Didn’t you say you wanted to sleep?” Vylad said as they opened an eye.

“Eh, I can't sleep, but I still don’t wanna get out of bed. Ya know? Anyways, are you doing ok?”

“Not sure I know what you mean, I’m fi-” Vylad began with both eyes open.

“Considering we’ve seen and met reincarnations of both your brothers, I’m not sure I fully believe that,” Zenix cut in.

Vylad tensed almost imperceptibly before obviously forcing themselves to relax. “I’m grateful for the concern, but I’m doing good. I promise.” Their smile was perfectly relaxed, not a trace of hesitance on their face and not a tense muscle to be found. The perfect picture of relaxation and contentment.

Part of him felt amused that they thought it’d be that easy to lie to him. The other part was slightly disappointed at just how obvious a lie it was. Although maybe it would’ve fooled anyone else.

There was no hint of anything being wrong on the surface. No twitch or tense muscle that betrayed some sort of underlying emotion Vylad refused to express. It really was a perfect act.

And that was the problem.

“The first time you saw both of them you came pretty damn close to going full Shadow Knight,” Zenix said flatly.

Vylad grimaced and dropped the act. Their shoulders slumped and the general mood around them plummeted.

They sighed, “I really can’t lie to you, can I?”

“Nope,” he said, popping the p, “I don’t know why you keep trying. So spill, what’s going on with you?”

“Pretty sure you already figured it out. My… brothers,” they said hesitantly.

“The dead ones?” Zenix asked.

Vylad glared, “You know what I mean.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. So, what about those two?”

“It’s just… Ugh- you know.” They turned their head to bury their face in the pillow.

“No. No, I do not.”

“It’s- ergh, how do I say this,” they groaned into the pillow.

“Take your time,” Zenix suggested. He moved a hand to mess with a strand of his lover’s hair absentmindedly.

Vylad moved a bit to shoot a glare at Zenix. The fact that they didn’t actually do anything to stop him and the way half their face was still very much buried in the pillow did a lot to diminish the effect though. So Zenix continued to play with it; if Vylad wanted him to stop, they would just tell him. They have before without a shred of hesitance after all.

Eventually, Vylad moved to sit and Zenix dropped the hair and sat up next to them.

“You know what my relationship with my brothers was like back then, right?”

“Overall shit with one and complicated but leaning towards positive with the other.”

“Yeah,” Vylad nodded.

“What about it?”

“It’s just… with the reincarnations. I… ugh- why can’t I just spit it out!” Vylad said, frustrated. One of their hands moved to grab a fistful of their hair and began to lightly tug at it.

Zenix pulled Vylad against him and began softly running his hands through their hair.

“Ok, I get an idea of what you mean.”

“Feelings are hard,” Vylad groaned.

“Perks of being a Shadow Knight,” Zenix joked.

“Right next to infernal body temperatures and confusing the fuck out of any medical professionals,” Vylad joked back weakly.

Vylad pressed themself closer to him and Zenix let them.

“Look, if you ever need to talk, or vent, or anything like that, feel free to tell me. Ok? We’re dating, so feel free to tell me anything you want or need,” Zenix softly uttered, his hands continuing their motions through their lover's hair.

“I know, I know,” Vylad said in a voice much more sincere than they usually show.

“Also, you might want to talk to Laurance about this particular problem,” he suggested.

“Yeah, maybe,” Vylad nodded.

And so the two stayed in bed for a while longer, laying against each other in comfortable silence.

Eventually, the two dragged themselves out of bed and into the first floor. One, with noticeably grumbling more than the other.

Vylad simply chuckled at his antics. Mood notably cheerier than it was earlier.

“Finally up you two?” Gene asked from the dining room table as he nursed a cup of coffee in his hands. His hair was messier than its usual semi-neat style.

“Oh, shuddup,” Zenix groaned, “You guys know I like to sleep more than the rest of you.”

“It’s after 10 a.m.,” Sasha said flatly from the couch with a book with some artsy design on the cover. Some strands of hair fell around and in front of her face.

Zenix glanced at the clock at the top of the stairs and learned that it was, in fact, after 10 in the morning. He may have stayed in bed a tad longer than the hour he had bargained for.

Zenix looked around and noticed that the last of his roommates was nowhere to be found.

“Where’s Laurance?”

“In the kitchen!” Laurance shouted.

Zenix left the stairs and went to the kitchen, where he found Laurance putting on an apron next to the frying pan on the stove and a carton of eggs on the countertop.

“Gonna fry some eggs, either of you want some?”

“No thanks, I’m good,” Vylad said.

“I want some,” Zenix said.

“Ok, so that makes two in total,” Laurance muttered under his breath.

“Thanks!” Zenix said over his shoulder as he walked out of the kitchen. Vylad walked further in and Zenix heard the faint sounds of the cupboards being opened as he got farther away.

Zenix moved over to the couch and sat, leaning on the side of the couch next to his grey-haired roommate.

“What you reading?” Zenix said as leaned over to get a better look at the book she was holding.

Sasha wordlessly began to close the book and kept her thumb between the pages. The way she angled the book gave Zenix a clear sight of the book’s cover.

It was very clearly an art book. The cover had what looked like an abstract take on some famous historical painting that he swears he’d seen in some museum before. If that hadn’t given away the contents of the book, the title, ‘Modern Art and Its Techniques’, most definitely made it clear exactly what the book was about.

“I forgot you used to paint. Actually, when was the last time you painted?”

Sasha stopped moving for a few seconds and her eyes narrowed in concentration. “A few decades, maybe? It could be closer to a century or two,” Sasha said hesitantly.

“Why’d you stop?” As far as he could remember, Sasha always had some sort of painting or drawing supplies. Nowadays, he hasn’t seen as much as a sketchbook around the house. Sasha was the only one who was ever really interested in stuff like drawing or painting, so since she hadn’t bought any recently, no one else in the house did either.

Sasha opened the book, looked at the page number, nodded, and placed it closed on the coffee table in front of the couch. She brushed the strands of ashen hair out of her face and turned to fully face him.

“Hmmm, guess I just haven’t felt inspired to draw or paint anything,” she shrugged.

“Why not?” Zenix questioned.

“What is this? 20 questions?”

“You bet it is! Answer the damn question,” he said with fake cheer.

Sasha glared at him for a moment before sighing and slumping to the back of the couch. Her hands moved behind her head as she looked up at the ceiling.

“There’s not really a particular reason for it. I just… haven’t felt any motivation to draw or paint in years. Sometimes the idea sounds nice, but whenever I actually try to paint something, I just sort of can’t think of anything to draw. At some point I just stopped trying,” she shrugged, “It’s not like I’m running out of time to paint. If I ever want to paint again, I will.”

That made sense. It’s not like any of the Shadow Knights were particularly in a rush for… anything really. None of them had in a while. It’s not likely any of them will ever have to worry about running out of time for anything important ever again.

“Yeah, I guess that’s fair. But if you ever do end up wanting to paint or draw again, tell me. I can go buy stuff with you or something.”

Sasha straightened up and rolled her eyes. “Oh really? Didn’t know you knew anything about art.”

“Oh, fuck off! I know plenty about art!” Zenix laughed.

“Really now? Like what?” Sasha questioned.

“... Famous paintings?”

“So around as much as literally anyone else,” Sasha said in an unimpressed monotone.

“Oh, shut up,” he groaned. “But, seriously, if you do ever start wanting to paint again and want someone else there for some reason, you can tell me. I’ll give you an outside opinion or some shit.”

“Not sure how much the advice of someone who doesn’t know anything about art will help, but sure.” She grabbed the book on the table and opened it, resting her elbow on the couch’s arm next to her. “If I do ever find myself wanting to paint, I’ll let you watch.”

“Nice!” From what he remembered, Sasha’s paintings always looked great. Zenix wondered if any old ones were lying around the house somewhere.

“Don’t expect too much. I’m probably rusty. I doubt it’ll look that good” Sasha chided.

“I’ll be the one to decide that.”

Sasha rolled her eyes good-naturedly and went back to her reading. Zenix tried to read over her shoulder but quickly grew uninterested. It was full of technical terms that he didn’t recognize and had nowhere near as many artworks on the pages as he felt there should be for a book on art.

Thankfully, Zenix was saved from the growing boredom in the form of Laurance calling him over for breakfast.

Zenix walked to the dining table as Vylad and Laurance exited the kitchen. Vylad had a cup of what Zenix assumed to be tea in one hand and two forks in the other. Laurance was holding a plate of fried eggs with toast in each hand.

Vylad and Laurance both sat on either side of Gene (and subsequently across from each other) while Zenix sat next to Vylad.

Laurance placed one of the plates in front of him and pushed the second one towards Zenix. Vylad passed the forks to the two men who had chosen to eat.

“Thanks,” Zenix muttered between mouthfuls of food.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Gene chided from behind his computer screen. Cup of coffee resting next to it.

Just to be a little shit, Zenix took another bite before responding, “I’ll do what I want.”

Laurance glared at him from across the table but continued eating, Vylad hid a smile behind his cup, and Gene let out a disappointed sigh as he backed away from the computer and rubbed his eyes.

“How long have you been working on that thing?” Laurance asked after chewing.

“Not too long,” he reassured as he stretched his arms over his head. “Just had to finish up sending a few emails.”

“For one of your jobs maybe,” Zenix snorted.

“Hey, it’s good to keep yourself active with a variety of jobs. It’s not like I want to risk something like… say, not keeping sharp awareness of my surroundings and ending up caught by an obvious pitfall. Plus, it’s not like any of the jobs are particularly hard.”

“Hey! The pitfall thing happened ONE time!” Zenix said indignantly. Why did Gene feel the need to bring that up for no reason whenever given the chance?

“Oh no! I completely forgot about that. I was just saying what first came to my head, sorry,” Gene said with obviously faked politeness.

“Like you haven’t done anything stupid because you weren’t paying attention before. Or do I need to remind you about when you walked into glass, broke through it, and didn’t understand why people were giving you weird looks.” More than once.

Gene’s eyes narrowed. “The pitfall was covered by orange and yellow leaves. In Spring,” Gene stressed.

Zenix’s eye twitched. “You somehow didn’t hear glass shattering, or the pieces of glass that were on you,” Zenix replied in an equal tone.

“Drop it,” Laurance warned. To whom it was directed? Who’s to say really?

“I have no idea what you mean,” Gene said innocently with closed eyes, a slightly tilted head and a perfectly crafted smile.

“Yeah, we’re just messing around!” Zenix grinned

“Sure you are,” Vylad said as they shook their head.

Laurance sighed in exasperation and dipped his toast back into the egg yolk. “Zenix, eat your damn food. And Gene, you really should take a break. Just relax or something. I doubt anything you need to do is all that urgent” He finished by taking a bite of his food.

“Well, I am pretty ahead in my work,” Gene said to himself in consideration.

“Great! In that case, you won’t be needing this.” Vylad leaned over and closed Gene’s computer before quickly pulling it closer to them.

“Hey!” Gene protested.

“Nope. You’re ahead in work, so you don’t need to work anymore today.”

Gene slumped into the back of his chair and took hold of his cup. “What do you propose we do then? Not much to do when we’re snowed in.” He brought his cup closer to his lips to take a sip, but the sound of coffee pouring down was not there.

Zenix didn’t care about the disappointed look Gene was giving his empty cup. He was much more focused on what Gene had said.

“Did you just say we’re snowed in?” he asked in interest.

“Yeah, there’s like, nearly two feet of snow piled outside,” Laurance said as he waved his hands in a so-so gesture.

Good, that’ll be enough snow. Zenix nodded to himself and felt himself grow nearly giddy at what was going to happen.

“We’re going outside today,” Zenix declared

“Didn’t you hear we’re snowed in or…” Laurance trailed off as he finished the meal on his plate.

“Second-floor windows,” Zenix waved off, his own, mostly-eaten meal laid abandoned in front of him.

“Why though?” Gene questioned.

“C’mon, it’ll be fun! It’s not like anyone else will be out there to see us.”

“People can still see us through the windows, Zenix. I doubt any of us will be able to justify being outside when there’s so much snow,” Gene countered.

“You can just mess with people’s memories. Problem solved.” It was a pretty simple solution. If someone tries questioning any of them, Gene can just walk up to them and change their memories to make them forget ever seeing them. It’d be a small enough change that it wouldn’t even be that complicated.

The two brunette Shadow Knights blanched at the statement while his blue-eyed friend rolled his eyes.

Vylad hesitated for a second before suggesting, “Orrrr, we could just go through one of the windows that leads to the backyard. The fences would block us from view.”

Gene crossed his arm and sighed, “Really, Vylad? You agree with him?”

“Zenix has a point. It would be pretty fun to just mess around in the snow. Plus, I’d like to be able to actually be in the snow without having to bother with layering up,” they shrugged.

‘Thank you, Vylad, you beautiful, beautiful Shadow Knight’ Zenix cheered mentally about his partner for backing him up.

“Biassed,” Gene called out.

“So what if I am?” Vylad said shamelessly. “I’m sure Laurance agrees.”

The three turned to the brunette who had at some point taken his plate to the kitchen during the conversation.

“Hmm? Sure, going outside sounds nice.”

“See! Completely outvoted. We’re going to the backyard today,” Zenix declared.

Gene sighed out, “Fine. Just let me actually dress for it.” He stood up and pushed his chair in.

“Why? Not like the cold’ll actually affect us,” Zenix questioned.

“That’s true,” he said as he tugged on his black shirt, “but I also don’t feel like getting this wet.”

Gene headed up the stairs and left the three other Shadow Knights at the table. Laurance muttered out an agreement to Gene’s sentiment and followed him up the stairs.

Zenix looked down at his own clothing. A short-sleeved t-shirt that didn’t hide any of his scars and long woollen pants that comfortably hugged his body. Eh, he could deal with going into the snow in that.

Zenix glanced at the final member, who was still reading on the couch. “I’ll see if I can get Sasha to come with.”

“Yeah, you do that. I really don’t feel like getting this wet.” They gestured towards the baggy pair of jeans they had on. “See you upstairs,” they said as they began to go up the stairs.

Most of the Shadow Knights were going to go out with him. Time to go see if Zenix could pull a full five out of five within the group.

Zenix pushed his chair in and walked back over to Sasha, who was still reading her book.

Zenix leaned over the side of the couch over Sasha and asked, “We’re gonna go outside to the snow. Wanna come?”

Sasha put the book down and turned her head up towards him. “Why?”

“I dunno. Just to fuck around I guess. Have fun and stuff,” he shrugged and leaned back.

“Eh, not really feeling it.” Sasha moved to grab the book again.

“We can team up against Laurance with snowballs,” Zenix offered.

Sasha froze in place where she was about to pick up her book. She slowly turned back to face Zenix, who was grinning at the fact he had managed to make Sasha agree so easily.

“Well in that case… Why not,” Sasha agreed.

This was going to be so much fun.

He heard someone coming down the stairs and turned to see who it was.

Ah, speak of the devil and he shall appear and all that. Or maybe it’d be ‘speak of the Shadow Knight’ in this case?

Regardless of what the correct expression would be in this case, the point was that Laurance was the one on the stairs. He had changed into something that would probably fit the snow better. At least for a Shadow Knight.

He didn’t have a hat for the snow, but he’d switched out the shorts for long pants and was now wearing a shirt that looked slightly thicker than the one from before.

“We’re going out of Gene’s window,” Laurance informed. “You coming, Sasha?”

Sasha stood up and sent a lazy thumbs up Laurance’s way. Laurance nodded and went back up.

“I’ll signal you when we attack Laurance,” Zenix said as he went to follow the brunette. He heard Sasha’s footsteps follow behind him as they quietly walked up to Gene’s room.

As Zenix got closer to the room that would be used to get to the backyard, he heard the voice of his fellow Shadow Knights grow louder.

“-y my room?” The latter half of the question came from the one the room belonged to.

“Because there’s a tree near your window we can climb down and up,” Zenix’s partner responded. Zenix couldn’t see their face but he could tell that Vylad would have a smile too polite to be true.

They entered the plain grey room where everyone else was already in. Vylad was standing next to the window on the side opposite to the door and had the exact expression Zenix expected. They’d changed their clothes for more snow-appropriate wear, including a green scarf.

Gene was sitting on the rolling chair in front of his desk with a slightly furrowed brow directed at Vylad. Laurance was nearest to the door, he sat on the neatly made bed placed on the wall next to the door. His arms were propping him up and he had a small smile on his face as he saw the interaction the other two were having.

“Are we doing this or what?”

“Yeah, yeah, we were just waiting on you two,” Gene said as he turned the chair to face him.

Zenix walked forward and stopped at the window. The blinds were already drawn, so all that was left was to open it and jump out. Zenix opened the window and let the pleasant chill of the cold air wash over him. The tree in the backyard was more visible now that nothing was obstructing the view.

He put one leg out the window and then the other, now sitting on the window frame.

“See ya down there,” he waved off before pushing his legs against the wall and leaped down into the snow.

There was enough snow to fully cover his ankles. Which at least meant it cushioned his fall a bit, though he doubted falling from that height would’ve hurt much even without the snow. Being a Shadow Knight had its perks.

Those perks, however, did not include not having to deal with the weird feeling in his knees that came with falling from a big enough height. He took a moment to adjust and trudged through the snow to make space for the other Shadow Knights to land without ending up on top of him.

The first to follow Zenix was Gene, who shook a little on his feet upon landing. He took a few moments before struggling to move to Zenix.

“Why’d I agree to come out with you again?” Gene asked while shooting the surrounding floor a disdainful look.

“We would’ve dragged you out anyways,” Zenix said with an easy cheer.

“Of course,” Gene responded flatly.

The next after Gene was Vylad, who landed on the snow with practised ease. They quickly moved next to Zenix and Gene after landing.

“Quick recovery,” Gene noted.

“Eh, I‘ve jumped from higher distances before. The snow helped cushion the fall too,” Vylad shrugged.

Quickly after them came Sasha. She fell straight down from the window with casual grace and came to where the rest of the Shadow Knights were standing.

The only person left was Laurance, who was taking more than it probably should to get out. Sure, it had probably not even been 2 minutes since Sasha had joined the group in the snowy backyard, but it was more than enough for the brunette to jump out the window.

Before Zenix could speak the thought out loud, however, the aforementioned Shadow Knight leapt horizontally towards the tree. He hung onto one of the ticker branches with one hand and then pulled himself up on top of the branch.

Zenix cupped his hands around his mouth and called, “Show off!”

Laurance laughed, “Your point?” He then stuck his tongue out at him.

“Really, it’s like their children,” Gene muttered.

Instead of responding to either taunt verbally, Zenix turned to Sasha. “Prepare the snowballs.”

Sasha nodded and quietly leaned down to begin shaping the snow around her into small round shapes. Zenix immediately followed suit.

“Um, guys? What are you doing” Laurance asked hesitantly.

“You don’t have a lot of snow up there,” Sasha said.

“And you can’t really move there either,” Zenix continued.

Zenix stood up straight and held a few large snowballs in his hands. He looked over at Sasha’s arsenal and noticed she had traded size in favour of quantity compared to Zenix’s stack. Vylad and Gene stood from behind Sasha with excitement and amusement on their faces respectively.

“Hey, you don’t have to do this,” Laurance raised his hands placatingly.

“No, we don’t,” Sasha agreed.

“This’ll be more fun though,” Zenix refuted.

“Nope!” Laurance jumped out of the tree and onto the snowy floor.

As the brunette was falling freely through the air, Zenix commanded, “ATTACK!”

Sasha and Zenix both pelted their fellow Shadow Knight with their respective snowballs as he fell through the air.”

“AH! Ghk- hey! Gh- ughh!” Laurence screamed as he fell onto the floor on his back with his limbs spread out on the floor.

It was quiet for a few moments before Laurance burst out laughing as he sat up. He brushed some snow from his shoulders and hair with one hand while grabbing and shaping a clump of the surrounding snow with another.

“I am so getting back at you for that one.”

“You’re on!” Zenix grinned as he leaned down to get more snow.

To his surprise, however, he felt himself get hit on the side with the cold shock of snow two times in a row and turned to see who it was.

Vylad and Gene were both holding snowballs in conspiratorial manners. Sasha herself had a small smile as she collected more snow.

Yeah, Zenix had made the right choice in getting everyone to come out here.

Chapter Text

It was around midday on New Year’s Eve when Laurance heard the doorbell ring. He had been sitting on the couch drinking hot chocolate. Or at least that’s what it originally was, he’d left it alone for so long it was probably just at room temperature now.

As the only resident of the house currently there, it was up to him to ignore the cup of room-temperature chocolate. Laurence walked over to open the door.

Behind it was a familiar pair. One was blonde and wore a dark blue jacket, while the other had Blue hair and a red jacket.

“Garroth, Dante! What are you doing here?” Laurance greeted.

“Aww, what? Can’t we just come by to visit a friend?”

“Wh- that’s not what I meant! You two can come over at any time, I just didn’t expect to see you two, you know?” Laurance scrambled.

“We know, we know. I’m just teasing you.”

“We came by to invite you over for a New Year’s Party,” Garroth explained.

“But- New Year’s Eve is today,” Laurance said slowly.

“We know it’s last minute and all that, but we’re trying to scrounge up as many people as we can for this,” Garroth explained.

“I’ll ask my roommates.”

Garroth perked up. “Great! The party starts at 9 if you decide to show up. Don’t feel pressured to bring anything either.”

“Thanks for the invite.”

Garroth nodded, “Of course, well we have other people to invite. Bye, Laurance.”

The two walked back into the snowy streets and Laurance closed the door behind them.

A New Year’s Eve party, huh? It’s been a while since any of the Shadow Knights really bothered to do any big celebrations for the date. At most simply staying up to acknowledge the occurrence but not something treated as special for any of them.

Though… the last party hadn’t been a bad experience for him… mostly. It was nice to get a more varied group of people to talk to then just his 4 closest friends. Who knows? Maybe going to this one would be fun.

Not to mention the odd feeling in his gut urging him to go.

He waited for all of his roommates to return and by then the sun had begun to fall. Once they were all in the same room, Laurance mentioned the invitation he received.

“Eh, you guys go ahead. I think I’ll just stay here for tonight,” Gene said.

“No, screw that, you’re not staying alone,” Zenix denied instantly.

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Gene waved off, “It’s just one night. I can stay alone for a night.”

“But it’s New Year’s,” Zenix stressed.

“A day we’ve celebrated hundreds of times and will celebrate a hundred more.”

“It’s the principle of the thing! Come on, someone back me up.” Zenix turned to look at the other Shadow Knights.

“Actually, I agree with Zenix here,” Laurance spoke up.

Gene shot him a carefully crafted look that only spoke to his annoyance. At least it did for the group of Shadow Knights. To most others it would probably appear as neutral indifference.

“I dunno, the last party was nice. Might as well go to this one. Spending New Year’s alone at home sounds boring. And kind of sad honestly.”

Gene’s facial expression shifted into more of a glare. Oops.

“Look, why do you all want to go to this party so badly anyway?” Gene asked.

Zenix spoke up first, “It sounds like fun.”

All the other Shadow Knights took a moment to stare at the brunette.

“What? Can any of you name any time we’ve gone to a New Year’s party in the last century and not just celebrated it with the five of us? I want to try something new,” Zenix shrugged.

Looked like they were all gonna do this to convince Gene in that case. So it was between leaving Gene alone on New Year’s, explaining his actual reasoning for wanting to go, (which he wasn’t sure he was actually able to verbalize) or staying at home for a smaller celebration.

“There’s a few things I wanna check out involving some neighbours I hope show up.” Sasha was the next to speak. She was spinning a thread of hair between her fingers. “...Also I just wanna do something different this year. So come on, I doubt it’s gonna be bad.”

Laurance better start thinking of something to say because he did definitely want to go to the party… but he didn’t really have a reason he could name. He just knew that he really, really wanted to go to the party without being able to pinpoint why.

In all honesty, a part of him wanted to go, if only to figure out the reason behind that desire.

Vylad began their reasoning, “For me-“

“No, you don’t need to explain. I know why you wanna go,” Gene interrupted.

“How would you- OH!” Vylad shouted near the end. Laurance jumped from shock at the loud voice. Zenix jumped too, presumably from a combination of both shock and closeness to the voice. Sasha didn’t jump but she did noticeably freeze, hair stuck between her pale fingers.

“Oh crap, yeah, sorry. I get why you want to stay here.”

“Vylad? That was a quick change, are you sure-?” Zenix began.

“Zenix, just trust me on this one. There is a good reason that Gene doesn’t want to go,” Vylad spoke with a serious tone.

Apparently, Zenix decided that seriousness was not something he was going to argue with because he relented, “...Well in that case, guess there’s nothing that can be done.” Both Laurance and Sasha were watching from the sidelines, one of the pair of Shadow Knights showing more curiosity in Gene’s mystery reason than the other.

“Just means someone’s gonna have to end up staying with Gene tonight then.”

“Zenix, none of you have to do that. I’ll be fine by myself,” Gene argued.

“Nope,” he said, popping the p. “you may not have to come to the party, but that doesn’t mean you’re staying alone on New Year’s Eve.” There was no arguing with Zenix on this point. He may have accepted Gene not going but he wasn’t going to let the man spend the night alone.

“I can stay in that case,” Sasha offered. They all turned to look at her. “What I want to look into isn’t urgent. I can just look at it another time. Zenix and Vylad can just treat it like a date at a party or something.”

“And what, leave me to third-wheel?” Laurance squawked.

Sasha turned to him with a cross between a sweet smile and a bone-chilling smirk only she could pull off, “I’m sure you can find ways to entertain yourself. For example, talking with-“

“You’ve said enough,” Laurance interrupted. He was pretty sure he knew what she was going to say and he would not let her finish.

“It’s fine. I’ll just go. Who knows, maybe it’ll be good for me after all,” Gene spoke up.

“Gene, you really don’t have to,” Vylad said.

Laurance was beginning to get curious about whatever reasoning they were talking about he wasn't privy to.

“It’s fine, I’m pretty sure I can avoid it anyways,” Gene sighed.

“...If you’re sure,” Vylad said hesitantly. They were clearly not fully confident it was a good idea.

He was beginning to feel like those two were having a conversation separate from everyone else.

“I am.”

Gene’s affirmation led to silence from the entire group, until Sasha spoke up, “If all that’s decided, I’m gonna go up and get ready for the party.”

With her piece said, Sasha left for her room, presumably to change for the party. The rest of the Shadow Knights followed suit in their own rooms.

By the time 8:55 had rolled around, all the Shadow Knights had met up in the living room, ready to leave for the party.

None of them had bothered to put on anything that was truly fancy, at most one might say it was clothes someone would wear to a nice restaurant. (Even then, Laurance wondered if it was too much. He had no idea what was and wasn’t considered appropriate for this) Though all of them had made sure their clothing covered any of their more noticeable scars, as always.

The only ones who had opted for anything that would be considered good for the snow were Gene and Vylad, who had chosen a dark coat and a green scarf respectively.

“Looks like we’re all ready… so guess it’s time to go,” Gene said, lack of actual desire clear in his voice.

Vylad didn’t look convinced. “Gene, are you sure-“

“Vylad, it’s fine, if I feel like I need to, I’ll leave. We all know I’m the best at dealing with social scenarios out of all of us.”

“True,” Sasha muttered.

It took a moment, but Vylad nodded. “You do that then, we really don’t need you going full Shadow Knight.”

What!? This was something emotionally impactful enough for Gene to potentially lose control of his emotions over?

Gene chuckled, “I could say the same about you.”

“Fair enough.”

To Vylad’s side Zenix nearly jumped and his mouth widened into an ‘oh’ shape. Did he figure out what was going on with Gene? Laurance looked to Sasha to see if her expression gave any clues, but he only found a vague neutrality that he should have expected.

It was fine, it probably wasn’t really any of his business and it looked like they could talk to each other if necessary.

“Well since all that’s settled, let’s go,” Laurance declared.

None of his roommates disagreed, and as such, they all exited the house without much fanfare. It was a very quick walk across the street to Garroth’s house, with some light trudging through the snow being involved.

Swiftly, they were at the door and Laurance reached up to ring the doorbell, the watch over his shirt’s green sleeve dictated it was only a minute or two after 8.

Quickly after the doorbell was rung, the door opened to reveal a familiar, white-haired and emerald-eyed man.

“Oh, hey! Glad you all could make it. Come on in.” Travis stepped to the side, letting the group into the house.

It looked mostly unchanged from the last time that Laurance had been there. The furniture was set up the same way from when he had been first shown around, only that there were now some decorations Laurance thought were leftover from Christmas.

The sound of the group entering caused all the other people in the house to look at them, though they quickly went back to what they were doing.

Kawaii~Chan was sitting on the couch, talking to Katelyn. The meif’wa appeared to be excited about something if the big gestures and quickly moving tail meant anything.

From what Laurance could see in the kitchen and dining area, Garroth and Aphmau were animatedly talking to each other. And though he couldn’t fully see if there was anyone in the kitchen, the smell in the house suggested someone was there.

“The only areas off-limits are our rooms or the basement. Other than there, everywhere else in the house is fine. The bathroom’s the last door down the hall, there’s some snacks over by the dining table, and I’m pretty that’s everything,” Travis explained. “Feel free to do whatever you want, I’m gonna go back to what I was doing.” The white-haired man walked towards the couch and joined in on the conversation Katelyn and Kawaii~Chan were having.

The Shadow Knights all split off to different parts of the house, Laurance headed to the kitchen, where a growing sizzling sound and greasy smell hit his ears and nose more potently than before.

As he approached, he recognized the smell was coming from food being fried in the stove. Dante was leaning on the kitchen counter next to it, with a spatula held in his hands. Behind him was a large plate with a paper towel covering it. Aphmau and Garroth were sitting on the other side of the kitchen table, the two at the table were engaged in conversation.

“Hey guys,” Laurance greeted.

Dante turned his head to face the brunette. There was a smile on his face as he returned the greeting, “Hey, Laurance, glad to see you could make it.” The tan-skinned man moved forward and looked past Laurance. “Oh, the rest of your roommates did too, neat.” He went back to his previous position of leaning on the kitchen counter.

On the other hand, Garroth and Aphmau didn’t appear to have actually seen him having gotten closer. Attention to enraptured in whatever talk they were having with each other to even notice the brunette.

With clenched fist and slightly tense movement, Laurance tore his stare away from the two and towards the man in front of him.

“What are those two talking about so much?”

Dante shrugged, “I’m not even really sure anymore, they’ve just been talking ever since Aph got here.”

“Hm,” Laurance hummed noncommittally.

“Yeah, it’s nice to see Garroth talk to her without tripping over himself.”

“Garroth, likes her, right?” Laurance asked for confirmation.

Dante laughed, “Oh yeah, ever since high school. He’s been trying for a while to ask her out but-” Laurance needed to change the subject. Lest the pressure his fingernails were pressing into his palm actually break skin.

“Well, let’s leave them to it,” Laurance cut in a bit forcefully, “what are you cooking?” There, hopefully asking about that would distract Dante.

Dante perked up at that. “Oh, this?” he asked somewhat slyly. He gestured at the pot in the stove that had small, dark-yellow, semi-circle shaped objects frying in oil. “These are empanadillas, my mom used to make them all the time when I was a kid. Have you ever had any?”

“I’m not sure actually. They kind of look familiar, but I’m not sure if I’ve ever eaten one.”

“Well, you’re in luck, cause these look to be just about ready.” Dante was leaning over the pot a little and watching it intently. He used his spatula to grab all the steaming empanadillas and put them on the plate behind him.

The blue-haired man moved to the other side of the stove where there were small yellow discs of what Laurance assumed to be dough stacked on each other. He began to carefully stretch one of them out on a paper towel. “There are a few I already made on the dining table, you could grab one of these but- Wait!”

Laurance froze as his hands were wrapped around an empanadilla. It was slightly warm against his hand.

“... It’s still hot.”

Crap, he forgot most people can’t touch food fresh out of the stove like he could.

“I’ve touched hotter?” Laurance offered weakly.

Dante had let the dough he was holding drop on the paper towel and was staring at him incredulously.

“Bullshit!” Aphmau called, promptly reminding Laurance that her and Garroth were in fact nearby.

“For the last time, fresh empanadillas aren’t that hot,” Dante sounded exasperated.

“Yes they are!”

“Whatever,” Dante sighed before going back to preparing the food.

Laurance brought the empanadilla closer to his mouth and bit into it. Inside was only hot, melted cheese and it was delicious. The texture was nice, soft to bite into, and the cheese melted just right. Not too weirdly solid but also not likely to drip out of it.

“These are really good!”

A male voice from behind him said, “They are, aren’t they?” Laurance didn’t startle from the noise as much as he did completely freeze up momentarily. He turned his head to the voice and found Garroth reaching his arm over to grab some of the food himself. He reached back with two empanadillas held in a paper towel.

“Well, I already knew that much, but thanks for the compliments. Now shoo, I still need to make more and you guys are in the way.”

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll get out of your hair. Come on, Laurance.” The blonde moved back to the other side of the kitchen table, where Aphmau was sitting on a stool, and Laurance, not wanting to come off as rude, followed.

Aphmau held her hand out and demanded, “Empanadilla. Give. Now.”

“They’re still hot,” Garroth chuckled as he laid the food on the table.

Aphmau wasted absolutely no time in tearing half of the paper towel to grab one for herself. She immediately began biting into it and letting out sounds of pleasure at the taste.

Garroth shook his head slightly with a smile before taking a bite out of his own empanadilla. Laurance was awkwardly standing a bit between them. He wasn’t sure if he should say anything. Would it be better to just go somewhere else in the house? Although part of him kind of wanted to stay with them.

But should he? They were both identical in appearance to the ones that shared their names a long time ago. And he couldn’t honestly say that the similarities in appearance didn’t play a role in wanting to stay. Which raised the question, would it be right to try and get to know them for only that reason? Or even healthy? (He already had an idea of what the answer to the latter was).

He got knocked back to what was happening around him by the combined sound of a ringing doorbell and the voice of the short woman in front of him.

“-rance? Hey, Laurance?” There was a small, tan hand waving in front of his face.

Laurance jumped back and nearly reached for a sword that wasn’t there. Not currently anyways. Aphmau was tilting her body towards him and her hair falling in front of her head.

“Oh, were you saying something? Sorry, guess I zoned out.”

“It’s fine,” Garroth chuckled, “I was just saying I’m glad you were able to make it despite the short notice.”

“There’s no need. We were just going to spend the night together at the house anyway. So… thanks for inviting us. It’s a nice change of pace,” Laurance said.

“Well in that case, I hope coming here ends up being worth your time.” There was a small smile on the blonde’s face as he said this.

Wow, he- he needed to redirect this conversation for a completely different reason than before. He took another bite of the empanadilla to give himself a bit of time before responding, “I’m sure it will be, if only for the food.”

Aphmau had already finished her own empanadilla when she said, “Yeah, Dante’s food is the best. He still hasn’t told me how he makes them so good though.” Huh, the old Dante had been a terrible cook.

“One of the world’s greatest mysteries,” Garroth said in a jokingly serious voice.

He heard the sound of someone coming in from the entrance of the house and turned to look. His body tensed and he had to stop himself from reaching for his sword. Not for the first time since he’d met his new neighbours. That… he’s going to have to find a way to deal with this particular issue.

Over in the entrance, was a large man with a dark red hoodie. He’d already seen the man once before but it still wasn’t something he was used to. Sure, he may not have been the only one to look the exact same as someone from his past. The problem was, none of the others were people that shared faces with an evil tyrant he led a revolution against (admittedly he didn’t really like the other person the man in the living room had the same face as. Though it was literally the same face? It was a weird situation).

Bottom line, seeing the man made every instinct in the Shadow Knight’s body scream out about danger. They even had some other similarities that didn’t actually make any logical sense. There was no good reason for either of them to have worn the bandanna over their eyes.

Although… that wasn’t exactly fair. This Aaron hadn’t actually ever done anything to Laurance. In fact, they’ve barely even interacted. What a mess.

Just something else to deal with regarding the reincarnations.

Aphmau turned to look at who had just arrived and perked up once she saw who it was.

“Oh, Aaron came! Well guys, it’s been a pleasure but I’m gonna go. See ya!” Aphmau waved off as she ran up to the much taller man.

“Goodbye…” Garroth tried saying to her as she left. Unfortunately, the woman had gone off too quickly to hear and the blonde man slumped down on his chair.

Laurance gingerly sat down where Aphmau had previously been. The smell of grease and sizzling sounds returned from the stove.

Garroth was looking with sad eyes towards where the pair with a near-comedic difference in size were standing. He put his arms on the table before resting his head on them with a gentle thud. He let out a light groan.

Laurance looked between the blonde next to him and the pair in the other room of the house. Garroth kept staring at them with a look in his eyes that a part of Laurance really didn’t like.

Ok, so how was he going to go about this?

Well, he might as well take a page out of Zenix’s book for this one. What’s the worst that could happen?

“So, you like her, don’t you?” Laurance asked bluntly.

“Urk- You can tell that easily?” Garroth’s muffled voice said from where it was nearly buried in his arms.

“Yeah… it’s something about the way you look at her I guess.” It was a look that Laurance didn’t have problems recognizing.

Garroth raised his head to look at him quizzically. “How do I look at her?”

Like she had hung the moon and stars just for the man’s enjoyment. “I dunno, I guess you just look kind of… lovestruck? I’m not sure how to describe this kind of stuff.” He was very aware that describing that look was something he could do but it would probably come across as too intimate for someone that had technically only met Garroth a few weeks ago.

Garroth was now blushing a little, “Lovestruck, huh? Yeah, I guess that makes sense. I’ve known since we were kids, but I started liking her in high school. It’s just, she’s so kind to the people she meets, but she doesn’t just lie down and take it when people are rude to her. She helps people out whenever she can, and she’s so hardworking too.” Laurance’s hand was clenched very, very tightly on top of the marble table. Garroth straightened up suddenly, “Ah, my apologies. I’m rambling aren’t I.”

Yes, which is… very much not something that the old Garroth would’ve ever done. The person he knew wouldn’t have ever rambled like that to anyone, much less a person he didn’t know extremely personally. The realisation led to Laurance slightly opening the clenched fist.

Well, if nothing else, it was an easy way Laurance could distinguish between the two in his mind. Couldn’t he?

“It’s fine… I know you tried getting her under the mistletoe back at her house.” Which had led to the two of them under the mistletoe as Sasha pointed out and—

Nope! Not taking that particular line of thought too far.

“Yeah, looking back on it. I guess I’m not as subtle as I’d like,” he chuckled. Although he did send a stare over Laurance’s shoulder that suggested the laughter wasn’t entirely honest.

Laurance realized he very much didn’t want to continue this particular conversation. Thankfully, he was saved by the blue-haired man in the kitchen announcing, “More empanadillas are ready! I’m only making a few more batches so get them while you can!”

He stood up from the chair and said, “Well, best of luck with that, but I think I’m going to the rest of the party.”

Garroth startled slightly, “Oh- yes, of course. Sorry for keeping you.”

“It’s fine, have a fun rest of your night.” Laurance stopped by the kitchen to grab an empanadilla (this time with a napkin) before moving to the living room.

He ate his snack as he looked around the room to see where everyone was.

All the people he expected to see were there, and were mostly staying in small groups around the house. Gene was passively chiming in to a conversation with Travis and Katelyn. Closer to the front of the house, Aphmau was excitedly talking to Aaron who had what might be a smile on his face. Vylad and Zenix were talking by a wall across the room, Zenix sporting a wide grin on his face.

And closest to Laurance, was Sasha, surprisingly talking to Kawaii~Chan of all people. Or more accurately, letting the meif’wa talk to her while occasionally making gestures to show she was paying some attention. Despite whatever her expression may suggest.

Sasha lazily pointed at Laurance for whatever reason and the pink-haired woman stopped in whatever she was going to say to look. The moment she spotted him was obvious, as her ears and tail very visibly stiffened. She quickly said something to Sasha and began walking towards him at a somewhat brisk pace.

She stopped right in front of him and had a determined look on her face. Laurance on the other hand, was feeling more apprehensive than anything else.

“Kawaii~Chan wants to talk to you,” she declared.

“Ok then… let’s talk. What’d you want to tell me?”

The confidence on her face faltered a little. “Ah, she meant she wanted to talk to you privately. Kawaii~Chan’s sorry for not clarifying.”

Oh, a private conversation then. Laurance was intrigued, he didn’t think there was anything he’d done that warranted being talked to in private.

“In that case, would the hallway that leads to the bathroom work?”

Kawaii~Chan nodded and the two walked until there was no one else around. Laurance turned to lean on the wall and the moment he did, Kawaii~Chan said, “Kawaii~Chan is very sorry about what she did to you!”

Her body was set in a deep bow, and Laurance wasn’t sure if it was just because of gravity but the ears on top of her head were very clearly drooping.

“Wha- you really don’t have to do that.”

“But Kawaii~Chan does! She jumped on you when she first met you despite you doing nothing wrong! And you were her guest! It was extremely rude, Laurance~san deserves an apology!”

Ok, he’ll admit the way they’d met was weird and more than a bit rude on her end. But he’s been through worse, and his reaction came from surprise more than it did pain anyways. Not that she probably knew that.

“At least, raise your head. I’d like to see your face if we’re gonna talk.”

The meif’wa craned her head upwards, though hair was still covering most of her face. Yeah, that wouldn’t do. He grabbed onto her shoulders and pushed her upwards, then proceeded to at least try and clear the hair from her face.

Her pale skin looked slightly more red now. “Ok, now onto the apology. I appreciate it, I really do. But there's really no need. You jumping on me didn’t really hurt all that much.”

Kawaii~Chan frowned. “B-But Laurance~san-” Her voice was beginning to sound a bit shrill.

“Look, you really don’t need to get so hung up on it. I promise I’ve gotten worse from my roommates when we mess around sometimes,” he insisted.

It looked like she was beginning to understand that he wouldn’’t be accepting any apologies, since she closed her mouth and looked contemplative for a moment before nodding.

“Regardless, Kawaii~Chan also wants to say thank you. For what you did for her back at Home Depot.”

Thing at Home Depot… oh! “That was nothing. That lady was being a bitch to you anyways.” And he also just plain didn’t like Michi from their previous interactions.

“Still, Kawaii~Chan appreciates it.” She bowed, in a much less grand manner than before.

She began to open her mouth as if to say something before closing it and shaking her head slightly. She opened it again to say, “Kawaii~Chan hopes you enjoy the party!” In a much more peppy tone than the rest of the conversation had taken before walking back to the living room.

Weird, Laurance wondered what she was originally going to say.

The brunette walked back into the house’s living room, where Kawaii~Chan had joined Aphmau and Aaron’s conversation. Or maybe ‘intruded’ into the conversation might be a better description of what was happening.

Over in the corner, near the kitchen, Vylad was standing by himself while Zenix was talking to Katelyn. The blue-haired woman was looking increasingly aggravated.

Laurance heard the doorbell ring again.

“I’ll get it!” Garroth shouted from the kitchen area.

Laurance began walking across the room to where Sasha was. He passed by Garroth as the blonde reached the door and nearly froze once he spotted who was on the other side of the door.

It was a man with dark hair pulled up into a bun that was peeking up the back of his head. He had a short, but wide stature. Around as short as the Travis of this time. The front of his hair was covering one of his eyes for some reason, meanwhile the other eye was a piercing blue.

He was wearing a black surgical mask that covered the bottom half of his face. There was a pitch black sweater covering the entirety of his upper body and dark sweatpants covered the bottom half. Overall, black seemed to be a running theme in his outfit.

It was Zane, the one who was a reincarnation of the former High Priests of O’Khasis. And thus, the reincarnation of Vylad’s other brother.

Chapter Text

Sasha watched from her spot along the wall as Aphmau rushed to greet the black-haired newcomer. She remembered well who he was likely a reincarnation of. After all, the man had done his best at being the largest annoyance he could.

The look Laurance had on his face told her all she needed to know on whether or not he also recognized the man in front of him. Out of all the possible people it just had to be Zane…

If nothing else, Sasha doubted anything that was about to happen would end up being boring in any way. Not fun or enjoyable, but it would probably keep her occupied for a little bit.

An idea that solidified itself when she felt the sharp spike of magic from the friend of hers that would be most affected. She turned her head towards Vylad. They were by themselves in the corner of the living room nearest to the kitchen, thankfully none of the non-Shadow Knight members of the house looked like they wanted to approach. From an outsider’s perspective, Vylad just looked slightly zoned out, but her ability at sensing magic let her know that they weren’t far from completely blowing up.

An event which would most likely result in someone getting hurt if not outright being killed by an out of control Shadow Knight.

Laurance walked towards her with a pace slightly faster than before. He had schooled his expression into a casual one, but she knew him well enough to tell it was fake. No to mention the speed at which he moved would probably be able to tell even people who didn’t know him something wasn’t right.

When he reached her, he stopped and said, “Sasha-”

“I know, I saw him. So what do you want me to do?”

“I’m gonna go get Vylad out of the house for a bit. Can you get Zenix to the backyard, they’ll probably appreciate him being there with them.”

She was about to ask if they should get Gene to help, but then she felt a flare of magic that didn’t appear strong enough for Laurance to notice. Though considering Laurance’s ability to sense magic was by far the weakest in the group, that might not mean much.

They didn’t have any time to waste if they didn’t want something drastic to happen.

Sasha nodded as she made a sound of affirmation, immediately heading to pick up her brunette companion and trusting Laurance to do the same for the other.

Zenix had, for the past few minutes, engaged in some kind of discussion with Katelyn. What the discussion was about, Sasha didn’t know, although the looks on the blue-haired woman’s face, combined with what she’s learned about Zenix as a person throughout their many years of knowing each other, didn’t bode well. And he had his back to both her and the entrance of the house, so she couldn’t even gesture at him from behind Katelyn’s back to get him to realise something was wrong.

How annoying.

There was no other way, she was going to have to directly intervene.

As Sasha got closer to the conversation, she began to better hear what it was about.

“I told you, apologise,” Katelyn growled.

Zenix hummed in what appeared to be consideration, “Mmmm, no.” He was taking full advantage of his height to look down on her..

Katelyn began to roll up her sleeves. “I’m warning you-”

Zenix sounded delighted. “What are you gonna do? Hit me because you know you can’t say I’m wrong? Oh no! How scary,” he mocked.

Sasha arrived just in time to prevent an entirely different issue from arising. Normally she couldn’t be bothered to stop this and would just watch, but there were more pressing issues that Zenix would help fix.

She just had to calm down the angry woman that Zenix was goading long enough for him to be able to get to the backyard. Sounds easy.

The only problem was actually doing it. Ugh, there was a reason she went out of her way to not do customer service type jobs.

Sasha stepped in between the two and lightly pushed the two out of each other’s way. “Both of you, calm down.”

“Oh, come on, it was just about to get good,” Zenix groaned. Sasha began to wonder if she should have just gotten Laurance to grab the brunette instead. Or maybe picked up Gene to do it.

“Is this funny to you!?” Katelyn seethed.

Zenix smirked, no doubt about to make the situation worse. Before he could, however, Sasha spoke up.

“Can you both just shut up, I need to talk to Zenix about something”

“No! Your roommate made my friend cry. And he should apologise for it.”

Huh, Sasha hadn’t noticed anyone begin to cry at the party. Maybe she hadn’t been keeping as close an eye as she had thought.

“When? What’d he do?”

Katelyn said, “A few weeks ago, he ran into Kawaii~Chan at the mall. He insulted her and made her cry.”

Wait, this was a few weeks ago? Sasha thinks she vaguely remembers Zenix mentioning it at some point. If she remembered correctly, it happened on one of his dates with Vylad. Whose magic had calmed down a little from when they left the house but should probably still be with Zenix.

Though the more she thought about it, getting Zenix to Vylad was a bigger priority than resolving this conversation in a somewhat peaceful manner. Having Katelyn not be angry at Sasha or Zenix by the time the conversation ended didn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things. At worst it’d be a minor annoyance that could easily be fixed with time. At best… Sasha would admit that she could understand Zenix’s habit of getting under people’s skin on purpose.

She was about to give a response, when suddenly someone sidestepped into the conversation, “Well, this seems to be a lively talk, mind if I join in?” It was Gene, hopefully it meant that he noticed the new arrival and figured out what Sasha was trying to do.

Katelyn seemed disoriented at the new arrival, “Huh?”

Gene continued on talking as if he hadn’t noticed, a smile perfect for customer service set on his face. “I’m getting kind of thirsty actually. Zenix, mind getting us something to drink?” Gene shot her a subtle look and she came to the conclusion that the raven-haired man had noticed and was giving the two an out.

Before Zenix could voice the disagreement he no doubt would have, Sasha intervened, “I’ll go get some stuff too.” She grabbed Zenix by the arm, and began dragging him to the kitchen.

Once they reached the more private area that was the kitchen, Laurance turned around and pointed at Zane before his fellow brunette could say anything. “Zane is in the house, Vylad is outside with Laurance, they'll probably want to see you.”

Zenix’s eyes widened and he turned around to see the black-haired man seemingly talking with Aphmau. Without a word, the Shadow Knight in front of him ran to the backyard, leaving Sasha alone.

Vylad should be fine with Zenix and Laurance. Things should go fine as long as they don’t interact with their sort-of-brother for the rest of the night. Sasha was grateful she didn’t have any complicated sibling relationships to deal with. It sounded exhausting.

Now, she was free to do what she wanted. Maybe she should go see how Gene was planning on getting Katelyn to calm down. From what little she knew of the other woman’s previous incarnation, she could be a bit hotheaded. Admittedly, that may not necessarily mean this version of Katelyn would be similar. After all, none of them were really sure yet of how similar the reincarnates were to their past selves.

Maybe it’d be interesting to get to know these people better to-

Wait. Gene… complicated relationships with siblings… reincarnations of said siblings… Knowing these reincarnations better.

Ah. The reason for Gene’s initial hesitancy to come to the party suddenly made much more sense. If nothing else, it made Sasha’s decision on what to do next easier to make.

She walked back to Gene, who appeared to be in the process of getting Katelyn to calm down. He had his arms raised in a placating manner, while Katelyn had her arms crossed with an annoyed look on her face.

Gene began to say in his customer service voice, “I get why you’re angry, but-”

“But what!? Your roommate made my friend cry, end of story,” Katelyn interrupted.

The attempts to calm her down were clearly failing.

The blue-eyed woman looked over Gene’s shoulder and spotted Sasha. Her eyes moved around a little and then narrowed.

“Where’d he go?” Katelyn asked.

Gene turned around once he heard Katelyn speak to her.

“Vylad wanted him for something,” Sasha responded. “Probably to make out, but I’m not sure,” she added. Hopefully that last bit would dissuade Katelyn from questioning that further.

It appeared to have worked because she instead asked, “Weren’t you going to get a drink.”

Sasha shrugged, “I forgot. Gene, come help me get some drinks.”

“Where did Vylad take Zenix?”

“No idea, didn’t see,” Sasha said as she turned around.

Sasha felt a hand wrap around her wrist and she turned around to find Katelyn had moved forward and grabbed onto her with a surprisingly strong grip.

“You had to have seen where those two went. So until you tell me, you’re not moving,” she demanded. Her expression was one of fierce resolution, her eyes hardened with determination behind the strands of hair that had fallen in front of her face.

She really thought she could demand Sasha do anything? That was arrogant of the woman.

Sasha ripped her hand out of Katelyn’s grasp and stepped back. She rubbed the spot where she was grabbed before realising she was doing it.

“Ok, listen here-” Sasha began to say.

Before Sasha could finish what she was about to say, Gene intervened, “Look, if you really want to talk about what happened at the mall, then we can tell Zenix about it.”

“What I want is for him to apologise to my friend.”

“Then we’ll talk to him about it later. Now let us go, ‘cause I really don’t like how you grabbed my friend.” The tone of his voice changed slightly as he finished his sentence. Where before he sounded tired, there was something more protective in his voice by the end.

Katelyn stepped back and she looked… not quite happy. Satisfied with the outcome is how Sasha would put it. She could only bring herself to muster minor annoyance at that. It was shallow, and would likely fade in a few minutes, but Sasha was most definitely annoyed.

Whatever, regardless of what Sasha may or may not be feeling, she knew that she didn’t want to be face to face with Katelyn. With that interaction over and done with, Sasha lightly tugged Gene’s shirt so he would follow and walked back to the kitchen.

Once they got there, Sasha leaned on the kitchen table and grabbed a small block of cheese from a cheese board that she wasn’t completely sure had been there when the Shadow Knights first arrived. Sasha closed her eyes and focused her ability to sense magic on the friend she had previously been worried about.

She felt it instantly, and while it wasn't calm enough for Sasha to say the situation had been completely fixed, it was noticeably better than before. She’d go as far to say that the intensity of Vylad’s magic signature was dying down by the second.

As Sasha reopened her eyes, she saw that Gene had picked up a semi-circle shaped yellow snack. It was clearly filled with something in the centre and Gene biting into it revealed that it had meat and cheese inside.

“Vylad’s feeling better now,” Sasha commented. She made sure to keep her magical detection ‘activated’ for now. She’d rather not be caught by surprise, and she could manage a conversation while still focusing on her magical sensing.

Gene swallowed his food before saying, “Oh, that’s good. Hopefully they manage to handle seeing Zane more in the future.”

“Yeah.” Time to get to what Sasha actually wanted to talk about. “How are you doing?”

Gene made a questioning noise around his food. “Fine, why are you asking.” He tilted his head a little, causing a bit of his hair to partially cover one of his eyes. He had an easy smile set on his face that looked natural enough.

“Dante,” Sasha said without elaboration.

Immediately, the act that Gene had put up was dropped. His smile slipped into a frown, and he pushed the strands of hair farther from his face. The hand holding the snack he grabbed fell to his side.

“So you figured it out?”

“Yeah, he’s why you felt hesitant at coming over here.” It felt obvious in hindsight. It’s not like Gene’s relationship with his own brother had been particularly better than the one between the old Zane and Vylad.

“Got it in one. But I really am doing fine. I’m not really feeling anything big at seeing him,” Gene shrugged. His smile was one clearly meant to reassure her of this fact.

Sasha raised an eyebrow in response. She had not spent as many nights as she did listening to Gene’s complicated feelings on the matter only to fall for that particular lie.

“Do I need to remind you what led to you becoming one of us?”

“Low blow,” Gene remarked, but he didn’t appear to be particularly affected by it.

“But I’m not wrong, am I?”

Gene sighed, “No. No you’re not.”

“So answ– Someone’s coming.” She felt the magical signature of a member of the party come closer to the living room. Gene instantly went back to a relaxed posture and took another bite of his food. Sasha attempted to replicate her friend’s body language.

If she remembered the signature correctly, the person about to come in was-

A shock of dark blue hair walked into view. It was Dante.

The tan-skinned man walked into the kitchen with an easy smile set on his face and hands stuffed in the pockets of the red jacket he was wearing. Upon seeing the two Shadow Knights, the young man stopped and waved at them, his smile gaining a hint of something Sasha couldn’t quite recognize. He confidently strutted to Sasha’s side and threw something from the snack table into his mouth.

“Hey, you two, hope you’re enjoying the party.”

Gene responded, “It’s been great. The company’s nice, and the food is really good. Compliments to whoever made these.” For emphasis Sasha assumes, Gene took another bite of the food he’d grabbed.

Dante’s smile turned into a smirk and he crossed his arms. “Thanks, I know they’re great, but it feels nice to hear it said.”

Gene’s eyes widened just a tad too far to be genuine for him, “You made these? You must be a really good cook.”

And proud too considering how the man practically started preening at the comment from the black-haired man in front of him. The young man turned to her with a smile that was entirely filled with a confidence Sasha did not want to see.

“And how have you been liking this?” No.

“It’s been fine,” Sasha said noncommittally, very pointedly only turning her body enough to easily keep him in her peripheral..

“Just fine?” Dante questioned, “I’d hate it for such a lovely lady like yourself to not be enjoying this night to your fullest.”

Irene fucking dammit. She knew where this was headed the moment she saw that smile.

…Whatever, there’d be no point in reacting aggressively here. If it actually was a pickup line, it was a tame one all things considered. She’s heard far worse out of Laurance’s mouth.

“No, tonight’s been fun.” At least before the Vylad situation, but that had already been dealt with.

Dante tilted his head and his smile changed. “Are you sure? I’m sure that I can think of a few ways to spice things up. It is New Years after all, and I’ve got nobody to share a kiss with.” Then, the man leaned forward ever so slightly, not enough to be considered close or particularly invasive. But the intent was clear enough.

Sasha turned to look at him and stared. “Drop the flirting, I’m not interested.”

The man backed up and raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. “Sorry, sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.” At least he was self-aware. “I barely know you after all.” Never mind. “But I hope you’re not too offended.” He turned to once again face Gene. “I hope you both continue enjoying the food and the rest of the night. See you later!” With that said, the man waved at them both and winked (clearly aimed at Sasha) and walked back into the main part of the house.

Gene’s expression was one that had radiated disappointment throughout the conversation. Not in an obvious way. The disappointment could be found in the way his eyes just so slightly narrowed and the small downward curl his lips took. Surprisingly expressive for Gene when in public, though Sasha wasn’t one to talk in appearing unemotional.

Sasha waited a moment to make sure no one was close enough to listen or on their way.

“That was…” Gene trailed off.

“Mortifying to witness?”

“Yeah, that’s a good word for it.”

“Whatever, he left and hopefully he won’t be bringing it up later.”

“Here’s to hoping for the best,” Gene chuckled weakly.

“Now, back onto what we were walking about-”

Gene said, “Look, I meant what I said before we left. If I feel like things are going bad, I’ll just leave. I promise.”

The two stared at each other for a bit. Sasha couldn’t see any sign that Gene was lying. And if nothing else, she did trust him to be able to know how to handle himself.

Gene added, “And you had your magic sensing on, right? You can tell my magic didn’t freak out at all.”

That much was true. Sasha may have been distracted with the conversation and flirting, but there hadn’t been any drastic changes in the feeling of Gene’s magic while they had that talk. Nothing that would cause concern.

“Fine,” Sasha relented. “But you should prepare to have this same conversation with Laurance.”

Immediately, Gene’s face dropped. “Ugh, I forgot about him. He won’t let this go as easily as you.”

“Yeah well, that’s just who he is. I think I’m gonna go back over there, you coming?”

Gene waved her off, “No, go on ahead. I think I’ll stick by the food, it’s really good.”

While Sasha had no doubt that was true, they both knew it wasn’t the reason that Gene was choosing to stay in the kitchen. After all, while he may not have completely freaked out at seeing or talking to Dane, she doubted the experience was enjoyable for him considering their past relationship. She didn’t call him out on the lie.

Sasha walked back into the main area of the house, looking for a good position along one of the walls where she could see most of the other people in the house without being approached. She may have agreed to go to the party, but she didn’t feel like talking with others. So she wouldn’t.

The trick was going to a spot that wasn’t entirely isolated so someone wouldn’t approach her for being early, but not close enough that someone else would want to start a conversation with her.

Typically, she’d either sneak into a corner no one was watching or sneak to one of the other Shadow Knights. Neither of which were quite options at the moment.

She knew she’d be staying far away from both Katelyn and Dante, which wouldn’t be hard since they were talking to each other. A quick look around the house revealed that she wouldn’t be the only one standing by herself. Along the wall and near Sasha, Aaron was standing by herself with his phone in hand. How he could see the screen with what was effectively a blindfold on his face was not something Sasha could tell.

If what little she knew of him was accurate, she could comfortably go stand next to him and he wouldn’t start a conversation.

Sasha walked over towards the taller man and stopped next to him. Leaning on the wall and pulling out her own phone from her pocket.

She began to watch all the members of the house. Most of what they were doing was boring, but keeping an eye on them all at once had at least some semblance of productivity. And if she got lucky, she’d see something somewhat interesting that she could go and question later. Most of the time the interesting things happened when she was doing this type of stuff in a public outside area, but she had nothing better to do.

In the first few minutes that passed, nothing interesting happened. Just everyone in the party talking to each other and appearing to have fun. Vylad and Zenix had reentered the house but were keeping to themselves on the couch. The fact she hadn’t seen Laurance return and that Gene also hadn’t left the kitchen hinted that the black-haired man was currently being grilled by the brunette. Probably much more intensely than Sasha herself had.

Other than that, the only thing that might be considered noteworthy was whatever was going on with Garroth and Zane. The blonde clearly trying and failing to initiate conversation with the shorter man. Emphasis on failing by the expression on his face.

Though there was one other thing Sasha noticed, not that it was happening in front of her. No, ever since Sasha had decided to stand next to him, the man next to her had begun to look somewhat twitchy. The hand that wasn’t holding his phone seemed to be rotating between clenching closed and reaching out towards her before falling back down. It wasn’t big movement, but Sasha kept seeing it just in the peripheral of her vision.

Clearly, he had something to say, but Sasha didn’t know what. She was considering whether or not she should answer.

On the one hand, his repeated attempts and failures to speak up showed that it wasn’t something easy for him to say. Despite that, he clearly still wanted to say it. On the other hand, she doubted it was anything important. Or even interesting enough to listen to. She didn’t get why he appeared to be so anxious about saying it though.

If she had to deal with someone else flirting with her again…

Aaron interrupted her musings, “Is your friend ok?” It was blurted out with no preamble.

“What?” What did the man mean? Who was he talking about?

“Your roommate. Are they ok?” he unhelpfully elaborated. “I think Aph said that they’re name was Vylad.”

What? Had he somehow realised what had happened with Vylad earlier? But how? Vylad’s reaction hadn’t gotten bad enough to be visible. The only possible way that he could know there was something wrong with Vylad was for him to have some exceptional ability to sense magic. Which admittedly, isn’t entirely out of the question considering how much of a mangled mess Aaron’s magic signature is.

Normally, Sasha is able to tell when someone has at least some of an affinity for magic, it becomes recognizable in people’s signatures after seeing them for a while. But while Sasha can tell there’s more magic than is usual in Aaron, she can’t be sure if it translates into being able to perceive it well.

But back onto the conversation at hand. “What do you mean?” She tilted her head slightly as she asked.

Suddenly, he appeared to retreat into himself, “Ah, it’s just– earlier. I just felt- no, it’s dumb, sorry for asking.” He began to turn back to his phone. With his other hand he pulled his hood up to cover his head further.

Absolutely not. She wanted to know what clued the man in. “No, I want you to tell me.”

The man entirely froze before turning to her once again. She had her arms crossed and was shooting him an expectant look. Not that she was sure if he could see it.

“A little bit ago, I got this weird feeling. It was… it felt like something telling me something was wrong with him?” Vague, but still pointed to something magical. Sasha had no idea what that meant, if he had an acute enough sense for magic that he could feel the fluctuations in Vylad’s magic after they saw Zane, then surely he had to be aware of what it was.

But the way he described it… it didn’t quite feel like just magic either. If he’d said he got a weird feeling about Vylad, then maybe. But Aaron had specifically mentioned a weird feeling he had telling him something was off. It might be a werewolf thing? Sasha hadn’t ever known any werewolves on a personal level, so it wasn’t out of the question.

Sasha genuinely had no idea what this could be caused by. It was something that was very likely entirely new to her. She… She might want to try and find out more, who knows, it might be useful. Bound to be interesting anyways.

But it looked like she took too long to respond, because the taller man backed down again. “Sorry, I was being weird.”

“No, it’s fine. Not like you were wrong.” She still wanted to try and figure out how he’d noticed.

The tall man made a confused noise at the back of his throat.

“They were feeling kind of overwhelmed, so some of my roommates took them outside to relax a little.” Technically not a lie.

“That’s good,” Aaron nodded with a neutral expression. They turned back to their phone.

Darn it. She still wanted to see if she could figure out more. They both remained silent for a while, part of Sasha wondering

“Why’d you choose to ask? ”

The man startled slightly. He turned his head to the direction where Vylad indeed was. “I noticed them come back in.”

“What?”

“...The feeling was gone when I saw them come back in.”

Something else she was curious about. “Why’d you cover your eyes like that?”

“Light sensitive. Never been a problem to walk around with it,” he said with no further elaboration. It was said in a tone that was both blank, but terse. Awkward almost.

She wasn’t sure if she believed him. He probably could walk around fine with it, but she didn’t buy the part about his eyes being sensitive. His previous answers had felt too short too. At least if he wanted to continue the conversation, which he didn’t appear to.

If Sasha wanted to find out more, it’d be easier to do so if she thought about what she could ask later. Now was probably not the time to dig too deeply.

Best to end the conversation in a polite way. “Well, thank you for checking in at least.”

He stared at her for a moment with a weird look on what she could see of his face. His nose was scrunched ever so slightly and his lips dipping downwards. He nodded slowly instead of responding verbally and went back to his phone. It was silent between the two of them again, not in a way that was particularly better than before.

The more she thought about it, there was something else she could do if she wanted to try and figure out more.

Not that it was guaranteed to do anything, but she did want to see it again anyways. She focused her senses, and let the magic around her become more tangible to her. More specifically she looked deeper into Aaron’s magic signature without looking directly at him.

It was the same as it had been when she first saw it. The slight burst of cold at the center of it all denoted werewolves, the rotten feelings of something that is wrong tangled into it in such a way that it obscured the cold. Other than that, nothing interesting to note, just as she had expected. With the exception of the slight Nether magic mixed in with the aspect of him that labelled the man a werewolf, there was nothing out of the ordinary with his magic anywhere else.

So about what she expected. It granted no new insight into anything.

Well, nothing else to do for now. For now she would just wait until the party ended so she could go home. Maybe then she’d be able to think up some other ways to figure out just what exactly was wrong with the man’s magic. Aaron’s weird magic is one of the most interesting thing she’d seen in a while.

It’d be a shame not to look into it more.

Although his was certainly not the only magic signature that was worth looking into a bit more. The one to most interest her, but not the only one that seemed odd.

But all of that could wait. Questions to ask later.

She checked the time to see how much more the party would last and was disappointed that there were still a few hours until midnight.

Great, a few hours in which she needed to wait, and now that Vylad had calmed down as well as the fact she had a feeling not much would come out of talking with Aaron, there wasn’t anything interesting to do while she waited.

Still, wait she did. The hours passed slowly until it was around an hour to midnight. The guests of the house had all moved round in between the hours, but Sasha herself stuck to the walls. By herself now that Aaron had left. Only interacting with others when approached. Which her roommates all did at different points of the night to talk.

They weren’t the only ones that had come to talk to her, but they were the only ones with which she actively engaged in conversation. Others, like Travis and Garroth had tried to talk to her out of what she assumed was just politeness, but she didn’t feel like talking to them. So she gave short, one-word answers until they gave up and left.

Apart from that, she’d stayed by herself for most of the party. Not that Sasha minded, she’s never really had problems when it came to being by herself.

She preferred it sometimes. Which is why she didn’t feel particularly pleased when she was approached by Aphmau.

The short woman walked up to her with a giddy smile on her face and stopped right in front of her. Sasha braced herself for whatever conversation the woman would try and have with her. She didn’t look angry, so Sasha at least wouldn’t have to deal with a pointless argument.

“You were talking to Aaron earlier, right?” Aphmau asked unprompted.

“Yes.” Sasha wasn’t sure what she was expecting to be asked but it wasn’t that.

Aphmau’s smile brightened. “Thank you for that!” What. “Aaron tends to be really shy around people and doesn’t really talk to others. So seeing him actually talk to someone he doesn’t really know was nice. And I know that he can look kind of intimidating to others, so I’m sure that he appreciates how casually you looked when talking to him. Even if he didn’t say it out loud. So on his behalf, thanks!.” The short woman was practically bouncing around with cheer as she said this.

On the other hand Sasha remained entirely silent as she continued to lean on the wall, internally thinking that was a weird thing to thank her for. If it were Aaron himself saying this, she could understand, but his friend doing that felt weird.

When Sasha’s silence stretched out long enough to make it clear she wouldn’t respond, Aphmau spoke up again, “Well, that was all I wanted to say. Bye!” The tan woman then walked off to one of her friends and left Sasha alone.

After that particular interaction, nothing notable happened for the next few minutes. After a while the doorbell rang again. It was definitely well under an hour until midnight, a pretty late arrival.

Someone went to the front door, presumably to see who had arrived.

Sasha wasn’t sure who it could be. Whoever it was, they didn’t have the bright flare of magic that witches and warlocks had, so she knew it wasn’t that ginger witch that she’d met at the Christmas party.

Maybe it was the trio that had come to the party at Aphmau’s house. Sasha didn’t remember their names, just that they all looked really weird. Or maybe it was that other meif’wa that’d been at the party. The one Laurace didn’t like,

Well, regardless, Sasha doubted that whoever it was would be all that interesting to talk with.

Or at least that’s what she thought would happen because the sight she was greeted with once she saw who had entered caused her to completely freeze.

It was two people, both of which she recognized very well. She doubted she’d ever be able to forget them.

The shorter of the two was a brunette man with pale skin and brown eyes. He wore round-rimmed glasses that were strangely reminiscent of a pair of goggles, and a thick, dark orange Christmas sweater with a Christmas tree design on the center.

Besides him was a woman only slightly taller than the brunette. Her blonde hair was so light it looked almost bleached as it went down to her back. She was wearing glasses, but her’s were square shaped instead of being circular. Behind them were a pair of dark, indigo eyes. She was wearing a woollen sweater that looked thinner to that of her companion’s, as well as a scarf. The sweater was lilac colored with no design on it, while the scarf was a slight shade darker with a floral pattern on it.

It was Kenmur and Emmalyn. The man that she’d used to be the fiancé of, and the woman that he ended up marrying after Sasha had… died.

Sasha supposed it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise to see them. Most of the other people in the house were almost exact replicas of other people from back then. Eventually seeing reincarnations of Kenmur and Emmalyn shouldn’t come off as too big of a surprise.

Though there really was only one real way to check if their identical appearances were only coincidental, despite how unlikely the possibility was.

So yet again, Sasha focused her ability to sense magic on the two newcomers. Instantly, she saw what she expected to see within Kenmur. It was a near perfect replica of the magic signature of the man she once loved in his magic. It was a signature defined by what Sasha would almost call a desire for growth. Something excited in its need to learn more of what it wants to learn. Something that perfectly matched how eager he was in learning more about whatever caught his interests. There were some small differences of course, but it was overall recognizable as nearly the same signature. Yet again, more similar than it could be for anything other than some sort of reincarnation.

What Sasha actually found interesting was the signature that Emmalyn had. While Sasha admittedly had much less experience interacting with the old Emmalyn than she did Kenmur, she still felt that she had a pretty good grasp on what her magic signature was like, after all, similar people tended to have some significant similarities in their magic signatures. The Kenmur and Emmalyn from back then had definitely been similar people. Not to say that the signatures were oddly similar, just that they shared that intrinsic desire for knowledge.

Which was definitely present in the woman Sasha was seeing, it just felt much softer than she was used to. From what she remembered, Emmalyn’s desire had been fierce and almost wild in nature. If Kenmur’s magic felt like an excited search for knowledge, then Emmalyn’s was a ravenous hunger that could only be quelled by obtaining knowledge from whatever sources she could get her hands on. Something that Sasha could somewhat see in the woman now in front of her. But it was a much softer feeling than it should.

Even the general differences that all the people in the house had with who they were lookalikes wouldn’t account for such a stark difference. The blonde woman from this time period absolutely had a drive for knowledge inherent to her magic, but it was nowhere near as ravenous as the one from before. Overall, everything about her magic felt softer in all ways that Sasha could notice.

At the same time that Sasha had been pondering on the magic signatures of the two new guests, someone had excitedly went over to greet them. More specifically, Aphmau.

Which just so happened to let her realise what exactly felt so off to her about Emmalyn’s magic. It was the same kind of ‘anomaly’ that she’d seen in Aphmau. As if someone had somehow grabbed pieces of the magic signature of the old versions of each woman, and melded them together with something different. Effectively creating a situation where the magic signature felt like something that was both old and new at once. Pieces of their predecessors shone through, but didn’t completely overshadow what was new.

Which as far as Sasha was aware, wasn’t something that should be possible.

Sasha wondered if the similarities and differences in their magic signatures would mean similarities and differences in personality. She hadn’t ever got to know any of the other past versions of the rest of the people in the house to tell, not like the rest of her roommates. But she had gotten more than well acquainted with Kenmur and Emmalyn. At least enough to notice and glaring differences in personality.

Only one way to find out. Might even be somewhat fun.

No point in waiting around. It was nearing midnight and Sasha doubted she’d get another chance to check.

She stopped leaning against the wall and walked towards the two newcomers with a casual step. Aphmau was still talking to the two as Sasha approached. Just as she was thinking of how to best interject in the conversation, Aphmau made the decision for her.

“Oh, Sasha! I need to introduce you to some people,” Aphmau called once she got Sasha. Well, a direct invite into the conversation certainly made things easier for her. The short woman gestured at the two newcomers to follow, and brought them over to her, greeting whatever small groups of people they passed along the way.

“Emmalyn, Kenmur, this is Sasha, my new neighbor,” Aphmau gestured to her in order to introduce her. “Sasha, these are some friends from high school, Kenmur and Emmalyn.”

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you,” Kenmur held his hand out. Emmalyn nodded in agreement with a small smile on her face.

Sasha reached to shake his hand and said, “Same here.” Surprisingly it wasn’t a lie on her end. It was genuinely nice to see him again, despite how everything ended. Or maybe because of how things ended.

“Oh, right!” Aphmau interrupted, “Emmalyn studied the time period of the Second War of Irene in university. You said you were interested in it back at the Christmas party, right?”

Emmalyn turned to fully look at her with a gleam in her eyes that Sasha could only describe as excited. Or maybe even a touch competitive.

“Really? How much do you know?” she asked.

“Not that much, I found it interesting in high school for a bit so I studied it for a while,” Saasha downplayed how much she knew. She was more interested in seeing how Emmalyn would react and see if she could spot any big personality differences.

“Oh, come on,” Aphmau pushed, “talk about it. Emmalyn said it’s kind of hard to find people who are interested in it.” Aphmau turned to Emmalyn. “You said it’s normally only like, super religious people that ever talk about it outside of history classes, right?”

Emmalyn groaned, “Yeah, and then they only ever focus on Irene like she’s the only interesting part of that time in history and completely ignore everything else. It’s so annoying. I can’t be the only one that thinks the sociopolitical connections between the villages are much more interesting than the actual war. It’s not like it was any more or less destructive than any other war.”

Sasha instantly noted that there was a shared interest in the past, though specific time period changed. Which made sense. And she sounded just as eager and excited to talk about the time as expected.

“I talk to you about it…” Kenmur muttered.

Emmalyn turned to the other brunette with a soft smile, “Yeah, but I know it’s not really something that interests you. It’s different to talk about it with someone who’s actually personally interested.” At the threat of a frown from Kenmur, the blonde rushed to say, “But I really do appreciate that you looked into it for me. I know you don’t really like history so… it meant a lot.”

At the sight of the blonde’s smile, Kenmur’s face began to develop a red tint. Aphmau was looking between the two with a growing smile on her face. Some of the similarities between the people in front of her and their counterparts from back then really were obvious to see. Not just in their physical appearance. Only a short conversation was enough for Sasha to see that.

Another similarity, this time for both. Kenmur was still considerate about the people he cared about and willing to learn things that might not interest him so that he can talk about it with people that are interested. Meanwhile Emmalyn shared an appreciation for those willing to learn about her interests with her past self. And both wore their hearts on their sleeves.

Time to see if she could find more. “Sociopolitical stuff didn’t really interest me. It was-”

“But it’s so cool!” Emmalyn interrupted with a fiery look in her eyes. “The way that all the alliances began to be made with Phoenix Drop at the center to later become the Phoenix Alliance before the way is so intriguing. Especially considering the fact that so many villages had lost their lords recently and new ones came into power as the alliances were first being made. I know some say it was the ‘Shadow Knight’ or whatever but that army was only made 15 years later in the war with Tu’la. And the whole mythical demon aspect of them is clearly nothing more than a myth based on folklore at the time.” Sasha was right there. “But the really weird part is that most of the lords who took over after the death of previous ones were recorded to be related to the old ones in some ways. Except for the lord of Phoenix Drop. She was only recorded to be lord for around a year, but there are literally no other records about her before and the only records from after came from 15 later. But she all but dropped off the grid between that time despite there being existing accounts for a lot of people said to be close to her, like the man who would become the head Guard of Phoenix Drop for the next few years. And… I am so sorry I started rambling, and I didn’t notice, and oh gosh this is so embarrassing.” The blonde woman’s voice lost the passion it had throughout the rant and became much higher as a blush rose to her face. The woman proceeded to hide her face in her hands.

“Emmalyn, there’s no need to be embarrassed,” Kenmur reassured. The brunette went closer to her and gently laid a reassuring hand on her back.

Aphmau jumped in to do the same,“Yeah! I’m sure Sasha doesn’t mind, right?” She turned and shot Sasha a look that clearly conveyed what she wanted.

“It’s fine. It is pretty interesting stuff.” For someone who hadn’t personally lived through it.

Emmalyn slowly raised her hand and Aphmau stepped away.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Well, Sasha just noticed a big difference between the two Emmalyn’s behavior. The old one would have never apologized for going on a rant about her interests. She would’ve continued talking until she was done or someone forced her to stop. The first difference, she wondered if there’d be more.

Emmalyn nodded, though the blush didn’t leave her face as she slowly turned her head to stare at Kenmur. Who just so happened to still have his hand on her back despite the lack of need for reassurance being gone.

The short brunette seemed to notice this as he practically jumped back and squeaked, “Oh, I am so sorry. I didn’t realize I-” His face had begun to compete with the blonde’s for whose could get redder.

“No, no! It’s fine, I didn't mind you touching me.” The blonde immediately realized how that phrase could be taken as she immediately squeaked, “I mean having someone comfort me like that was nice. Physical contact can reduce tension and-” the woman continued to ramble with a red face.

Well, that’s yet another similarity with both. Sasha let herself show a small smile at the flushed pair. A look at Aphmau revealed a much bigger smile on the tanned woman’s face. So she noticed the same thing that Sasha had. Though there was an interesting shine in the woman’s eyes Sasha felt that she lacked.

As the two flushed newcomers began to calm down, someone joined in on the conversation.

“Emmalyn, Kenmur! Glad you two could make it,” Dante waved as he came closer to the small group.

“Oh, Dante. Thank you for inviting us to come over,” said Emmalyn with a face that was almost back to its regular coloration.

“No need to thank me. If anything I should be the one thanking you.”

Emmalyn tilted her head in a questioning manner while Kenmur let out a confused sound behind her. Aphmau however, let out a long-suffering sigh that clued Sasha in on what was about to happen.

“After all… I should be more than grateful for the chance to see, much less talk to, someone as beautiful as you are,” Dante said with a wink.

There it is.

Emmalyn’s face immediately reddened once more. “H-Huh!?” Behind the blonde, Kenmur’s face also reddened, though his scowl implied it was for a different reason.

Dante ignored the latter’s reactions and continued to focus on the woman in front of him. “What? It’s true. You’re a beautiful lady, and I know we’re already nearing midnight, but it’d be a shame not to spend the rest of the night together. We don’t know each other that well, I feel like we should change that. Sasha’s invited too, of course.”

Emmalyn and Kenmur’s faces were both red but one looked significantly grumpier than the other. Another thing that hadn’t changed with him. His face gets just as red when faced with something that annoys him in the way Dante no doubt did.

Before anyone responded to Dante’s flirtation, Aphmau stepped forward and grabbed him by the red sleeve of his jacket.

“Sorry about him,” she cheerfully said before beginning to drag him further into the house while ignoring his protests.

Sasha doubted she’d have to deal with more of Dante before the night was over thanks to Aphmau. Though Dante did at least provide a somewhat believable reason to leave as Sasha felt like she’d seen all she wanted to.

It may have been a brief interaction, but it revealed a few things to her. Kenmur appeared to be extremely similar to how she’d remembered him being. Kind, considerate, easily flustered, and equally annoyed when someone flirts with a person he likes. Maybe a further talk would reveal some differences, but Sasha doubted it.

Emmalyn on the other hand, had quite a few differences, and admittedly some similarities. The biggest was her love and passion for knowledge, arguably one of the things that defined the version of her from the past most. Another similarity was that she could get someone flustered if she said something without thinking through how the words could be misconstrued. Though the differences were what interested Sasha most. The old Emmalyn would never have gotten embarrassed for speaking of her passions too much, not even if she faced ridicule. And she’d also have wasted no time in turning someone down if she wasn’t interested, which she didn’t do with Dante.

While the impression Sasha got from Kenmur was someone who was mostly the same to his past self. Emalyn only appeared to share the things that made Emmalyn most herself along some smaller stuff, while her differences changed parts of how she acted. The blonde felt soft in a way her past self wasn’t.

Whatever, things to think about later on. For now, she’d just wait until the party was over.

Sasha waved goodbye to the pair and walked towards the wall next to the corridor in order to wait out the minutes until the party ended. Once she got there, she went back to leaning against the wall and pulled out her phone. There were around 20 more minutes until midnight, so around 20 more minutes of waiting. She didn’t feel like mindlessly scrolling on the phone, and she didn’t want to bother with going out to talk with people either.

So 20 minutes of watching the guests at the party was what she’d do. Not like it was all that long anyways, and she could spend the time mulling over the two interesting things she learned that night.

Or so was her plan until a certain brunette roommate of her’s came to talk.

“Sasha, are you doing ok?” Laurance for some reason asked once he got close to her.

“Hm?”

“You know, with Emmalyn and Kenmur being here,” Laurance elaborated with a worried look on his face.

So that’s what this was about. Sasha felt like she would be well in her rights to be annoyed at the man’s apparent lack of faith in her ability to keep her emotions in check. But she wasn’t, so she held back on telling him that asking her that was a waste of time.

“I’m fine,” Sasha waved off the man’s concern, “I’m over them. And everything that ended up happening with him… and her.”

Laurance looked at her as if trying to gauge whether or not she was telling the truth. “Are you sure? The two of you were-”

“I could ask something similar to you, you know? He was your best friend for most of your childhood.”

“That’s different. The two of us weren’t engaged,” he refuted.

“Just because I was engaged at one point doesn’t mean anything anymore. I made my peace about him and moved on ages ago. I promise.”

Laurance still looked a bit doubtful, but eventually nodded. “If you’re sure. And for the record, I’d say you were my best friend back then.”

Oh… she hadn't expected that.

“Only back then? I see that Zenix replaced me on that end?” she teased.

Laurance snickered good-naturedly, “That’s not what I mean and you know it.”

“Whatever you say. But for the record… I’m glad we were friends before all this.”

Laurance smiled softly. “Me too Sasha.”

That was more than enough softness for her.

“Now shoo, I wanna be by myself for now. You know how I am.”

“Yeah, yeah. Always the introvert. See you in a bit.” Laurance said before going back to the rest of the party.

The next few minutes passed with no interruptions, something that would last the end of the night if Sasha got lucky. She spent her time watching the guests of the party with the interest of someone who had nothing better to do. Except for Zane doing the same as her and staying completely by himself, there really wasn’t anything worthy of note.

Sasha supposed that was a good thing, arguably better than having a repeat of the situation Vylad had earlier.

And she expected for things to continue like that, at least until she saw Emmalyn drag Aphmau towards the bathroom, the blonde having an odd look on her face Sasha wasn’t sure she liked.

She sighed internally. Well, the night certainly wouldn’t end up passing by uneventfully. The question was whether or not it was something worth looking at.

… She had nothing better to do.

Sasha followed the two into the bathroom, closing the door behind her and found Emmalyn looking very anxious in front of the mirror.

“Emmalyn, I’m sure it’ll be fine. You don’t need to worry.”

“But what if he doesn’t? I’m not even sure how to ask.”

“Just go up to him and ask. He’ll say yes.”

“But-”

“What’s happening here?” Sasha interjected.

Both of the women jumped and turned around, shock clear on their faces.

“Oh, Sasha. Irene… don’t scare us like that. I didn't even hear you coming in,” Aphmau said with her hand to her chest as she took a relieved breath.

Sasha shrugged noncommittally in response. She still didn’t know why Emmalyn was in the state she was.

“I want to ask Kenmur to be my New Year’s Kiss but I don’t know how to ask!” Emmalyn blurted out.

So that’s what this was about. “I don’t see a problem, just tell him that you wanna kiss and see how it goes.”

“I can’t do that!” Emmalyn squeaked, “I’m too shy! I barely know how to talk to guys.”

“You were talking to him just fine earlier,” Aphmau pointed out.

“It’s not the same thing. Talking to him as a friend and talking to him with the intention of kissing him are totally different!” A look like an idea came to her flashed across Emmalyn’s face. “Aphmau! You’ve always been good with guys, tell me what to do.”

Well, this looked to be handled. Sasha could just leave and see how it goes in a few minutes.

“Err… I wouldn’t say I’m great with guys. Sasha, can you please stay and help?”

Sasha turned around to say no but saw a pleading look on Aphmau’s face and a somewhat more desperate one on Emmalyn’s. Ugh, Sasha’d feel bad if she said no to her.

She leaned against the bathroom door and stood there. She tilted her head the side in order to prompt the girls to continue, a few strands of hair getting in front of her eyes as she did.

Aphmau started by grabbing both of Emmalyn’s hands and holding them in her own. “The most important thing about asking out a guy is being yourself, it won’t go anywhere meaningful if you aren’t.”

“But what if he doesn’t like that?” Emmalyn asked.

“Then you shouldn’t be with him.” Both of the women turned to stare at her. “What? If you act like yourself and he doesn’t like you in the way you hoped, then you just shouldn’t be together,” she shrugged.

“Sasha’s being a bit blunt, but she has a point. Even if you’re shy, you need to talk to him to get to know each other better. Only then can a relationship develop,” Aphmau clarified gently.

“Though, I guess you two probably know each other well enough.”

Emmalyn blushed slightly and Aphmau giggled.

However, another flash of panic came across the blonde’s face. “Oh Irene, how do I look? What if he says no because he thinks I don’t look nice?”

Aphmau smiled and visibly squeezed the other woman’s hands slightly. “Dear, don’t worry about how you look. You look beautiful.”

“Also, I know I only just met him, but he doesn’t strike as the type to really care about other people’s appearance.” Somewhat of a lie on Sasha’s end. She may have only met this Kenmur a few minutes ago, but she was mainly relying on the knowledge she had on the one she had gotten to know.

The anxiety on Emmalyn’s face lessened. “N-no, he really isn’t. He never even comments on it when I look like a mess after spending all night researching stuff.

Aphmau chuckled before continuing, “Now, for the kiss. You need to make sure both you and him are ok with it. Give him a look before going for it, like this.” Aphmau put on a look that looked flirty, a coy smile and she batted her eyelashes.

“It might be better to just ask him directly. There’s no chance of him misunderstanding if you’re direct,” Sasha pointed out.

“But what if that forwardness turns him off?” Aphmau countered

“A-are you sure?” Emmalyn asked Sasha.

Sasha shrugged, “At the end of the day it’s your choice, do whatever you want.”

Aphmau dropped Emmalyn’s hands with a sigh, “That is true.” Sasha looked at the clock on the wall and saw just how close to striking 12 it was.

“Well, if you’re gonna do it you have to do it now. It’s nearly midnight.”

Both of the other women looked at the clock and jumped.

“You’re right! Go on Emmalyn, we believe in you!” Aphmau said before pulling the blonde towards the door. Sasha stepped aside from the women’s charge.

She followed the two out of the room as Kenmur came out of one of the bedrooms, Garroth and Laurance behind him for some reason. Kenmur was completely red in the face and his hair looked like it had just been gelled. Emmalyn was standing ramrod straight with her hands at her sides as her fingers fiddled with the sides of her pants.

Sasha moved to get a view on both of their faces and Aluarance seemed to have the same idea as her. With both herself and Laurance standing like spectators to the side, the entire scene was completely visible, revealing that Emmalyn and Kenmore were as red as each other.

Aphmau and Garroth had remained standing behind the person they had come out of the room with, both looking excited about what was about to happen.

Kenmur led out a string of noises that Sasha didn’t think constituted as words.

Garroth took a step forward so he was still a bit behind Kenmur but now somewhat to his left as well. “What he means is that you’re looking lovely.”

Kenmur’s face reddened further.

“Umm…” Emmalyn began to say.

“She thinks you look lovely as well,” Aphmau interrupted, taking a similar position to Garroth.

“Neither of us said anything,” Emmalyn pointed out meekly. Kenmur made a small sound of agreement.

“Kenmur wants to kiss you!” Garroth announced, completely ignoring the person he was talking for.

Laurance let out a dismayed sigh that Sasha understood all too well.

“Woah, that is way too forward,” Aphmau said, doing the same thing to Emmalyn Garroth was doing to Kenmur.

“Well, maybe Kenmur just thinks being forward is the best way to do this!” Garroth said as if he’d given Kenmur the opportunity to speak a single word.

Kenmur opened his mouth to say something but couldn’t because Aphmau said, “Well, maybe Emmalyn doesn’t appreciate someone being that blunt about wanting a kiss. And anyways-” Sasha began to tune that entire derailed discussion out.

Instead, she turned her head to Laurance. “So you got dragged into helping Kenmur?”

“Yep. You with Emmalyn?” Laurence asked above the noise of Garroth saying something in response to Aphmau.

“Mhm.” Garroth and Aphmau had quickly turned it into a debate with each other instead of what was the original purpose.

“Yeah, it’s… not going well is it?”

The fact that both Kenmur and Emmalyn looked more like children trapped between arguing adults instead of people that wanted to kiss each other said enough.

“Did you expect this when you came out of the room?”

“Did you?” Laurance asked incredulously.

Kenmur and Emmalyn had began to use the fact that Aphmau and Garroth were distracted to step away from them.

“No, but maybe those two will actually get to talk now.”

“One can hope,” Laurance chuckled.

The blonde woman and the brunette man’s faces once again turned red, but a noticeably lighter shade as they talked to each other. The other two contrasted them by the redness in their cheeks probably having come from the arguing.

The clock came another minute closer to midnight and Sasha made a noncommittal noise of agreement.

“Well, have you enjoyed the party?” Laurance asked as the two watched the pair in front of them step closer to each other.

Sasha thought back to the events of the night. The scare with Vylad, seeing Zane arrive, the confrontation with Katelyn, digging into Gene’s issues, learning Aaron probably had at least a somewhat sensitive perception to magic, and most of all seeing the reincarnations of Kenmur and Emmalyn.

“The night wasn’t totally boring.”

Laurance made a dramatic gasp. “Oh my, ‘not totally boring’ high praise coming from you. Glad you enjoyed the night. It was nice to come here.”

And as the clock finally struck midnight and the brunette and blonde shared a kiss like the versions of them from so long ago did, Sasha found a part of herself agreeing with her friend’s statement.

Chapter Text

It was a few days after New Year’s and soon the trio of men at Travis’ home would need to go back to work. But for now, he and Garroth were sitting at the dinner table as Dante was in the kitchen preparing to make their food.

He was having a nice conversation with both his roommates, ignoring the lingering pain around his ribs. He was having a nice talk, and most of his day after waking up had been fun and enjoyable. It was a nice, comfortable atmosphere, and he refused to ruin that by bringing up the bits of pain that he was already somewhat used to anyways. There’d be no point in bringing it up.

“Hey, do either of you remember where I put the garlic?” Dante called.

“I know. Let me get it for you!” Travis called back as he quickly turned his body and stood up. An action that he quickly regretted due to how it caused the pain in his ribs to suddenly sharpen in magnitude. An involuntary wince was drawn from how unexpected the pain was, despite it being something Travis should’ve known would happen.

Travis straightened up and turned to look at his companion at the table and
friend in the kitchen respectively, an excuse for his reaction already on his lips. At least it was until he saw the narrowed look in Garroth’s eyes, and the same look mirrored in his blue-haired friend’s.

Shit, they noticed.

“Travis,” Garroth said slowly, “how long did you have your binder on today?”

Travis could technically lie and say he had taken it off recently, but that would maybe only fool Garroth. But Dante had known him for more than long enough to be able to tell whether or not he was lying over this. And Travis didn’t feel like having that same old conversation again.

“All day?” Travis said weakly, not meaning for it to come off as a question.

“Travis,” Dante said with concern lacing his tone, “you know you’re not supposed to wear those for more than 8 hours a day.”

“I know, I know. I’m sorry, it’s just that… today was bad, ok?” Bad in the way that he knew as soon as he woke up that he needed to flatten his chest as much as he could or he’d be miserable all day. Bad in the way that even small reminders were going to be too much for him. Bad in a way that made walking in his own skin unbearable. Bad in a way that thankfully wasn’t common, but occurred more often than he would like.

“You don’t need to apologize,” Dante sighed in a tired repeat of the conversation they’ve had before.

“I’ll go take it off now,” Travis begrudgingly relented.

“Thank you,” Dante said with a smile.

As Travis began to walk back to his room, carefully as to make sure to not aggravate his ribs more, Garroth offered, “You can go and grab one of the sweaters from my room if you want. Those help you deal with this type of thing better, right?”

Garroth was large, much larger than both Dante and Travis. If he wore one of the blonde’s sweaters, he would be absolutely drowning in it. But more importantly, it would probably completely cover his body and hide… certain parts of his body.

“Yeah, I think I’ll do that. Thanks.” Travis quickly walked back to his room down the hall.

He entered the door to his room and was greeted by the familiar shade of the emerald-painted room. He made sure the window blinds were shut so it’d be impossible to see from the outside and walked up to the walk-in closet in the corner of the room farthest from the door. He began to take off his clothes in front of the full-body mirror that rested next to the closet.

First went the dark green hoodie that he’d been wearing all day, leaving the white shirt he’d been wearing beneath and letting the clothes fall around him. He began to move hesitantly and slowly so as to not aggravate the pain around his ribs, take off the shirt as well. Leaving him to only have his long pants and the piece of cloth that matched his skin tone and managed to cover and flatten his chest. Travis took a deep breath before slowly rolling up the front of the binder and taking care to touch his chest as little as possible. Then, he grabbed the back of the binder and pulled it above his head before letting it fall to the floor.

His eyes closed as the binder fell to the floor as he took a moment for some breaths now that his ribs felt less restrained. Slowly, he opened his eyes and hated what he saw. Someone whose body was thankfully somewhat androgynous but leaned too close to feminine for his liking. Hips a touch too wide, not enough body hair around his arms or face. The lack of protrusion in his throat that most other men have. And most noticeable, the part Travis hates the most… the sacks of fat tissue that were hanging off of his chest that he could most definitely do without.

No, no he shouldn’t focus on that. He knows the only thing doing that achieves is to make his mood worse. Travis left the clothes on the floor and opened the closet doors to dig around for a bra. He put on a comfortable one before going back to the discarded articles of clothing on the floor and putting it over his body.

Travis looked back into the mirror and what he saw as… better than before. He didn’t enjoy the sight to any degree. The hoodie helped but it wasn’t enough. He could still see the outline of his breasts push the hoodie forward. If he went out like this, people on the street would probably still be able to notice that he had breasts.

It was too much.

But… it- it’d be fine. Garroth said he could borrow one of the man’s much larger hoodies, and that hopefully would be able to cover the lumps on his chest completely.

The white-haired man left his room and carefully yet briskly moved to the room of his blonde roommate. He opened the door and went straight to the drawer that he knew held most of the larger man’s sweaters, jackets, and hoodies. He dug through it a bit before a cerulean hoodie caught his eye.

He pulled it out and examined it closer. Any of the blonde’s hoodies would work, but he’d still like one that feels nice to use. The texture was nice, it was most definitely big enough, and he liked the color… Might as well.

Travis pulled the giant-on-him hoodie and pulled it over his head, it easily slipped on him and felt nice. It was a bit big, it fell right above his knees and he had to roll up the sleeves so it wouldn’t completely cover his hands. But the large size was the point.

He looked at himself in the mirror and was much happier with what he saw. The larger hoodie helped completely hide his breasts so the outline was no longer visible. It was a bit warm, but it wasn’t unbearable. Plus he was feeling less horrible about his body! So it was worth it.

Garroth's hoodie was so big that the collar was almost slipping onto his shoulders, the sleeves were constantly threatening to hide the view of his hands, and it reached far below his waist. But Travis was actually ok with his appearance. Sure, he could still feel the weight on his chest, but that was manageable.

As long as they weren’t visible, he could manage.

The emerald-eyed man took another moment to breathe for the sake of his ribs. The pain would linger for a while, but he was dealing just fine with the binder on and the pain was lessened now.

He made sure to put Garroth’s clothing back in its place –he wouldn’t wanna make a mess out of the man’s room after all– before leaving and going back to his roommates.

When he got back to the dining area, he found Dante moving around the kitchen while Garroth awkwardly stood to the side.

“I can help,” Garroth insisted. Ah, this particular conversation. Out of all the repeat arguments they’ve had as roommates and friends, this was one of the funnier ones to watch. He stood at the counter and silently watched the two go at it.

“No, I still remember the last time you tried to make something in the kitchen,” Dante denied.

“These are tacos, you’re just preparing the meat. It can’t be that hard.” Ohhh, tacos. His favorite.

Dante walked back and forth the kitchen, adding herbs and spices to the meat being cooked on the stove that Travis couldn’t name.

“I’d agree with you, but last time we let you in the kitchen you were making oatmeal and somehow managed to add rice instead of sugar. So until I can make sure that you pour all the pepper we have on it, you’re on garlic bread duty.”

Garroth groaned, “But it’s so boooring.” He tilted his head back to emphasise how uninteresting his job of making sure the bread didn’t burn in the mini-oven.

“Then get your phone or something.” Dante clearly cared about the blonde’s plight. Not that anyone in the room really did. There’d been enough conversation on Garroth’s abysmal skills in the kitchen to clue Travis in on the fact that it was more a way to pass the time than an actual argument.

“So how’s the cooking going?” Travis interrupted, because as fun as this was to watch sometimes, he was getting kind of tired of being ignored.

Both turned around to stare at him. Travis really hoped that they wouldn’t bring up the binding thing again. The evening had been going well, and he knew that having that conversation would just make his mood plummet.

But instead, Dante just said, “Travis, tell Garroth that it’s a bad idea to let him cook unrestricted.”

“I can prepare meat for some tacos!”

Travis put his hand to his face as if mimicking taking the time to think his answer.

“Hey!” Garroth sounded scandalized.

All three men froze for a moment before bursting out in laughter.

It was nice. The two just carried on without bringing up the binder situation now that it had been dealt with. Travis’ heart swelled at the fact.

It was almost weird to think that before moving in, Travis was only close to Dante and only knew Garroth as a guy that liked Aphmau. They’d met one or two times in high school and afterwards, but never really talked. But Dante had called saying he and Garroth needed another roommate and Travis, whose only real choices were the two men or staying with his dad for even longer (who he absolutely adored. But also Travis was in his mid-twenties and was beginning to feel a touch guilty over still living with his dad), made the decision to move in with his friends. And what a great decision it was, Travis and Dante had already been friends for a long time, and he quickly managed to foster a close friendship with the blonde.

The three friends continued bickering and teasing each other until the food was ready and they moved on to the dinner table. Travis bit into his taco as soon as the plate was in front of him. It was delicious as all of Dante’s cooking, and Travis let out a sound of pleasure at the taste.

“Mmhh, this is so good,” Travis said as he chewed.

“Dude, don’t speak while chewing,” Dante chuckled as he picked up his taco.

“But it’s so good,” Travis said while ignoring what Dante had said.

“It’s rude,” Garroth chided.

Travis swallowed his food before saying, “No, you were just raised by rich parents.”

Dante sighed good-naturedly before replying, “No, you’re just gross about food.”

Travis was well aware that he could be sometimes. “No, I am not.”

Garroth began in a faux sincere voice, “Travis, as your friend, it’s my job to tell you, you are a pig when it comes to food.”

“Uncalled for!” Travis squawked.

“It really isn’t,” Dante muttered.

Garroth laughed at the blatant act of betrayal from the blue-haired man while Travis shot a dramatic look of dismay at his friend. He then took another bite of his taco.

“You know, the effect of that look is really diminished if you take a bite of your food immediately afterwards,” Dante said dryly.

Travis swallowed before telling the man to shut up.

The three finished their food and continued talking.

“So, either of you got any plans tomorrow?” Dante asked.

“I think I might go to the pool. Gotta keep this amazing bod, you know?” If he went at the right time of the day, there shouldn’t be too many people around. If there were, it’d probably only be some of the other avid swimmers that Travis knew. And most of them were pretty well aware of Travis’ situation.

“I don’t know, I might end up hanging around the house all day.”

“Well if you’re not doing anything…” Dante definitely wanted something. “Mind coming with me to the mall? Be my wingman while I hit on some girls?” There it is.

“Careful, Garroth might just end up causing all the girls to fall for him instead of you,” Travis teased.

“Hey! I’m a catch! I’m sure the girls will see that.”

“Sure,” Travis acknowledged. But then he deliberately looked over both of the men. “But Garroth’s hotter. Sorry Dante, love ya man, but I gotta tell the truth.”

Dante's eyes widened comedically and he let out a string of noises. In contrast Garroth’s face developed a redder complexion than normal. They looked hilarious.

“HAH! Wow you two should look at your faces! It’s priceless!”

“Oh, come on,” Dante whined.

“Sorry, sorry,” Travis conceded, “I’m sure you’ll find plenty of girls willing to give it a shot.”

“Thank you,” he huffed. What a dramatic ass.

“Weren’t you flirting with Sasha just a few days ago?” Garroth questioned.

“You know how he is,” Travis waved off, “he’ll go from one girl to the next.”

“Guilty as charged. What can I say? It’s not like one little rejection really matters. Why should I get all stuck on that when I can just move on to someone else? But talking about Sasha, how do you two feel about our new neighbors?”

“They seem nice I guess,” Garroth said, but it sounded more like a question.

“I’m sure that you have more thoughts than that. I’ve seen you and that Laurance fella talk a few times.”

“Oh, him. He’s nice. We’ve only talked a few times, but he seems like a pretty cool guy. Doesn’t really talk much about himself though,” Garroth shrugged.

“What does that mean?” Travis asked.

“We’ve only talked a few times, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard him really say anything about himself. Nothing that didn’t come from pleasantries anyways. Other than that ‘Never Have I Ever’ game I guess.”

Travis and Dante both took a moment to stare at the fact Garroth picked up on something like that.

Garroth crossed his arms over his chest. “What? Dad told me that noticing stuff like that was a good thing. So I just sorta… practiced.” Ah, right. Rich kid. That explained it.

“Is that weird?” Dante asked.

“Oh Irene no! Some people just don’t like talking about themselves. Zane can be the same way,” he explained.

Oh, right. Zane and Garroth were brothers. He nearly forgot.

“Ok, so thoughts on any of the other ones?”

“Not really, haven’t really talked to them. You?”

Dante had a sleazy smile, “Well, I’m sure you know this but Sasha is-”

“Besides Sasha,” Garroth interrupted.

Dante stuck his tongue out at Garroth for a second. “Well, like you, I haven’t really talked to any of them. Well, there’s that tall, black-haired one. Gene. He’s really polite. Charming, you know? He complimented me on my cooking too, which is a plus.” The man sounded extremely proud of the fact.

“Well you’re proud,” Travis noted offhandedly.

“What? It feels nice to have my talents appreciated. I’m great at so many things, cooking is just one of them, yes. But it’s not something that gets complimented by strangers as much as it should.” He had dramatically placed his hand at the side of his hand and sighed as he did so.

“Vain too,” Garroth added.

“I just know how to take compliments,” Dante huffed with just as much flair.

The three took a moment to appreciate Dante’s self-important dramatics but Travis couldn’t keep a straight face and snorted. It caused the other two to break and laugh a bit too.

“It’s not even that funny,” Garroth acknowledged in between chuckles.

“It really isn’t,” Dante laughed.

The three continued like that for a bit, (not that Travis’ ribs enjoyed it so soon after binding but it was fine. He was doing fine.) until they calmed down and the attention fully shifted unto Travis.

“So, what’d you think about them?” Dante asked.

“Eh, also haven’t really talked to them much.” Not really much to say from Travis. But the more he thought about it, there were one or two things. “Though actually… something interesting did happen involving Laurance a while back.”

Garroth sounded interested, “Oh? What is it?”

“Well, remember when we were buying our Christmas tree and ran across the girls and Laurance?” Both men nodded. “Well, the reason I ran into Laurance was because he was busy looking for Christmas lights. He couldn’t find the Christmas section–”

“Excuse me!?” Dante barked out a laugh.

“He couldn’t find the Christmas section?” Garroth sounded disbelieving.

“It’s dumb, I know. The point is–”

“No, let’s keep talking about this. He couldn’t find the Christmas section at a Home Depot?” Dante was entirely too entertained by Laurance’s apparent lapse in intelligence.

“The point is,” Travis stressed, “is that when I helped him and took him to the Christmas section, we came across Kawaii~Chan and Michi–”

“Ugh, I hate her,” Dante groaned. Garroth nodded in agreement.

Travis was getting tired of the interruptions. “We all do, now back to my story. No more interruptions.” Dante raised his hands in surrender. “As I was saying,” Travis continued, “We came across Michi and Kawaii~Chan and Mich was harassing Kawaii~Chan. I think it was because of something that happened at Aphmau’s party, not really sure. But she was getting pretty mean and we stepped. Then she started flirting with Laurance, like, invading personal space an uncomfortable amount type of flirting. Laurance told her to back off a few times but she kept getting closer to the point he basically threatened her into leaving him alone. Like, it was nice of him to stand up for Kawaii~Chan, whatever Michi was saying clearly hurt, but also Laurance basically her.”

Not to mention that really weird feeling Travis got from Laurace when he told the purple-haired woman off. Travis wasn’t sure whether he imagined it or not, he only felt it for a moment after all, but that small moment was terrifying. It made chills go down Travis’ spine the moment he felt him. But it didn’t feel entirely unfamiliar either.

“Wait, what do you mean he threatened her?” Garroth asked. Dante got a worried look on his face at the information.

“Well, it wasn't technically a full-on threat? It was more that she would just refuse to stop invading his personal space so Laurance told her to back off really harshly. I’m not sure it was explicitly a threat, but it was pretty clear he was trying to scare her off. But yeah, after that, he asked how Kawaii~Chan was doing and then we found you at the trees.”

Garroth and Dante both calmed down at Travis’ elaboration.

“Well, at least he didn’t actually threaten her,” Dante sighed.

Travis didn’t doubt a threat was the intent but maybe it’d be best if he didn’t mention that for now.

“Actually, now that I think about it, there’s something else that I remember about them. It’s about that Zenix guy, I was talking to Katelyn-”

“Ohhh, talking to Katelyn were you?” Dante waggled his eyebrows.

Travis knew for a fact he was flushing heavily. “Shut your mouth,” he squeaked.

“No, no, please elaborate. What you said you were talking to Katelyn?” Garroth asked. Is this karma for all the times Travis has teased Garroth and Dante over their respective love lives?

Travis cleared his throat before continuing, “As I was saying, I was talking to Katelyn,” he ignored the kissy noises Dante was making, “and she mentioned that the first time Kawaii~Chan met Zenix he apparently made her cry?”

“Oh, why?” Dante asked.

Travis shrugged, “Don’t know many details. She was mainly venting about how much it made her angry.” She didn’t let him get a word in edgewise

“Huh, weird. It didn’t look like Zenix and KC had any issues when I saw them at the party,” Dante commented.

“Eh, maybe it’s just water under the bridge for them,” Travis suggested.

“Maybe,” Garroth sounded unsure.

“Whatever, all we have is speculation anyways,” Travis waved off. “Anything else you guys wanna talk about?”

“Well, if you’re offering,” Travis did not like Dante’s tone, “why don’t we go back to talking about you and Katel-”

“Nope!” Travis squeaked as he practically jumped up from the table, his ribs not liking that feeling. “That’s enough talking for tonight, I’m going to my room!” Travis yelled with a red face as he briskly went back to his room. The warmth from the blush did not combine well with the warmth of the two sweaters.

“Travis,” Garroth jokingly whined from back in the dining area and drowned out Dante’s laughter, “we want to know.”

“No!” Travis screamed, now well into the hallway. Now that Travis was far enough to no longer be seen, he let a smile grow on his face.

He really did have some great friends.

Chapter Text

Nana was sitting on the couch, half-heartedly watching a show that Katelyn had put on while waiting for the cookies to finish baking in the oven. It was about a bunch of fairy tale characters living in the modern world. Katelyn really liked it, but Nana couldn’t help but feel distracted. The main cause for distraction came from the lack of her other roommate, who was upstairs in her own room.

“Hey, Katelyn~sama, do you have any idea why Aphmau~Senpai is friends with… him?”

“Zane?” Katelyn asked without moving from her spot on the couch.

“Mhm.”

“Honestly I don’t get it either. He’s been a jerk to us since high school, and it doesn’t really look like he’s changed much.”

Wait. Zane went to high school with them.

“Whaaat!?” Nana screeched in that high-pitched voice of hers. “Did he go to high school with us?”

Katelyn practically froze before reaching over to pause the show. The blue-haired woman scrambled to turn around and push herself up. “What do you mean ‘did he go to high school with us?’ Yes! He did, you’re the same age, you would’ve been together throughout all of high school. He was always making fun of other people and annoying them, you should know you went to school together.”

“Kawaii~Chan doesn’t know. Maybe he just didn’t say anything that ever got to her then. She has thick skin!” If Zane and Nana had actually interacted in high school, whatever he may have said wouldn’t have been any different than what everyone else was saying about her. How was she supposed to distinguish one person from everyone else?

Katelyn raised her eyebrow at Nana’s statement, “I’ve seen you near tears just because someone gave you a weird look.”

“Kawaii~Chan had dust in her eyes!” An actually true statement from her for once.

Katelyn clearly didn’t believe her but continued anyway. “So what’s your issue with those two being friends then?”

“It’s not really that Kawaii~Chan has a problem… It’s just that they seem very different. It looks weird to see them hang out together. Zane~san always looks so gloomy, and Aphmau~senpai’s always super cheerful. It’s off-putting.”

“So it isn’t because of the weird shipping thing?”

Every day, Nana gets a bit closer to cursing her dumb teenage self for making that part of her act. Then she remembers that she had every opportunity to say this had been something she matured out of in college and accepted she was in too deep. She really brought this unto herself but it was too late to back out now.

“N-no!” Nana squeaked unsurely, “Kawaii~Chan’s sure that true love will prevail between Aphmau~Senpai and Aaron~kun. It’s just that they don’t look like the type to be friends. That’s all.”

Katelyn didn’t look like she fully believed Nana, but she continued anyways, “Well, you’re right about one thing. Those two are nothing alike. Aphmau’s nice, and considerate, and really into helping people.” All true. “Meanwhile Zane is a self-centred jerk that rejoices in seeing others suffer and sometimes directly targeted Aph back in high school. Hell, he probably… eats babies or something. I dunno.”

That sounded like a bit much. Nana just meant that Zane looked like the overly-brooding type, and she didn’t think Aphmau got along well with people who were like that. Nana couldn’t really claim to think anything other than Zane having a bit of a sour attitude from what little interaction she remembered having. Though if Katelyn really does remember him better from high school…

“Well-”

She was interrupted by a loud sound coming from upstairs. It sounded like something heavy falling over. Loud footsteps could also be heard above.

“Umm, should we go check that out?”

“Nah,” Katelyn waved off, “Celestia’d be barking if something were wrong, so I’m sure that it’s fine.”

The footsteps got louder. “Kawaii~Chan’s gonna go make sure that they’re ok.”

“Suit yourself,” Katelyn shrugged as she laid back down on the couch and made the show continue.

Nana stood up and moved towards the stairs. As she began climbing them, she remembered the cookies in the oven. “Call Kawaii~Chan if the timer for the cookies rings!” she called down to her roommate.

“Sure!” Katelyn responded from the couch.

With her precaution against burnt cookies set, Nana continued making her way up the stairs. After reaching the top, she moved straight to the white door that led to Aphmau’s room. From within, the footsteps were getting louder, and the voices of the people in the room could be heard vaguely in too-loud whispers.

Nana reached for the doorknob and announced, “Kawaii~Chan’s coming in!” The meif’wa opened the door and entered the purple-painted room.

What she saw was Celestia running around the room at rapid speeds with something stuck in her mouth. Aphmau and Zane were both attempting to follow the small corgi to no avail. Scattered across the floor were small My Little Horsie figurines, most fallen on their sides. On top of the askew rug, there was a cute little toy tea set. Back against the wall, Aphmau’s entire nightstand had fallen on its side.

“Close the door!” Aphmau shouted.

Nana quickly did so, just in time for Celestia to not escape the confines of the room, and instead crash directly into her legs. As the small corgi lost any momentum she had, Nana picked up the small dog. She began to try and wrestle– despite the growls– what looked to be a figurine like the ones scattered across the floor. It was covered in saliva, and Celestia clearly didn’t want to let go, but she eventually managed.

She looked up and saw that while she had been getting the toy, The nightstand had been pushed back into an upright position, and the toys on the floor were all being picked up. After there was no longer anything on the floor, Nana let down Celestia to roam around the room.

“I thought you said that the door was locked,” Zane grumbled in an annoyed tone as he moved to the closet with toys in hand.

“I thought it was?” Aphmau weakly offered from next to him.

Both figures disappeared into Aphmau’s closet for a few seconds. The sounds of the toys being placed on the floor could be heard.

“Well, it clearly wasn’t.”

“Yeah, sorry about that.”

“Um, what exactly happened here?” Nana asked. At the question, Zane and Aphmau both froze where they were for a moment.

Wait… “Was Zane~san pla–”

“Planning to get her to give me some more food,” Zane rushed out, “Yep! That’s exactly right.”

“Yeah, I was just playing with my Horsie figurines while this guy was trying to get me to give him more food. Celestia just went wild and jumped down to grab one for no reason and that’s why you came in,” Aphmau rushed to build on Zane’s story. Celestia stood up from the place she had found in Aphmau’s bed at the mention of her name.

Nana was only going to ask if he had been playing with the horsie figurines with Aphmau. It wasn’t like it was some big embarrassing thing. It was just playing with toys. Not something she’d expect, but not something that needed to be actively kept secret. Although it showed something Zane and Aphmau had in common. Maybe Zane was nicer than he looked?

Still, Zane was clearly embarrassed about it, and she wasn’t sure he’d react well to being called out on the lie.

“Oh! In that case, come down for the cookies Kawaii~Chan is making. They should be out of the oven soon.”

“Actually, I’m gonna leave now. I suddenly lost my appetite,” Zane denied her offer.

“Zane…” Aphmau shot the black-haired man a look that spoke of something Nana wasn’t privy to.

Zane’s visible eye narrowed but it looked like he relented. “Fine, I guess I can stay for a few cookies,” he muttered petulantly.

“That’s great! Follow Kawaii~Chan, she promises the cookies are delicious.” She would’ve clapped her hands, but she was still holding the toy Celestia had in her hands. “Ah, what should Kawaii~Chan do with this?”

“Oh, you can just leave it with the rest of the toys,” Aphmau said.

Nana nodded and went to place the toy down with the rest behind the safety of the closet door. When she came back out, both Aphmau and Zane were still waiting at the door.

“Well, follow Kawaii~Chan downstairs,” she said as she led them out of the room.

The three went downstairs, and the sounds of Celestia’s footsteps rushed past their feet and went ahead down the stairs. Nana saw the small leap up the couch and Katelyn slightly readjusted as the small dog curled up on the couch. Katelyn directed a small wave at the group going down the stairs but kept her focus on the show in front of her.

Nana went into the kitchen and checked on the cookies. The timer said they still needed a few more minutes to completely finish baking. “It looks like the cookies still need more time, so do you two have something you’d like to talk about?”

“I don’t feel like waiting, so I’m just gonna go ahead and leave,” Zane said as he began to walk through the kitchen, presumably to leave through the side they didn’t come in from.

“Zane…” Aphmau said in a warning tone.

The black-haired man turned around to face Nana with his one eye. “Thank you for the offer,” he said in an entirely deadpan tone.

Aphmau just narrowed her eyes at him.

“Fine,” Zane breathed out his annoyance through his mask. He went to lean on the kitchen counter instead of leaving.

The three remained in awkward silence for a little while before Aphmau spoke up, “So, anything either of you want to talk about?”

Nana wondered if she could try asking about Zane playing with Aphmau earlier. She was beginning to open her mouth, but Zane beat her to it with his own question. “Ok, sure. What’s with her speech tic? It’s weird.”

Nana probably should’ve expected that question eventually. Most people that noticed her… habits, tended to politely ignore it and get away from the conversation as soon as they could. Some others were a lot more open about what they think, but regardless of the outward reaction, most tended to find her weird. Not that she could particularly blame them.

But for the people that questioned her, there was always one response that would eventually get them to back off. Doubling down!

“Kawaii~Chan's not sure what Zane~san means. This is just how she speaks,” she said with the high-pitched voice she constantly faked. She made sure to keep her tail from completely straightening out or puffing up defensively.

Zane didn’t believe her. “Yeah, I’m calling bullshit on that.”

“Zane!” Aphmau chided.

“Aphmau~senpai, it’s fine. Kawaii~Chan knows that the way she speaks can be a little unusual sometimes.” She directed her next statement at Zane. “But it really is just how Kawaii~Chan talks. She apologizes if it's odd for you, but she won’t be disingenuous by saying otherwise.” Nana really hoped this would be enough to make him drop it.

And maybe it would have been enough to make the man drop it, but Nana would never know because of who spoke up from the entrance to the kitchen.

“Is Garroth’s little brother bothering you?” Katelyn asked.

Nana turned around to look at the blue-haired woman who had an unhappy look on her face.

“Oh! Katelyn~sama, Kawai—”

“My name is Zane,” the man spoke with ice-cold vitriol in his voice.

Katelyn turned to look at him. “I know that. But that didn’t answer my question. Were you bothering her?”

“So what if I was? What’s it to you?” Zane sneered.

Katelyn walked up to the man with a look Nana really didn’t want to see. “Well, Kawaii~Chan is my friend, and I don’t like how you were just talking about her.”

“So? I’m not wrong about what I said. The way she talks is weird and I doubt you can honestly say you didn’t wish she didn’t speak like that.” Nana herself winced at Zane’s words and felt her ears and tail go down a little. It’s not like she herself could say that Zane didn’t have a point. The way she spoke was weird and drew attention, that was the entire point. But that didn’t mean she enjoyed being called weird.

Katelyn began to get even closer and started rolling up the sleeves of her shirt. “Ok, listen here-”

“Katelyn, stop!” Aphmau demanded as she got in the way of the two. She spread out her arms and pushed both of them farther away from each other. Nana moved to try and get a better look at everyone’s faces for this conversation.

Katelyn was very clearly angry, while Zane managed to look extremely smug despite most of his face being covered. Something in Kawaii~Chan twisted at the sight of the oncoming argument.

“But, Aph–”

“No, Katelyn. You shouldn’t get that angry over this.”

“Yeah, Katelyn. You should really learn to manage your emotions better. You’ll just end up hurting someone,” Zane taunted.

Aphmau shot him a look, “Zane, you’re not getting out of this either. You were definitely out of line too.”

Zane just rolled his eye.

Aphmau sighed and muttered something Nana couldn’t overhear. “Now, Katelyn, I want you to apologize to Zane. Zane, I want you to apologize to Katelyn.”

Katelyn started, “Fine, I’m sorry, that Zane was being such a complete asshole to Kawaii–”

“Katelyn-” Aphmau interrupted.

“No, no. It’s fine,” Zane jumped in, “I’m sorry that Katelyn can’t keep her emotions in check and seems to be delusional enough to think the way that Kawaii~Chan speaks is natural.” Nana could practically feel the bite to his words despite them not being directed at her.

That set Katelyn off again. “Ok, that’s it!”

“Both of you stop!” Aphmau shouted, sounding actually angry. Something Nana wasn’t sure she’d seen in her for a long time. This actually did cause both of the arguing adults to freeze up to stare at the frustrated expression on Aphmau’s face. Aphmau massaged circles on her forehead before sighing. “Ok, let’s try this again. Apologize to each other. Not backhandedly. And then we can just… calm down. Please.”

Katelyn took a deep breath. “Ok, I’m sorry I reacted like that.”

Zane crossed his arms for a second before saying, “Fine. I’m sorry too. What I said was rude and I shouldn’t have egged on Katelyn either.” He didn’t sound happy, but it wasn’t antagonistic either.

After that, the four remained in an awkward silence that no one knew how to break.

Eventually, Zane got tired of it and said, “I’m just gonna go. Thank you for having me over… I guess.”

Aphmau nodded, “Yeah, I’ll give you whatever you left at my room later. Ok?”

“Sounds good to me.” After that, Zane left the kitchen and the sound of the front door opening and closing marked his exit.

“Why were you even hanging out with him?” Katelyn asked.

Aphmau sighed, “Look, I know he can be a bit… rough around the edges. But I promise that he really can be a great guy deep down. Even if he acts like a complete idiot sometimes.”

Katelyn frowned. “Aphmau… this isn’t because you like him and you’re thinking you can ‘fix him’ or something like that, right?”

Nana gasped. Did Aphmau find Zane attractive? Was that why she invited him over? It’s not something that she expected, but it wasn’t impossible either. If she did, Nana would have to find a way to support her. It might take a bit, but she was sure she could make something up about moving past her last ‘ship’ if she really needed to.

While making sure to keep on her fake voice, Nana squealed “Is that it!? Does Aphmau~senpai like Zane~san?” She could tell her tail was standing straight up.

Aphmau did not react in the way Nana expected. She started by bursting out in a mix of coughs and laughter. Katelyn and Nana stood and exchanged looks with each other as Aphmau nearly doubled over in laughter.

“HaHaha- Sorry, it’s just– snrk!” She wiped away a tear from the laughter as she stood back up. “Thanks, I really needed that laugh. But I promise that I definitely do not feel like that towards Zane.”

Then why was Aphmau hanging out with him? They didn’t appear to be similar, and not too long ago, Nana could’ve sworn that the shorter woman actively disliked the black-haired man. She asked said woman exactly what she was wondering, worded to fit in with how she spoke, of course.

“Well, I guess he just seemed kind of lonely. I felt like he needed a friend.” Zane? Lonely? Nana could assume with his personality that he didn’t exactly have lines of people wanting to hang out with him, but she would’ve thought that was something he was fine with.

Katelyn’s frown deepened, “So it’s a pity thing?”

Aphmau shook her head, “No, I genuinely just wanted to try being his friend. That’s all.”

The blue-haired woman looked unsure, but Nana didn’t think she should be. She could tell that Aphmau was being genuine in wanting to be Zane’s friend and nothing more. Maybe it wasn’t the single best idea in the world, but Katelyn looked like she didn’t believe Aphmau.

“If you say so… Well, whatever, I’m gonna go meditate in my room. So don’t bother me for a bit, I probably won’t hear you.” Katelyn waved goodbye to the two before going out of the kitchen and the sounds of footsteps going upwards became ever so softer as she went further up.

Aphmau turned to fully face Nana, “Now, seriously, did what Zane said upset you? I know Katelyn jumped in before you could answer.” Her amber eyes were full of concern.

Nana wondered if her own would be filled with guilt. Because of her constant lying, Katelyn got into an argument, Aphmau’s friend left the house, and Aphmau herself was now very clearly concerned.

Nana put on a smile and shook her head, forcing her tail and ears to move as naturally as possible. “It’s fine Aphmau~Senpai, Zane~san’s not the first person to say something like that to Kawaii~Chan. And he wasn’t the meanest person to Kawaii~Chan either. She can handle it just fine.”

Aphmau pressed her lips in a thin line as she stared at Nana. Hopefully, her act was convincing. “If you’re sure… but if you need anything, I’ll be up in my room.”

“Ok, Kawaii~Chan will just be waiting for the cookies,” she said with a smile.

Aphmau nodded and headed up the stairs. Nana’s smile dropped as soon as the shorter woman was out of sight.

There she went again… Causing trouble for her friends because of the act she put on. It didn’t really surprise her anymore when it happened. It’d be stupid of her to keep feeling shocked when her act led to trouble for those around her considering it happened on a nearly weekly basis. At least this time she only caused a short argument and some concern.

And worst of all, some small part of her was almost excited about the fact. After all, if the argument was about her, then that meant people noticed her. It meant she was memorable. She was acknowledged as someone worth paying attention to

So she’d keep that mask of hers firmly in place. After all, even if they all figured out and hated her for it, she’d be remembered. Even if down the line she’d only be remembered as that weirdo that lied to them all for years. They wouldn’t forget her. And that’d be enough.

…It’d have to be enough.

“I really am the worst,” Nana muttered in her actual tone of voice now that no one was around to listen. Her ears and tail were drooped as far down as they possibly could and she could feel her hand tighten around her clothes.

She was brought out of her own thoughts by the loud beeping in front of her. She looked clearly at the oven and saw that the timer was done, but something didn’t feel right. She sniffed the air a little and the smell of something burnt invaded her nose.

She rushed to put on the oven mitts before opening the oven and seeing the burnt remains of her cookies.

“Crap, crap crap!” Nana muttered under her breath before frantically getting the tray out of the oven. Too frantically apparently, because she very quickly ended up dropping the entire tray. And then immediately followed that by tripping and thankfully being able to completely fall on the hot oven. But not completely avoiding it because her ankle still brushed the hot metal.

The painful heat from that caused her to let out a pained yowl before she quickly picked herself up and began getting some paper towels to pick up the cookies on the floor. A glance at the clock revealed that she’d been standing in front of the oven for longer than she’d thought.

She was interrupted, however, by the sound of two pairs of footsteps rushing down the stairs. She turned around and saw both Aphmau and Katelyn downstairs after clearly having run down said stairs if the state of their hair said anything.

Aphmau asked. “Are you ok? we heard a loud noise,”

Nana immediately put on the fake act again. “No, Kawaii~Chan’s fine. She just rushed to get the cookies out of the oven but tripped and her ankle brushed the tray. How clumsy of her,” she said with her too-cheerful tone despite how her ankle still hurt.

Katelyn let out a sigh of relief, “Good, nothing bad then. Here, let me pick up the cookies.”

“Let’s take a look at your ankle. We can use some of the ice in the freezer,” Aphmau suggested.

Nana straightened up her spine but let her tail drift around naturally. “Thank you Katelyn~Sama, Aphmau~Senpai. Kawaii~Chan really appreciates it.”

“Of course, what are friends for?” Aphmau said in a bright voice that was so much more real than Nana’s.

Still, Nana smiled and followed her friend. Never once letting down her mask for the rest of the day. At least until she was alone in her room.

Chapter Text

Gene was sitting on the kitchen table with a cup of black coffee and his laptop. The only other people in the house were Vylad, who was currently on the couch with a book in hand, and Zenix, who was upstairs. The region of time in the New Year when it was acceptable to not work had gone past, so his other two friends were doing their jobs.

But for Gene, an ‘official’ return to work didn’t mean much. Unlike all his other friends, he had more than one job. Most of them part-time of course, even he couldn’t juggle a lot of full-time jobs. But more importantly, some of his jobs didn’t actually require his physical presence. A few were doable from anywhere as long as he had his laptop and access to the internet. So he’d taken what was meant to be a vacation to get some work done on some of those jobs.

There was a reason no one had ever accused him of being good at dealing with not having anything to do. At least he did actually sleep despite the jokes Zenix made.

So the main thing a return to work meant for him was being more open about the work he did online from home. Just a return to what is Gene’s day-to-day life where he’d finish what he’d set out to do for the day before finding something to waste time before the next day would come.

But hearing someone scramble downstairs– probably Zenix as he was the only Shadow Knight that was upstairs– signalled that maybe the day wouldn’t go as Gene expected.

The brunette man practically leaped off the stairs the moment he was visible, with an oddly excited look in his eyes and a smile that Gene knew to be mostly harmless. A small mercy. He was holding his phone in his hand and looked to be gripping it so tight the already damaged phone screen and case would end up worse somehow.

“Guys, I found something we need to go to,” Zenix practically demanded after he stopped moving.

Gene closed his laptop and Vylad put their book down. It was clear both actions were done for the same reason of seeing what got the man this interested in something.

“Who died and made you our boss?” Gene asked, slightly amused.

“Shad, anyways–” Vylad snorted and Gene barked out a laugh at what might’ve been heresy if it were said back in the Nether, “I saw this on my phone and thought we should go,” as he talked, he turned the phone so Vylad could see whatever was on the screen.

Gene couldn’t tell what Vylad’s reaction was based on their facial expression. “I can’t see what’s on the screen,” Gene called.

“Then stand up and get your lazy ass over here,” Zenix said without turning to look at him.

Little shit.

Gene knew he wasn’t going to get Zenix to show him whatever got him so captivated, so the blue-eyed man walked the short distance. The closer he got, the more he saw that Vylad did look vaguely interested.

He reached the spot where the two were and peeked over to see what was on the phone. It looked like an advertisement to work in some restaurant. The part that stood out was that it was specifically advertised as a maid cafe, with images that showed the inside of the building. The ad had a fancy cursive font, with a background that scrolled what Gene assumed to be different pictures of the place. Many of them had different people in maid outfits, who Gene thought were workers in their ‘uniforms’.

“A maid cafe? I didn’t know you were looking for a new job, but–” Gene began to say.

“Nah, I’m fine with my current job. Though I would look great in the uniform,” Zenix interrupted with a smug tone.

Vylad just huffed out a laugh at their boyfriend’s overly proud feelings on his own appearance.

“The point is, I didn’t know stuff like this even existed! A restaurant where all the workers act like maids? And on top of that, they’re supposed to serve their customers like that? It sounds so stupid, I have to see it for myself.” If Gene were to compare Zenix to something at that moment, it would have to be a child that had too much sugar

“Wow, really trying to live out your power fantasies like that? Should I feel worried?” Vylad griped with a smile as they stood to stretch, leaving their book on a couch.

“Come on, you know I don’t mean it like that,” Zenix grumbled half-heartedly.

“Yeah, don’t worry Vylad. I’m sure he’s only checking it out to see if it’s something you’d enjoy,” Gene oh so helpfully added.

“Oh fuck off. I just thought that it’d be fun to try out something new. Been a while since we’ve done something that’s actually fully new to us.”

That’s… not exactly wrong. A maid cafe experience would be entirely novel for all of them.

“Well, you two have your fun. I still have work to do.”

“You’re just working on your laptop today, you could probably bring it to the cafe and still do some work on it,” Vylad suggested.

“And it’s not like you aren’t already well ahead of what you need to do.”

“And how are you so sure, Zenix?”

“I know you,” Zenix deadpanned.

Fair enough.

“And then what? Just be left awkwardly third-wheeling the two of you?” Gene was mostly just saying that to banter. In reality, it might be fun to do something new, and it’s not like Zenix was wrong in relation to his work.

“Nah, I know you’re secretly honored to come with us,” Zenix boasted.

“Vylad, I will never understand how you manage to put up with this man but you should be rewarded for it.”

“The secret is patience,” Vylad said solemnly.

“Hey!” Zenix screeched indignantly.

Pointedly ignoring the man, Gene said, “Well if you're gonna miss me that much, then I guess I can go.”

“Who said anything about missing you?”

Vylad sighed, “Let’s just go. As fun as it would be to watch, I know letting you two start would just leave us here all day.”

“Ok,” both Gene and Zenix agreed at once.

“So is this place close enough to walk, or will we need to take the car?” Vylad asked.

“We’ll need the car,” Zenix said.

The three of them began walking to the garage but Vylad stopped moving part way there.

“Your scarf is in our room. Should be near the back of the closet, might be buried beneath some shirts,” Zenix said without prompting.

“Thanks,” Vylad said before rushing upstairs.

“How’d you know that was why Vylad stopped?” Gene asked.

“It’s still winter and Vylad didn’t have their scarf on,” Zenix shrugged, “they like having the scarf during winter.”

Gene just stared at the brunette, unable to decide if that was something people in relationships could tell about each other or if it was just a Zenix and Vylad thing.

Soon after, Vylad came back down with their green scarf in place and the three actually entered the garage. A thought struck Gene as he began to get in the driver’s seat.

“You know, we’re lucky that Sasha isn’t here today.”

Vylad shuddered before saying, “Ugh, I don't even want to think about Sasha driving.”

The empty space where the other car was usually parked in the garage revealed she’d likely already driven today.

“We’re fine,” Zenix waved off, “Laurance was the one to deal with her driving.” The brunette got an almost contemplative look in his eyes before saying, “Think Laurance started crying out of fear?”

“No,” Gene denied. Laurance was used to it enough and mature enough to react a little better than that. “He probably just screamed until his throat was sore.”

“Well, not our issue to deal with. Zenix, what’s the address again?”

Zenix told Gene the address, it was somewhat close, but definitely not enough to walk. The car was the right choice. They quickly made it to the cafe parking lot while Gene ignored the banter–flirting going on between Vylad and Zenix.

The three of them stood in front of the gray brick entrance and took in the appearance. While the entrance was gray, the rest of the building was painted in a horizontal striped pattern of pink and purple, with cute designs painted on both sides.

“What are we waiting for? Let’s go inside,” Zenix said.

The three of them stepped inside and were instantly met with a restaurant that was painted a pink that felt too bright. And overused too. Almost everything was some form of pink, if not that it was the very light purple that patterned them or a pale white for the tables. In front of him was a blue-haired woman with flowers in her hair who Gene assumed to be working as the hostess, dressed in the maid outfit that was mainly black and white with thin pink accents going through the outfit that matched the cafe. On his sides were a pair of cherry blossoms that looked too small to be real.

Gene walked up to the hostess and asked, “Do you have a table for three by any chance?”

The blue-haired woman nodded her head with a perfectly crafted smile and said, “Of course sir. You and your group can come right this way.” She gave a deep bow before leading them to a table that was next to the wall. “Please make yourselves at home. One of the maids will come to serve you shortly.” Then the hostess went back to her position at the front.

The three soon settled themselves in and Vylas asked, “So, thoughts so far?”

“There is so much pink,” Zenix grumbled, “The combination of colors here is fine. But the pink is too much, too bright. They could at least balance it out by putting more purple, but no, instead they have this too–damn–bright pink everywhere with barely anything else.”

Ah, Gene nearly forgot that color combination is part of what Zenix did in his job. Of course, his first critique would be on the aesthetic choices.

Gene hummed in agreement as he began to take a look at whatever was on the menu. It instantly caught his eye that most of the meals looked like stuff that was barely a step below being on a desert menu. Though there was a nice collection of drinks.

Vylad chuckled in agreement with Zenix’s statement, “Yeah, I get what you mean. Maybe it’d be better if they made the purple brighter to better match the pink?”

“Nah, I think they should just tone down the pink, pretty sure a brighter purple would just make it worse.”

“Can’t you wait until you're out of the restaurant at least? It’s pretty rude to say stuff like that while inside the place you’re insulting,” Gene reminded them as he came to his final decisions on what he’d order.

Surprisingly (for Zenix) both of them quieted down without a fuss and picked up their respective food menus. While the two other Shadow Knights glanced through their menus, Gene took another look across the restaurant.

The outfits he saw on all the workers matched that of the hostess, with the only difference being that the colored accents of the outfit were different for each maid. All the maids that were serving customers had picture-perfect smiles and looked like they were trying their hardest to appeal to their respective customers. There were also a few maids coming in and out of an employee only area and walking around the store. Among them was a pink-haired meif’wa who Gene easily recognized. Gene felt a touch amused considering what the woman’s profession was in her life a few millennia ago.

Kawaii~Chan, or as Gene had discovered her true name to be, Nana, was moving around the restaurant, helping out with orders that were big from a singular person. At a pace that Gene would assume to be frantic for most, but looked completely natural to her. Not that she appeared to notice him in return.

He was distracted from the discovery of the familiar worker by a different maid that looked entirely average to him coming up to his table.

“Welcome home masters, is there anything you’d like for me to prepare?” the maid greeted with a wink. Gene probably should’ve expected the whole ‘master’ thing on account of the maid aesthetic. But he’d mistakenly thought that it only went to a surface level.

Vylad coughed slightly once they heard what she said while any reaction Zenix had was entirely nonverbal, and thus impossible for Gene to notice without looking at him.

Gene himself didn't have any outward reaction to the title. “Yes, I’d like some coffee jelly please.”

“Great choice!” the maid praised in a peppy tone. “Would my other two masters like anything themselves?”

Vylad’s voice was somewhat muffled by the scarf as they said, “Umm, sure I’d like a rice omelette.”

The maid, assumedly picking up on Vylad’s hesitance, said in a much more reassuring tone, “Of course, master. Right away.” Then she turned to the third and final member of the group. “And you sir?”

“I want a vegetable crêpe,” Zenix replied in a surprisingly toneless voice.

“All good choices my masters! Please forgive your maid if she takes too long” the woman practically squealed while withdrawing into herself in a way that Gene was pretty sure was supposed to be cute.

Gene nodded slowly in response. The employee then moved towards the employee-only section of the maid cafe.

It only took a few seconds before Zenix broke. The man burst out in giddy laughter in a way that made Gene worry if other customers would hear him.

“Ha! Calling us ‘master’. That’s rich! Dear Irene, we need to come here again. How do you guys think Laurance would react if we bring him? I’m sure it'll be funny.”

Vylad let out a good-natured huff, “Of course, that’s something you’d be into. How didn't we figure it out sooner?”

“Not like that.”

Vylad just raised a questioning eyebrow at their partner.

Zenix said, “I’m sure we’ve messed around with stuff like–”

“And I’m cutting this conversation short before we verge into territory that should just stay between the two of you,” Gene interrupted.

Zenix stuck out his tongue like a child. “Prude.”

“No, just the only sensible one apparently.”

The conversation was stopped before Zenix could retort by the hostess escorting a group to the table right next to theirs. More specifically, it was Travis, Garroth, and Dante. The trio clearly noticed them, but neither group interacted until the newcomers to the cafe were settled in.

“So, what brings you three here?”

“Zenix’s fetishes apparently,” Vylad responded without missing a beat. “What about you?”

“Shut the fuck up,” Zenix light grumble was overshadowed by the fact that he was very clearly smiling at Vylad. Not one of his cocky or mocking grins either, what was on the brunette’s face was actual amusement at what his partner was doing. Or maybe it was amusement from how their three neighbours reacted to Vylad’s words.

Garroth let out a series of sounds that sounded vaguely flustered, Dante burst out in laughter, while Travis also laughed, but the white-haired man’s laughter sounded more shocked than anything.

“Excuse me?” Dante wheezed.

“Vylad here is convinced that I got the group to come here because I’m apparently into being called master,” Zenix said as if it were a completely normal thing to say to people he barely knew.

“Zenix, you were practically preening when the worker called you that,” Zenix defended their argument. Because apparently any and all types of common sense left them the moment an opportunity to mess with their boyfriend presented itself.

“Oh, really? You’re being really insistent. You sure you aren’t just too shy to ask because it’s something you want to try out?”

And the two continued their back and forth, ignoring everything around them. Including Gene’s own disappointment alongside the expressions of their neighbours, which ranged from downright flustered to apparently finding this all hilarious.

Gene wasn’t sure how to feel about the fact that part of his disappointment was directed at Dante for his amusement when it really shouldn’t matter to him.

Coming here was a mistake, Gene quickly decided. At least they weren’t talking loud enough for anyone outside the immediate vicinity to overhear. So… small mercies and all that.

Thankfully, Irene decided to have pity on him for whatever reason because the conversation the two were having was interrupted by Kawaii~Chan moving past their table with a plate in hand.

When Dante saw the mief’wa, he turned to her and said, “Oh, hey KC. Didn’t know you worked here.” An act which Gene was ever so thankful for because it lead to Zenix and Vylad to finally stop debating whether or not one of them had a maid fetish.

The woman stopped and turned to them with a smile. “Hello masters, Kawaii~Chan just started working here!”

With the end of the previous conversation, it looked like the blush previously on Travis’ face began to die down. “Huh, you know. The maid outfit looks really good on you. It feels like it fits in well with what you normally wear.”

Kawaii~Chan’s eyes gained a shine to them. “Thank you master Travis~kun. Kawaii~Chan is really honoured that master likes her uniform. But she needs to go give food to one of the other masters. She apologises, but she really needs to move now.”

Dante smiled, “Of course. Sorry to keep you, just had to tell you that you look absolutely adorable in that new outfit.” His wink and smile showed it wasn’t just meant to be a compliment to a friend. A part of Gene felt ready to chide him for the completely inappropriate comment to a worker.

If Kawaii~Chan was in any way uncomfortable with Dante’s flirting, she didn’t show it as she simply let out a noncommittal giggle before curtsying slightly and going back to where she was going originally.

Near immediately after Kawaii~Chan had left, the table of three men turned to each other to have a conversation about something. What little Gene paid attention to enough in order to eavesdrop told him it involved Dante’s flirting. So Gene decided to ignore the rest of the conversation and instead turned to the two sitting with him.

Gene instantly noted that Zenix looked like there was something bothering him. He was staring in the direction in which Kawaii~Chan had left. Vylad was just looking at their partner as if waiting for him to say something.

“So? What’d you see?” Gene prodded.

“Something feels weird about that meif’wa,” Zenix said. Ok, so he was at least socially aware enough to know he shouldn’t just call her weird out loud in front of her friends.

“What do you mean? Is it about how she talks?” Vylad asked.

Zenix’s face scrunched up slightly. “Maybe? It’s part of it but I know it’s not that by itself. Can’t tell what it is about her though.”

Oh, did Zenix figure it out… Well, if Gene was right then maybe it’d be better to let Zenix figure it out by himself.

“I’m sure you’ll be able to find out whatever it is,” Gene said.

It was an ultimately harmless thing as long as Zenix didn’t go too far in sating whatever curiosity he had. At worst Gene could just reveal her true name to him and leave it at that.

Also, it might be funny to see Zenix struggle to figure out what bothered him.

Zenix grunted in affirmation and that was the end of the conversation.

Not long after, a maid came by to get the order from the table that had Dante, and soon after that, the maid that had taken Gene’s order came to deliver his table’s food.

“Here’s the food. I hope I didn’t leave my masters waiting for too long,” said the worker as she began handing out their plates.

Gene noticed in the corner of his eyes the positive reaction that Zenix got from being referred to as master, even indirectly.

“Not at all. We were talking so it didn’t even feel like that long,” Gene responded.

The woman jumped up a little in joy. “Great! I’m so happy that my masters are so understanding and kind. Is there any other way you want me to serve you?”

“Maybe you can bring out the check in a bit? Other than that, I think we’re all pretty good.”

Vylad just hummed a noise of assent while Zenix agreed verbally in a way that was just a bit too giddy for him to be normal.

The worker smiled, thanked them one more time, before cheerfully leaving. She was really committing to the role well. He’d have to give her a good tip.

Gene began to dig into his jelly. It was really good! It had the bitterness of coffee that Gene liked, a bit mixed in with just enough sweetness to be noticeable but not clash with the bitterness.

Sadly, his enjoyment of the food was interrupted by his br– Dante saying, “Wow! Vylad really wasn’t kidding about the ‘master’ thing, huh?”

Irene fucking dammit was this really the time? Gene just wanted to eat his damn food.

Zenix rolled his eyes. “Oh, shut up. It isn’t because of that.”

“That's a really weak denial,” Vylad stage whispered.

Gene was no expert on relationships but he was pretty sure normal relationships didn’t involve semi-joking public kink shaming. Then again, what did he know? He barely ever understood even what most would call relationships between normal people. Not that the Shadow Knights could ever be considered anything close to normal anyways.

“I just think that I’m great enough that people should be serving me and calling me master more,” Zenix said something so ridiculous with such a straight face it was almost impossible to tell if he was serious or not. At least for the three in the table next to them.

For both Gene and Vylad, who had known the man for years, it was obvious that he was only partially joking. The damn man just wanted to egg on everyone in the group because he thought it’d be funny, didn’t he?

Travis, Garroth, and Dante just stared at Zenix with varying levels of confusion, unable to formulate a response to Zenix’s declaration.

Thankfully, they may have gotten a distraction from the can of worms that Zenix had opened up. He heard someone walking towards the table and Gene was hoping it was a worker coming to pick up the other table’s orders.

Gene turned to look in order to see if he was right, only to be met with a sight he very much didn’t expect to see. It was a stout man in an ill-fitting, purple-accented maid dress. He had black hair that was covering one eye, the other one was light blue. Despite the bottom half of his face was covered by a black surgical mask, it was obvious he’d rather be anywhere else than in the cafe.

More specifically, it was exceedingly clear that Zane did not want to be anywhere near the table. The choked sounds that came from around Gene told him he wasn’t the only one who noticed the upcoming arrival.

“ZANE!?” Garroth practically screeched in a scandalized tone.

“Shut. Up,” Zane tersely cut his brother off.

Travis’ face was shifting between a lot of shocked expressions, but none altered the red flush glowing on his face. Dante’s expression on the other hand, was pretty definitely set in utter joy as he heaved out laughter in hysterics.

The reaction Gene was most interested in, however, was Vylad. And the fact that his face was completely blank. Not in the way it was back at the party when his magic started spiking, this blankness was much more controlled. Their lips weren’t tilted up or down, just a perfectly flat line across their tanned face. However, their brow wasn’t creased in a way that signalled frustration, the plains of their face, smooth and free of any symbols that would indicate anything about their mental state. Not even the eyes, which Gene could normally rely on to reveal something, gave anything away. It was a complete and utter non–reaction that let Gene know something wasn’t right.

No one looks that expressionless when they aren’t trying to hide a reaction.

At the very least, Gene was hoping the sudden view of his fellow Shadow Knight’s brother(?) wasn’t going to set them off again. But that was only a vague hope coming from the fact their magic wasn’t currently flaring to dangerous levels. If he was wrong about how ok Vylad was and their magic completely bursts out at once instead of spiking…

Then it would be an active danger to everyone in the cafe.

He turned to glance at Zenix. If nothing else, that much should tell him if Gene should start thinking of ways to quickly extract the entire group out of the situation.

Gene’s shoulders slumped in relief at what he saw. Zenix’s face wasn’t one of blatant concern or worry. The brunette was by no means happy or comfortable with whatever he saw of Vylad’s emotional state. But that also meant that Zenix at least had a grasp on what that feeling was. And considering he didn’t look panicked, it probably wasn’t something Gene needed to focus on at that very moment.

With that concern out of the way, Gene began to focus on Zane.

Gene hadn’t gotten much of a chance to interact with either version of Zane. He’d never gotten the chance to talk personally to the one from back then, only terse interactions that amounted to glorified business deals. And the Zane in front of him… Gene couldn’t deny a level of interest. After all, it was very odd of the man to break into their house on Christmas Eve, only to quickly come back and return all the gifts. Really, the man was just lucky Gene didn’t feel like immediately reporting the crime and was willing to wait until morning.

Though that luck came less from law enforcement not learning about it and more from the fact it didn’t give the Shadow Knights that were more likely to blow up about it the chance to react.

But if Gene wanted to learn more about the man, it would have to come from observation first. Actually, talking could come later.

Zane looking so displeased at so much as being there made Gene think the man didn’t actually work there, despite the fact he was wearing a uniform. Though admittedly, one that obviously wasn’t meant to fit his body type. But why would the man be wearing a uniform that clearly wasn’t his for a job he probably didn’t actually want to work?

Gene began looking around the store and quickly saw something that answered his question. Aphmau was standing off to the side, near the employee–only area, with a delivery worker uniform that looked too big to be hers. He had a feeling that the uniform Zane currently wore was Aphmau’s at first but for whatever reason, the two switched.

The short woman caught his gaze and moved her finger in front of her lips. She didn’t want anyone else to know she was there.

Gene gave a slight nod in response and saw how her lips curled up in a grateful smile.

He turned his attention back towards the rest of his group and Zane, noting that it appeared the ebony-haired man had been talking to Dante, Garroth, and Travis. Though maybe ‘talking’ was putting it too kindly for what was going on. More accurately, Zane was demanding the three shut up about his presence at the cafe while telling them to ‘order your damn food right now and shut up about the costume’.

Meanwhile, none of the three at the table were doing what they were told, which only incited Zane’s further anger. It was beginning to attract the attention of the customers around them.

Thankfully, the same maid that had been serving them came by with the check and Gene quickly gave her the credit card.

Now they’d just have a small wait and they’d be able to leave. Hopefully, the situation with Zane didn’t escalate to the point someone would be kicked out of the store.

Gene took a look at the two sitting at his table. The look on Vylad’s face gave much less cause for concern than the one they had earlier. Closed-off blankness was replaced with a look of deep thought. Something to ask them about later then. On the other hand, Zenix looked delighted and dangerously close to jumping into the growing debate at the next table.

That maid really couldn’t come back fast enough with the credit card so they could just leave.

And soon enough (at least before Zenix found a moment to interject and involve himself in the argument) the same maid came by to return his credit card, which Gene took as an opportunity to leave after thanking her.

“Well, it’s been great to see you, but I think it’s time my group leaves,” Gene said as he stood up. Vylad and Zenix both followed him, but Zenix looked hesitant to leave what was happening in front of him.

“I’m sure we could stay a little bit longer,” Zenix tried.

“Do what you want, but I’m leaving without you if you stay.”

“Hey!”

“Have fun! Might come pick you up later if I feel like it,” Gene called without turning to look at the man. He could tell that Vylad was following him but that Zenix was not.

There were a few beats of silence before Gene heard the tall man’s footsteps quickly catch up to him and Vylad.

“Assholes, the both of you are assholes,” Zenix muttered petulantly the moment the three left the cafe. Gene privately rolled his eyes in response.

“Aww, don't worry. I would’ve made sure Gene didn’t actually leave without you.”

“I know that. Still think Gene’s a jerk though.”

“Oh please, you just wanted to see whether or not the thing with Zane would turn into a fight. That or ogle more people in maid outfits. Pretty sure you could just order one for you or Vylad if you’re that desperate.”

“Fuck off,” Zenix responded without any heat behind it.

The trio reached the car and entered it. Gene took the driver's seat and the other two went in the back.

“Zenix, all joking aside, did you enjoy coming here?” Vylad asked.

Zenix hummed in consideration. “Yeah, it was fine. The outfits didn’t look like shit.”

Gene bit back a joke about Zenix’s supposed interests.

“I know we were joking about it being something you’re into, but if you actually wanna mess around with stuff like that… I wouldn’t mind,” Vylad said.

The look Gene saw Zenix give Vylad in the rearview mirror told him all he needed to know.

Irene fucking dammit. The Shadow Knights were all lucky they didn’t need as much sleep as mortals.

Chapter Text

Dante was coming back home from his jog through the snowy streets when he saw Aphmau stepping outside of Aaron’s house. The short woman’s purple sweater looked rumpled, and her hair a mess. Frankly, it was like she had just woken up.

“Hey, Aph,” Dante greeted as he came to a stop.

Aphmau turned to look at him and gave a tired wave. “Hey, Dante. Going on a run?”

“Just coming back from one actually. And you are coming out of Aaron’s house,” Dante noted, “looking like kind of a mess. Did you sleep there?” Dante wiggled his eyebrows.

“Ugh. Please don’t. I get enough of that from Katelyn and Kawaii~Chan. I just stayed at his house late to watch a show and lost track of time. I fell asleep there and basically just woke up.”

“It’s nearly noon.”

“I’m still getting used to the new sleep schedule with my new job,” Aphmau complained.

“Oh? Finally got rid of that night shift you said you hated?”

Aphmau smiled happily, “Yeah, the pay’s better than my last one too, so that’s nice.” That’s nice. Aphmau never looked happy whenever she talked about the job she had. Though she always refused to give any details about it.

“Well, don’t let me hold you from going back. I’m sure your roommates are worried sick.” Irene knew a concerned Katelyn wasn’t a fun thing to deal with.

“Nah, Aaron texted them to tell them about me sleeping over so they already know about it.” She stopped for a moment before continuing. “Why don’t you come over to my house?”

“I don’t know… I was planning on just going back to mine.”

“Aww, come on. It’s been a bit since we got to talk one-to-one. I’ll even make some hot cocoa for us or something. To sweeten the deal, you know?” Aphmau said with a wink.

It’s not like Dante had anything pressing going on. And she did have a point about the two not hanging out in a little bit.

“Well, how could I ever say no to that?”

Aphmau perked up despite her previous tiredness, “Great! Follow me!” She grabbed onto his hand and led them back to her house. If only Garroth could see him now… The blonde would be seething.

The short woman let go of his hand after the two entered the house. She turned to him and said, “Make yourself at home on the couch, I’ll go make that hot cocoa.”

Dante agreed and went to sit while Aphmau made her way into the kitchen. He took his phone out to pass the time while Aphmau made the drinks. As he was watching a random video of someone doing some reckless but cool-looking trick, he heard the front door open.

The blue-haired man turned around to see who came in and was faced with Katelyn and Nicole.

“Dante,” Katelyn sounded surprised, “what’re you doing here?”

“Came across Aphmau on the street and she invited me in.”

“Oh, so she’s back. Well, me and Nicole are gonna be in my room, don’t bother us.”

“Aww, does that mean I won’t get to see your pretty faces? What a shame,” Dante teased.

Nicole’s reaction was to have her face grow a touch flushed. Heh, he still had it. Katelyn’s reaction, on the other hand, was very different. Well, maybe not super different. The blue-haired woman’s face did grow a bit red. But in her case, Dante got a feeling it was less because she appreciated the flirting and more because she actively disliked his flirting.

“Dante,” Katelyn warned.

He raised his hands in surrender. “Sorry, sorry. Won’t do that again.”

Katelyn nodded. “Good. Well, Nicole, let’s go.”

Nicole nodded and followed her friend upstairs, though not before sending a wave his way. Dante gave a wink in return.

Now that he was by himself, Dante went back to looking through his phone.

“I’m back!” Aphmau announced with a mug in each hand. She handed him one of the mugs and he instantly took a drink.

“Oh!” Dante didn’t expect it to taste that good. “This is good. Is that cinnamon?”

Aphmau puffed out her chest and said, “Yes it is cinnamon. And did you ever doubt my skills?” She sounded almost haughty about it.

Dante let his silence speak for itself.

“Hey!” Aphmau squeaked. She threw a soft punch at his shoulder.

“Sorry! Sorry!” Dante laughed. “But it really is good.”

“Thanks, it’s my mom’s recipe.”

Dante took another sip. “I might need to ask you for it.”

“Sorry, but I have to keep it in the family. I’m sure you understand.”

“Well damn. Might just have to marry you to get my hands on that recipe.”

“Haha, very funny,” Aphmau laughed flatly. “Sadly, mom taught me to have higher standards. I’m sure you’ll find someone though.”

“Ouch! My heart. I don’t think I’ll ever recover. Though maybe your recipe could mend it,” Dante exaggerated.

“Nope.”

“Fine,” Dante whined. “I see you insist on not handing over the recipe.”

“Yep,” Aph said, popping the p. “What else do you wanna talk about?”

“Well, what about that new job of yours? How’re you liking it?”

“I know I’ve only been working there recently, but it already feels a lot nicer. My shifts aren’t all alone, the workplace is a lot more colourful, and I actually get to sleep at a normal time so no tiredness-induced hallucinations of machines moving around when they shouldn’t,” What? “And all my coworkers are all really nice and willing to teach me the ropes,” Aphmau listed off.

Dante chose to ignore the comment about hallucinations in the middle and asked, “So what’s the job?”

“Promise not to say anything about it?” She mumbled with slightly glowing cheeks hidden behind her mug.

Oh? Was she embarrassed about the job? Then Dante definitely had to know what it was. It could be very good ammunition for teasing. “Cross my heart,” he declared with the hand not holding his mug placed above his heart.

“I… id… afe,” she mumbled below her breath.

“What was that? I couldn’t hear you.”

“I work at a maid cafe now,” she repeated much more clearly.

Wait… “Is it the really pink one? It has the small cherry blossom trees at the entrance?”

“Yeah,” Aphmau sighed, “That’s the one.”

“The guys and I actually went there super recently. You know, it really is a small world.”

“I know. I saw you there.”

“No way! You’re kidding.” There was no way that Aphmau was working at the cafe when they went there to eat. Someone would’ve seen her at some point.

Aphmau raised an eyebrow and leaned over to place her mug on the coffee table. “Vylad, Gene, and Zenix were all also there with you but left before you did,” she said flatly as she straightened back up.

“I stand corrected.” Dante couldn’t believe he’d somehow missed her. “You should’ve come by and said hi.”

Aphmau snorted, “And let all you guys see me in a maid dress? I know how you guys are.”

“Hey! I resent that. I’ll let you know that I’m a perfectly good gentleman.”

“Kawaii~Chan told me that you were flirting with her a bit when you saw her,” Aphmau responded flatly. “Not that she minded, admittedly.”

Ok, Dante could admit that was fair of her. “Ok, but what about Garroth and Travis, why didn’t you bring them up?”

“Travis is too scared of my mom to even consider flirting with me even as a joke. And Garroth is too polite to try and flirt in public like that.”

“Which leaves me as the one most likely to try and flirt with you?”

“More or less,” Aphmau shrugged.

Dante realised this was a good opportunity to try and be a wingman for Garroth. “Well, just so you know, I wouldn’t have flirted with you anyway.”

Aphmau shot him a disbelieving look, “Oh really? And why’s that?”

“Garroth wouldn’t have let me. You and I both know he’s too much of a gentleman for that. He got on my case for hitting on Kawaii~chan, and he’s not as close to her as he is to you. Imagine how he would’ve reacted if I tried it with you.” Smooooth.

Aphmau sighed, “Yeah, he probably wouldn’t have liked it if you flirted with me.”

Dante finished his drink and placed it on the coffee table. “For the record, I wouldn’t want to flirt with Katelyn either.”

“Because of Travis?” Aphmau asked.

Dante nodded in response.

“So it’s fine when those two aren’t around then?”

“Oh come on. You know that if I flirt with you I mean it completely as a joke. Same goes for Katelyn. I’m too loyal to my bros to go behind their backs and hit on the girls they like you kno–” Crap! Dante forgot that Aphmau wasn’t supposed to know about Garroth’s crush. Ok, maybe he could still run damage control over it. “I’m talking about Travis of course, and his crush on Katelyn. Because Garroth definitely doesn’t have a crush on anybody but I’d do the sa–” he rambled.

“Pffft. Dante, it’s okay. I know what you meant,” Aphmau laughed.

“Right, yeah.” Good, crisis averted.

“So you’re the type of friend who prioritizes his friends above romance, huh?”

“What?”

“Well, if you and a friend liked the same girl. You’d encourage your friend to go for it, right?”

“Well, duh. What else are friends supposed to do for each other? Plus I know I’ve got a lot of other options. Sadly, others simply aren’t good looking to attract as many girls as I do,” he bragged. Dante needed to throw in at least one joke in there. Couldn’t let the conversation get too serious.

Though Aph wasn’t fully wrong. He cared more about his friend’s feelings than any potential romance. So he refused to seriously flirt with anyone he knew a friend of his had a crush on. Which in this case was Aphmau and Katelyn. Though that wasn’t the only reason. He was too close to Aphmau to consider flirting with her. Also, Katelyn kind of scared him.

“Haha,” Aphmau laughed flatly. The short woman leaned over to the coffee table to grab her still-unfinished drink.

“You know, I still can’t believe nobody in the group noticed you.”

“I mean, Gene noticed. He just didn’t say anything.”

“What! Why didn’t he say anything?”

“Probably because I didn’t want him to. He saw me while you were distracted with Zane and I kinda gestured at him to stay quiet. It was pretty nice of him actually. I need to thank him next time I see him.”

“Oh, so you saw Zane? He doesn’t work there, does he? The uniform really didn’t fit him.” He still doesn’t know why he was wearing a uniform that clearly wasn’t his.

“Who’s uniform did you think it belonged to?”

“No!” Dante was shocked. “Did you swap clothes!?”

“I mean, in a changing room, but yeah.”

“How did you get him to agree?” Dante had never really talked to Zane much but according to what Garroth had told him the man would never do something that embarrassing.

“It took a bit of convincing,” Aphmau admitted, “but we’re friends. So I eventually got him to agree with me.

“So I guess you really didn’t want us to see you, huh?”

“Can you blame me? It’d be super embarrassing!”

“KC didn’t mind,” Dante pointed out.

“She doesn’t count and you know it.”

Fair enough.

“Well, it’s good to see that you enjoy your new job at least.”

“Thanks,” Aphmau smiled.

The two stayed in comfortable silence for a few minutes.

“So are there any cute single girls–”

“There it is,” Aphmau interrupted.

“Come on Aph. I’m just asking to see if there’s anyone you could introduce to me,” Dante attempted.

“Isn’t there anyone else you’re interested in?” Aphmau asked.

“I mean, I guess Nicole’s pretty good looking–”

Aphmau practically jumped at that. “You like Nicole!?” she nearly squealed. She put the mug down so quickly Dante was almost worried it would break. Then she leaped across the couch and grabbed him by the shoulders.

“W–We’ve just been talking a bit recently. And she’s pretty fun to hang around that’s all.”

She began to shake him by the shoulders.“You should totally go for it,” Aphmau encouraged.

Dante grabbed her hands and pried them off of him. “I’m not sure that’s the best idea.”

Aphmau tilted her head slightly. “Why not?”

“Katelyn’s her best friend,” Dante deadpanned.

“What, scared she won’t approve or something?”

“Yes.” Dante felt he was more than a little justified in feeling that way.

Aphmau opened her mouth to speak but no sound came out. She put her hand against her mouth as if to think. Dante raised his eyebrow while waiting for her response.

“She’s not that bad,” she tried weakly.

“You’re one of her best friends. I’m very much not. And we both know how protective she can get of her friends.”

“Well… yeah,” she sighed.

“See? I was right.”

“But don’t worry! I’m sure I can convince her to not be too bad about it.” The short woman suddenly stood up and pulled him up by the arm with a surprising amount of strength.

“Wh– Aph!”

“Come on, they’re in Katelyn’s room, right?” She began pulling him towards the stairs.

“Katelyn said not to bother them.”

“It’ll be fine,” Aphmau waved off.

“It’s on you when we inevitably get thrown out.”

“You’re just being dramatic.”

“I’m really not.”

By now the two were standing in front of the door to Katelyn’s room. Aphmau knocked on it without hesitation.

Aphmau held Dante in her grip as she waited for Katelyn to open the door. Every individual second he stood there felt much longer than it actually was. It almost felt like he was waiting for a disaster.

The blue-haired woman opened the door with an annoyed look on her face.

“What?” she asked.

“We were just wondering if we could come inside and hang out?” Aphmau asked.

“I thought I told Dante that me and Nicole didn’t want to be bothered.” It was phrased like a question but said like a statement.

“Oh, come on Katelyn. Why not? More people means more fun after all.”

Dear Irene, this was how Dante died. At the hands of an angry woman the same height as him who was going to knock him out for going along with Aphmau.

Katelyn narrowed her eyes and Dante was sure her hold on the door knob tightened. “Aph–”

“Let them in Katelyn. We both know we weren’t talking about much anyways,” Nicole called in from inside.

Katelyn turned her head towards the inside of the room. “You sure you wanna do that with Dante of all people?”

“Hey!”

“He’s not that bad,” Nicole defended him.”

Katelyn took a deep breath before saying, “Fine, but no flirting with me, got it Dante?”

“Wasn’t planning on it,” he replied honestly.

Katelyn sighed, “Fine, then you can come inside.”

Katelyn went back into the room and left the door open for Aphmau and Dante to follow. The short woman entered confidently and Dante did with a touch more hesitance. He had a feeling Katelyn still wasn’t over the sticker incident.

Dante looked around the room and it appeared the same as when he saw it at the party. Katelyn glared at him from the bed when she noticed his eyes landing on the closed closet, confirming his suspicions over how she felt about that. Nicole was sitting next to her friend and waved at him and Aphmau when they came in. Aphmau immediately went to sit at the desk.

Dante decided to just lean against the closed door.

“So, what have you two been talking about?” Aphmau asked.

Nicole responded, “Oh, not much really. Though Katelyn did mention something about th–”

Katelyn interrupted, “Nothing! Nicole,” the red-haired woman’s name was nearly growled out, “was just telling me about… umm… her dad’s company! Yeah, how the family company’s been doing.”

Nicole shot her friend a bit of a look but relented. “Yeah, dad was excited about the new deal he finished making with one of the Lycan family companies.” Something about that name stuck out to Dante, it sounded familiar to him. Like he knew someone with that name maybe?

“Oh! I didn’t know your dad owned a company,” Aphmau quickly jumped in. Always one to learn new things about her friends and all that.

Nicole puffed up with pride, “Yep! Rosenberg Tech. The company deals with making and installing the most up-to-date technology possible for its clients. It may not be big yet, but it’s top-tier quality. According to dad, the new business deal is gonna be really big for us.”

“You gonna inherit it someday?” He knew from Garroth that sometimes company owners try to get their kids to inherit them.

“Nah. She’s no good at that kind of management stuff,” Katelyn said.

“Rude,” Nicole huffed. “But she’s not wrong. Dad was planning on giving the position to whatever worker he thinks is gonna be the best at it by the time he retires. The fact I’m not interested in business stuff is just a nice coincidence.”

“Probably for the best. Inheriting something like that sounds stressful. And considering Nicole’s spending habits, she’d probably run it into the ground anyways.”

“Katelyn!” Nicole screeched with a laugh throwing a weak punch at her friend’s shoulder.

“It’s true! I’ve seen how much some of the stuff you buy offhandedly costs.”

“That’s because they’re my personal funds. I’d be more careful if it were for a company,” she defended herself.

“Hmmm. I’m not sure I trust that.”

It was beginning to feel like the two had forgotten that he and Aphmau were there at all. He looked at Aphmau and her face told him that she probably felt the same way.

“You’re literally the worst.”

“Right back at ya!” Katelyn said. Though her smile told him there was no fire behind it.

Dante loudly cleared his throat before the conversation between the two got too far along and left the two other people in the room awkwardly left out. It seemed to do the trick as the two women stopped their banter to face him. One annoyed the other curious.

“What is it?” Katelyn asked.

“I was just wondering who the Lycan family was. The name sounds familiar.” That seemed like a safe enough topic for conversation.

“That makes sense. The main company itself isn’t actually all that well known, but it has a ton of subsidiary companies that are a lot more famous. So the Lycan company by itself tends to only be mentioned here and there with the focus going onto the subsidiaries. The fact that the owner is kind of infamous for never accepting interviews doesn’t really help,” Nicole explained.

“Wow, Nicole! You’re so smart,” Dante complimented.

“Thanks, glad to know someone can see genius for what it is.” She flipped pieces of hair behind her shoulder in an over-dramatic pose.

“Totally, we should meet up sometime so you can… educate me more,” Dante added a wink for good measure.

He noticed Aphmau send him a thumbs up at the same instant that Katelyn began to scowl.

Nicole’s face became slightly red. “Well, if you really want to… I wouldn’t mind it.”

“Sure, maybe over a cup of coffee?”

“Dante,” Katelyn nearly growled. Shit, he forgot she was in the room. The blue-haired woman began to stand up from the bed.

Before anyone could respond to that, or for Katelyn to take a step forward, a loud and familiar sound came from behind the door.

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!” Kawaii~chan practically screeched from behind the door. Even with the door muffling the sound, Dante still felt the need to step back from it and cover his ears.

The moment the sound stopped, the door slammed open and behind it stood a slightly crazed-looking meif’wa.

“Kawaii~Chan heard about a new potential ship!” she squealed.

Dante was confused. What did she mean by shipping? Was she talking about the postal service? But why would she… Ah, he forgot about that ‘hobby' of hers. He heard what sounded like someone's palm smacking across a face from Aph’s direction.

“Absolutely not!” Katelyn snapped.

“But, Katelyn~sama!” she whined, “It’d be so cute!”

“That’s it! Get over here!” Katelyn began moving towards the pink–haired woman, who immediately turned to run away in response.

By the time Kately had exited the room in her pursuit, Ahmau had already scrambled up and went after them, shouting, “No, Katelyn! Leave her alone! She’s not hurting anyone!” Then, the short woman also exited the room, leaving Nicole and Dante by themselves.

“Soooo… coffee?” Dante asked. “I have an idea for where it could be. It’s nice and priv–” he was interrupted by the loud sound of something crashing downstairs. Thankfully it didn’t sound like glass and wasn’t followed by pained screaming.

“Coffee. Sure. Ok. I’ll leave the details about that to you,” Nicole said distractedly before running outside the room. Presumably to stop Katelyn from committing murder in her name.

Well, best of luck to Kawaii~Chan because Dante just scored himself a date! And with a pretty spitfire like Nicole too!

Now he just had to figure out a date spot that matched the bluff he gave her. After that, he could just cruise off of his natural charisma.

He knew that the ladies simply could not resist a fine specimen like himself after all.

Chapter Text

Katelyn was seriously considering punching Jeffory at the moment. Not an extremely hard punch to the face or anything. Just a moderately hard punch on the shoulder. Like he very much deserved at the moment.

“Come on Katelyn!” he laughed, “What’s the harm in it?”

She tightened her grip on the brochure for the theatre classes. “It was a stupid idea anyway.”

Jeffory’s voice was more chiding when he said, “Katelyn, it’s about studying something that interests you. What’s stupid about that?” It was a soft reprimand, one that didn’t actually antagonize her in any way. He was way too good at the whole dad thing.

“How many times have you had to ask Abby something similar?”

“Never. Because Abby is a sweet little angel who enjoys going to school and– hey.”

Darn it. He noticed the distraction for what it was.

“I already told you, I liked theatre in high school. Going to actual classes for stuff like that as an adult would be completely different. I’m not even sure I’d even like it that much. And if I don’t then I’m just wasting money.”

“You’re being way too pessimistic about this. You still like going to local plays, right?”

“There’s a pretty big difference between watching a play, and actively wanting to participate in one.”

“Why don’t you try and join a small theatre production then.”

What was he even talking about?

“What?” Katelyn asked in perfect deadpan.

Jeffory turned a bit red. “I don’t know! The community center sometimes does small plays, right? Maybe something like that?”

“Stage fright. Remember?” Kinda one of the main reasons she first considered theatre classes.

“You don’t necessarily have to be out on stage,” he suggested. “You could… do tech! Hell, maybe even try your hand at directing. It’s not like the community center plays are super professional or anything.”

Well… it might be nice to do something like that. She wanted to direct a play since she was a little kid. And if it didn’t go well or she didn’t enjoy it, she could at least say she tried it once. Cross it off the bucket list and all that.

“I’ll… think about it,” Katelyn muttered.

Jeffory’s face brightened in a way that reminded her of why she once had feelings for the man. Long dead feelings mind you. She was just thankful they were still on good terms with each other. Irene knew she couldn’t say the same for a few other relationships…

“That’s great! You have to tell me when it is. I’ll make sure to bring Abby. Talking about her, it looks like I need to leave soon or the babysitter will be stuck in the apartment for longer than I paid them for. Fun hangin’ with you” The brunette man turned to leave the room, leaving Katelyn momentarily stunned.

Katelyn rushed out to follow him with a red face, brochure still clutched in her hands. The blue-haired woman shouted, “I said I’d only think about it you jerk!”

Jeffory had the gall to laugh and say, “Whatever you say, Katelyn!” He continued down the stairs at a slightly more rapid pace.

Katelyn ran down to follow him and stopped at the bottom of the stairs. She found Jeffory standing on the far side of the couch where a confused Aphmau and Zane sat.

“Umm… Katelyn? Jeffory? Mind telling me what’s going on?” Aphmau asked in a confused voice.

“Not much,” Jeffory answered. “Just that Katelyn’s thinking of joining and helping out with one of the plays in the local community center. Also, I need to leave now, so bye. Thanks for having me over!” Jeffory said before practically sprinting to the door and leaving the house. Irene damned traitor.

When Katelyn turned back to look at Aphmau, she had a big smile on her face. “Theatre? That sounds like a lot of fun. When’s it happening?” Zane just sat beside her in silence. Katelyn doubted he could look more bored if he tried. At least it meant he probably wouldn’t butt into the conversation.

“I just told him I’d think about helping out. I’m not even sure if I’ll actually go through with it.”

“What? Too scared of embarrassing yourself onstage?” Zane asked.

Oh, Katelyn will show Zane scared–

“Zane,” Aphmau said in a warning tone.

“Fine. I’ll stay quiet,” he grumbled.

Ok, Katelyn. Deep breaths. Don’t let him get to you. No matter how annoying he may be.

“Actually, I’m not planning on being on stage. I’m more interested in stuff like directing the play anyway. Though I’m not sure the community center would let me do that. Considering my complete lack of experience with directing and all that.”

Aphmau looked determined. “Don’t worry Katelyn. We’ll find a way. I promise.”

“What do you mean we?” Zane sputtered.

“What I mean is that you are gonna help me find a way to let Katelyn direct a play,” she cheerfully declared.

“What!? How easy do you think doing something like this is?”

“I hate to agree with him Aph, but Zane’s probably right. I doubt that somehow getting me to direct a play is gonna be as easy as just asking.”

Aphmau shook her head. “Don’t you worry one bit. I know you want to do this, so I’m gonna do whatever I can to help you with this.”

A promise that led to Aphmau going around the neighbourhood handing out pamphlets promoting auditions for members of the local community in the late winter chill. Normally she would’ve dragged Zane along, but considering he did most of the legwork with getting Katelyn the opportunity to direct, she relented that getting him to promise to audition alongside her would be enough.

Not that Zane actually told her how he managed that. All he told her was vaguely saying he had ‘connections’ and to leave it at that.

But that was fine. After all, the only thing Aphmau had to do was hand around some papers and convince people to come. And how hard could that really be!

So after giving the information to strangers, she began to head towards the houses of people she actually knew. First off being Travis, Garroth, and Dante’s house. She was sure she could get them to agree.

After getting to the front porch of the house, Aphmau hit the doorbell and waited. Soon after, the door opened to reveal Travis.

“Hey Aph. How are ya?” he asked.

“I’m doing good. I actually came to ask you guys something,” she said, raising the stack of pamphlets a bit as she did.

Travis picked up the one on top and began reading it.

“New play at the community center… Romeo and Juliet… auditions… How’d you end up getting roped up into helping with this?”

“I offered to help. Plus I’m actually planning on auditioning myself. So I thought I’d help spread it around.”

“Well, thanks for the offer. But I’m not interested, and I’m pretty sure neither Dante or Garroth would be interested either. Actually, Garroth might…”

“Aww, I was hoping all three of you would agree. I know Katelyn would be happy if you did…” The bait was set.

Travis immediately straightened up once he heard Katelyn’s name. “Why would that make Katelyn happy?” Good…

Now one last finishing touch. “Katelyn’s the one directing. She’s really hoping that a few people audition.”

“I’m doing it,” Travis declared. Hook Line and Sinker. “I’ll make sure Dante and Garroth join too.”

“That’s great! Thanks a bunch. I’m sure Katelyn’s gonna be really happy.”

After leaving the pamphlet with Travis and saying goodbye, Aphmau went to talk to the next person. She did feel a bit bad about using Travis’ crush on Katelyn so that he would agree, but not too much. It’d get more people to audition for Katelyn, and it also gave Travis something nice to do for the woman in the process. Two birds with one stone!

Next up would be Aaron. She wasn’t sure if she’d be able to convince him. But she managed to get Zane to agree, and it couldn’t be any harder than that.

Aphmau quickly made her way to her friend’s house and rang the doorbell. She waited for a bit, but it became clear that Aaron likely wasn’t at his house.

“Huh, guess I’ll have to try again later,” Aphmau muttered.

Well, whatever. This just meant she’d need to go to Gene’s house first instead. Aphmau knew she’d be able to convince Travis when she went to his house, she was fairly confident in being able to convince Aaron once she saw him, but she had no idea whether or not she could get anyone from the house she’s about to visit to agree.

“No harm in trying!” she affirmed. So with some pep in her step, Aphmau crossed the road and approached the white house. The closer she got, the more she could hear the loud sounds of something happening inside. Aphmau couldn’t tell what it was coming from, just that it was occasionally interspersed by shouts. What in the name of Irene could be going on in there? With a deep breath to steel her nerves, Aphmau rang the doorbell. Hopefully, she could at least get one of the inhabitants of the house to agree to an audition. And also whatever was causing those sounds wasn’t anything bad.

After a little bit, the door opened to reveal an out-of-breath Laurance standing behind it. “Oh, hey Aphmau. What’re you doing here?” The brunette stepped out, leaving the door just barely open behind him. His hair and clothes both looked like a complete mess. She gave him a bit of time to catch his breath.

“I came to talk to you about these,” she gestured at the pamphlets, “but did I come at a bad time?”

“Not at all,” Laurance said. Immediately afterward another loud sound came from behind the door.

“Are you sure?” Aphmau tried to get a peek at whatever was behind the door.

“Yep!” he said quickly. “We were just organizing some stuff. We found some old movie and apparently some of my roommates have very different opinions on it-” he was interrupted by what Aphmau could swear was a weirdly triumphant noise from Vylad, “and we can all get a little bit heated sometimes,” Laurance offered weakly. He was very pointedly not looking her in the eyes throughout any of this. “Anyways the house is a mess so you really shouldn’t come in.”

Aphmau wasn’t sure she believed that. It felt like the man was hiding something. “Really?”

“Mhm. So about those pamphlets?” Laurance quickly snatched one of the papers she had and began reading it over.

Right! Aphmau couldn’t get distracted. Her mission here was to get people to join the audition. No matter how weirdly suspicious they were acting about things.

“Katelyn’s directing the play, so I’ve been spreading the word by handing these out. It has all the necessary information for auditions, so if you want to, you guys can come audition for the play!”

Laurance opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by the loud sound of someone running up the stairs. The door was practically blown open by Zenix. (Revealing the inside of the house wasn’t nearly as messy as Laurance implied)

Zenix, who was breathing very deeply, was very sweaty, and wearing a tightly fitting tank top that really displayed his muscles. Damn… good for Vylad. Aphmau was distracted after seeing Zenix’s bare arms. Which… near perfectly complemented the rest of his body, or at least they would if they didn’t appear to be absolutely covered in scars. From thin cuts to larger more jagged-looking slices, both arms had way more than could be explained away from being a reckless kid.

“We would love to audition for the play!” Zenix declared before Aphmau or Laurance could say anything.

Continuing in the trend of distractions, the sound of someone coming upstairs came again. However this time, it was much calmer than before. Aphmau noted that the loud crashes she heard when approaching the house had stopped.

Sasha came into view of the doorway, an annoyed look on her face, and hair tied in a ponytail behind her head.

“I certainly didn’t agree to auditioning.”

“Oh, come one Sasha! It could be fun! What’s the harm in trying?”

“The fact I don’t want to? And also that agreeing to do stuff for a play would be a large time commitment,” she listed.

Zenix stepped back into the house. “So what? It’s not like time’s a concern for us?”

Laurance immediately shot Zenix a look that Aphmau couldn’t decipher but still felt significant.

“Let’s go back downstairs,” Sasha quickly intervened.

“Right, you go do that. I’m sure Vylad and Gene still need help with the reorganising,” Laurance said.

Sasha nodded and grabbed Zenix by the hand, dragging the taller man down to the basement.

“We’ll definitely join in for auditions!” Zenix said as he was dragged away.

“Maybe you will,” Sasha retorted.

Laurance turned back to face Aphmau and said, “We’ll get back to you on that,” before grabbing another pamphlet and retreating into the house. He very quickly closed the door before Aphmau got a chance to speak.

“I didn’t get to ask about the scars…” At least it looked like she’d at least managed to get one more person to audition? Still… there was definitely something weird about the entire interaction.

Something she could ask about later. She doubted they’d open the door again.

Aphmau turned around, thinking of who else she could give the pamphlets to when she spotted Aaron jogging down the street.

“Aaron! Hey!” Aphmau called.

The large man slowed to a stop in front of his house and turned to look at her. The shorter woman quickly made her way over to her friend. “Aaron, I was looking for you!”

“Hi, Aph,” he greeted. “Why were you looking for me?”

Aphmau once again presented the pamphlets in her hands. Aaron slowly picked one up and looked it over.

“A play? I don’t know… You know how I am with large groups.”

Aphmau did know that. Aaron absolutely hated being in crowded areas, enclosed ones even more so. Which is specifically why Aphmau was hoping she could get Aaron to join. “I know that you can be really shy, but I was thinking this could be a way to warm you up to bigger groups,” she explained, “since it’s in the community centre, it shouldn’t have too many people.”

Aaron looked unsure. Or at least that’s what Aphmau could read from his expression. The hoodie and bandanna clouding the vast majority of his face made it kind of hard to tell. Still! She’d known Aaron for a few years already, she knew him well enough to read him.

And he didn’t look like he was about to deny her outright.

“I’ll be auditioning too, and I already got a few of my other friends to do it. So you won’t be alone,” she added.

That didn’t make Aaron look any less hesitant. “What if my family calls?” he asked with a frown.

Aphmau hadn’t thought of them. She probably should've, considering she knows that a good portion of what Aaron is and isn’t willing to do stems from stuff involving his family. Not that Aphmau actually knows much about what that stuff is. All that she’s gathered about Aaron's parents is that they’re insanely strict, bordering on controlling (Despite the fact that Aaron is an adult). They always call him to “check on him” a few times a month. Though the way Aaron talked about these calls made Aphmau feel it wasn’t anything as innocent as familial concern. And this was just speculation, but she had a nagging feeling that they had something to do with Aaron’s insistence on keeping his eyes covered.

They’re also extremely rich, but Aaron hates relying on their wealth. She knew their last name, Lycan. And what Nicole had said about them a few days ago was right. It was ludicrously hard to find anything on them.

The final and most important piece of information, whatever Aaron’s relationship to his family was. There was almost nothing positive about it. The precious few times she got him to actually say anything were short and very quickly shut down. But they still made it obvious that whatever was going on there was… not great.

“There’s only going to be one showing, and you can just say you’d be too busy to pick up the phone that night,” Aphmau argued.

“That’d just make them really want to know what’d make me so busy,” Aaron muttered.

Aphmau changed tactics. “Well, it’s just gonna be one day. What are the chances they’d call that night specifically? And if they call during a rehearsal, I’m sure Katelyn would be willing to understand stuff about family issues.” Assuming Aaron explained anything of course. But Aphmau could hope.

Maybe this could be a way for Aaron to get more friends!

“I mean, this is assuming you end up getting a role. Who knows. Maybe you won’t end up cutting it and it won’t matter either way.” Aphmau realized how rude that sounded the moment it came out of her mouth. “I know that sounded bad but–”

“It’s fine. I know what you meant,” Aaron assured her.

“Well… will you do it?” Aphmau asked.

Aaron looked unsure and frowned for a moment, making Aphmau think he’d say no. But his expression shifted to a more neutral one as he said, “I’ll go. You’re going too, right? I’ll just stick by you.”

Aphmau frowned. “You really should try to talk to more people you know.”

“Stop talking to me like I’m an antisocial teenager,” Aaron groaned, “I’m older than you. And I said I was gonna go, didn’t I?”

Aphmau smiled. “I know. And I appreciate it. So I’ll be seeing you there?”

Aaron nodded. “Is that everything? Cause I just finished jogging and I’d like to take a bath so…”

“Oh! Right! Yeah. Go ahead, thanks for agreeing!”

Aaron smiled and turned to enter his house.

Ok, so that was a guaranteed yes for everyone at Travis’ house. Zenix said he’d go, and Laurance said they’d talk about going to auditions. Though Sasha looked pretty set on not auditioning at all, so Aphmau doubted the other woman would actually go. And she’d just convinced Aaron to go. As well as the yes she managed to get out of Zane earlier.

Overall, a pretty good turnaround on part of her friends. Definitely more than she expected. Still! She couldn’t rest on her laurels. That wouldn’t be enough people. She still had more pamphlets to give out, and even if it was to strangers, hand them out she would!

After all, Aphmau promised that she’d help Katelyn.

Chapter Text

There was a very distinct possibility that Sasha was going to maim Zenix after all of this was over and done with. Not only did he have to go ahead and confirm everyone in the house would be joining in with auditions without actually asking them. He also had to have the absolute gall to beat her in the spar and force her to actually audition.

At least she didn’t end up getting a role in the play itself. Instead, she got stuck dealing with being one of the main people painting the set for the play. All because someone decided that it would be a great idea to blab about how she used to paint.

So again, she was a touch annoyed with Zenix. Though to be fair, it’s not like Sasha helped herself when she began throwing out her own suggestions for how to make things look up to standard. How was she supposed to know the vast majority of people didn’t know specific terminology for paints?

She could already tell it was going to be a massive bother to have to spend her time dealing with helping prepare for the play. At least, if nothing else it wasn’t something that she’d spent time doing before. Mostly because it wasn’t something she’d ever thought to be interesting or wanted to do.

But it was, admittedly, a brand new experience for her. Something hard to find after living such a long life.

And she guessed it was nice to finally paint again. It was surprisingly easier to do when she already had an idea on how it had to look. She could… begrudgingly give that to Katelyn. Despite how annoying she was back at the New Year’s Party, Sasha was willing to admit that wanting the play to go without a hitch, including the set design, was an aspect of the director she could appreciate.

Mind you, it’d be nicer if the paint worked how she wanted it to. But no, she had to paint on wood instead of a canvas, which as it turns out, is very different. With a canvas, she could paint something realistic if she felt like it. Of course, she hadn’t actually felt motivated enough to do so in well over a century. But at least she knew she could even if she was out of practice.

Making wood look like stone on the other hand, was very much not something she’s ever done. But no, just because she used to pursue painting as a hobby, Zenix decided that of course that could translate to painting sets. And to top it off almost everyone else in the crew for the play went along with it too, ignoring her light protests. The most she got was a grimace from Gene and an offer from a few others to help if they weren’t too busy with their own jobs in the play.

As well as exactly one person who offered to help her as their main way of support in the play. The ginger witch thankfully decided to take a break from unabashedly keeping an eye on Sasha to satiate her absolute lack of trust in her or any of her companions.

As Sasha knelt on the ground, staring at the grey-painted wood that didn’t look quite like the colour she wanted, she heard someone walk closer to her. She turned her head and saw Zenix looking down at her.

“Yo. I got sent to see how you and Lucinda were doing with painting the set.”

Sasha quietly stared at him for a moment. “Die,” she said before promptly picking up a brush and going back to painting the wood to look grey. She was going to get this to look right or so help her Irene–

She ignored the laughter that response pulled out of Zenix.

Maybe using two different shades of grey on the same piece of wood without actually fully mixing the paints would work… Either way, she was going to make the set look like how it needed to look and visually appealing in the process.

Lucinda might not have fully thought it through when she offered to help Sasha in painting the set. She had gone into this knowing she had no clue what doing this actually entailed. But apparently, she had severely underestimated just how hard it was to paint a set. That and unexpectedly, Sasha was every bit the perfectionist Katelyn was. At least when it came to this because she was not letting Lucinda try and cut any corners. Annoyingly enough.

She was thankful she got to take breaks. A blessing she was currently partaking in to gather her thoughts. And also to escape Sasha’s surprisingly demanding attitude towards the painting.

Well, Lucinda joined in because she was trying to learn more about Sasha and the people she lived with. So in a way, Lucinda got what she wanted. Only she was more hoping to see if she could glean anything about what they actually were and not personality traits she wasn’t expecting to find.

Though it wasn’t like what she learned was useless. Even if Lucinda was no closer to learning what any of them actually were. Only that they were some kind of other that wasn’t human, meif’wa or werewolf, no matter how close to human they seemed at first. She had at least seen how they acted, and what she picked up from that could be just as important.

After all, part of why she wanted to learn about them was to see if they were dangerous. And what she’d seen from how they acted revealed that… they didn’t seem all that different from anyone else. Sure, just a small peek into their magic from her revealed that everything about them was wrong. But outside of that, none of them really acted any different than any person she might come across on the street.

Some of them even seemed kind of fun. Or at least not the worst to be around.

First off, Zenix. He felt like the most open of the group. He tended to do whatever he felt like, was loud, and apparently took great pleasure in being a general annoyance whenever possible and messing with people. But he was also surprisingly diligent. Lucinda wasn’t sure if she’d say that he was taking his role in the play with complete seriousness, but he also wasn’t treating it like a joke. At the very least, he didn’t intentionally disrupt rehearsals, leaving most of his messing around to people who weren’t doing anything of extreme urgency. Something which Lucinda and Sasha had both experienced first-hand.

Gene, the one she’d interacted with the least was also the one she knew least about, only learning that he may as well have been Zenix’s opposite in terms of social interaction. Not particularly loud or outspoken, but that wasn’t a bad thing. And also apparently the one who took it upon himself to wrangle Zenix whenever he was making too much of a bother to others. But even if he didn’t say much of meaning through words, at the very least he was polite. He also did any work given to him in order to help with the play without complaint and she’d caught him more than one time asking departments if there was anything they needed help with when he was done with his own. So the helpfulness was appreciated

Zenix’s partner Vylad was a bit of an in between of sorts. They weren’t quite as calm as Gene but they weren’t anywhere near as rowdy as their boyfriend. They were friendly enough and a surprisingly talented actor, if apparently incapable of hiding chemistry between themself and Zenix. Something she did notice was that even if they acted at chiding Zenix whenever he began to mess with people, she also noticed them trying to hide a grin at their boyfriend’s antics. So clearly they enjoyed it at least a little bit.

If Lucinda had to describe Laurance, she’d probably call him the most ‘normal’ of his roommates. The man didn’t really stand out much compared to the rest. He was unwaveringly polite, or at least attempted to be. It looked like Zenix was very capable of making the man lose his patience. Overhearing the creative vocabulary from the man when Zenix had been teasing him over the roles in the play had been a delightful discovery for Lucinda. And the same went for Zenix considering just how much Laurance’s reactions seemed to encouraged him. But outside of that, Laurance was polite enough and easy to talk to.

And finally came Sasha. The one Lucinda admittedly was the most interested in. At first, the other woman appeared to be disinterested and annoyed by the whole situation. The latter of which revealed itself to be true. But considering how dedicated Sasha was to painting the set, Lucinda doubted that she was as uninterested as she acted. And apparently, Sasha did at least know something about painting. When they first got appointed to the paint crew, Sasha had begun almost lazily suggesting possible ways to paint the set to both her and Katelyn. After it became evident that the grey-haired woman was the most knowledgeable on the subject, she was basically allowed to take the reins with only some input from Katelyn as director. And take the reins she did, because, despite her grumbling and annoyance, Lucinda might say that Sasha’s desire to have the set look good was matched only by Katelyn herself.

Bringing Lucinda back to why she wanted to keep a better eye on them. Despite still not having any idea on what any of them were or even if they were dangerous… she couldn’t help but think of them the same as anyone else. Sure, their magic was practically rotten to an almost scary degree, but they acted just the same as anyone else. She could almost see herself becoming friends with some of them.

So even if it was maybe not the best idea, Lucinda believed she could have faith in them not being some extremely dangerous force. Not currently anyways.

Which isn’t to say that she was going to stop trying to figure out what they were. Even if they weren’t currently dangerous, they were still all something Lucinda didn’t know about. Some things that were clearly related to magic in some way. And what sort of witch would she be if she didn’t try and figure out what they were? And considering where she was going to be moving soon, she’d only get more chances to meet and talk to them.

Though in the meantime… There shouldn’t be any serious harm in bringing a potion or two the night of the play, right? Just to show it off if nothing else. Have some fun and all that.

Nana could admit that the crew was extremely lucky that the play they chose was set in a specific time period. She could already imagine frantically trying to figure out how the costumes should look and then the hassle of getting them all, and then making any necessary changes to them if it was possible. She wasn’t sure if they could’ve gotten it all done in time.

Needless to say, it was nice to already have a large amount of references for how all the costumes should look. Even better was knowing someone who had greatly studied the period of the Second War of Irene.

Talking about their historian friend, it was really sweet of her to offer her help with making the alterations necessary to the costumes, even if she didn’t know much about sewing. But Nana was more than willing to teach. It’s not like it had been easy for her, and Emmalyn was more than a willing student. And Nana was a great teacher if she dared to say so herself. (Her cosplay days were paying off!)

Talking about Emmalyn, her friend was sitting next to her struggling with a needle and thread.

“Emmalyn~Chan, do you need any help?” she asked.

Emmalyn was glaring at what was in her hands with an intensity that frankly worried her. She answered while still looking at it, “No, I can do this. I promised I’d help and that’s what I’m gonna do.”

“Why don’t we take a break then? Kawaii~Chan would like to talk about some of the references a bit more. The things you said were really interesting.”

Emmalyn instantly perked up once she heard Nana. Her focused frown shifted into a beaming smile. “Yes! We can do that Kawaii~Chan!”

It should probably be a source of worry that she’s used a fake name for so long that it just felt natural to hear it. Even more than her actual name some days.

She supposed it was something to think about later.

Emmalyn and Nana both put away their needles and the costumes to talk more comfortably.

“Ok, I’m gonna start with the more ‘knightly’ looking costumes. Most of those costumes are based on surviving artifacts from the time period that belonged to guards. Most that have been discovered are in really bad and damaged condition, which are useful from a historical standpoint, but not much good for costumes.”

“Yeah, because they’d be really ugly costumes, right?” Kawaii~Chan asked.

“Pretty much. But good for the play, there are some that were in pretty good condition. A lot from people who presumably never actually needed to use them for anything serious, but there is surprisingly one that we know was used in the big war that has survived to this day.” Emmalyn looked more and more giddy the more she talked.

“Oh! Kawaii~Chan thinks she’s heard of it! It’s from the man that was head guard of Phoenix Drop village for a long time, right?” Nana was sure she had gone to the museum that held the piece of armor back when she was a teenager. She remembered it being in really good condition for something centuries old. Also weirdly familiar. She’d probably seen it in pictures online before going to the museum.

“Right, this head guard held the position for at least 2 decades, though we don’t know if he kept the position after the war ended or if he retired. Though there were mentions of his name in documents dated to after the war that make it pretty certain that he survived the war despite fighting on the front lines near the end of it. Which makes it even more impressive the armour was preserved so well.”

“What was the name of the guard?” Nana felt like there was something about it that stuck out to her the first time she heard it.

“Funnily enough, it was Dante. So our Dante’s costume is taking the most inspiration from the historical one. He’s playing a pretty major character so I think it makes sense.”

“Kawaii~Chan knew she’d heard it somewhere before! She just couldn’t place it.”

Emmalyn nodded. “It’s an interesting coincidence, yes. So that outfit is mainly just your typical grey armor from the time you’d see in any history book. Most guard uniforms at the time were very similar, only people that were really wealthy or had extremely high positions, like the Jury members, would’ve been able to afford clothing that looked fancy or distinct. The main difference the reference has is actually the slightly darker grey as well as having a more distinct helmet. But since we’re doing a play and need to see his face, we’re not using one. As cool as it would be…” That last sentence was muttered by Emmalyn.

“But why wouldn’t the head guard have a specific uniform? Wouldn’t it be helpful to spot him at a glance if there was an emergency? Kawaii~Chan thinks that would make more sense!”

“And you’d be right,” Emmalyn admitted, “but the region of Ru’aun in which the original Phoenix Drop was located didn’t have a lot of the metals needed to make the armor. It did have a lot of wood and coal though, which after trade started becoming more common, made the village start flourishing a lot more. But I digress, the lack of metals made it so that making fancier armor probably wouldn’t have been as efficient. So the dirtier colors are all they had to make a distinction. It may not be as interesting to look at, but it’s a fascinating insight into how the people back then worked around limited resources while still making things work as needed.”

Aaaand, Nana was beginning to lose track of the conversation.

“Ok! Kawaii~Chan thinks she gets it. What about the reference for Father Lawrence’s costume? His costume this time looks a lot fancier than what she remembers it looking like in high school performances.”

Emmalyn instantly perked up once more. “That’s because of Katelyn’s direction. Most of the time, the character just has humble robes in a way that contrasts the much fancier clothing from the rest of the cast. Katelyn wanted to make it look better, so we’re basing it off a specific religious figure from the time period. His name has been lost to history, so we just know him as the ‘High Priest’. According to some records, he might’ve lived at the same time as the historical Dante, but we’re not sure if they ever met.”

“Ohhh, yeah… Kawaii~Chan thinks she heard about him back in high school.”

“You probably did. He was the main religious leader of the church of Irene in O’Khasis at the time. But he ended up leading a brief attack on Phoenix Drop Village for some reason. It’s actually a subject of a lot of historical debate. All we really know about him is that he was related to the lord family of O’Khasis, that he publicly presented himself as extremely pious, and that he was secretly very corrupt. Though the fact that despite being a religious leader he had what was essentially a personal attack force and army, that probably should’ve been obvious.” Emmalyn looked like she was beginning to grow more heated. “Seriously, the doctrine of Irene preaches for peace whenever possible, but did anybody raise any questions when he began amassing what was basically a personal army? No! Which is just stupid!” Her face looked a bit red.

“Ummmm, Emmalyn~Chan? Kawaii~Chan thinks you should breathe.”

Emmalyn’s face stayed red, but the peep she let out implied it was more out of embarrassment than anger. The blonde woman buried her face in her hands. “Ughhh… that was so embarrassing. Why do I always get like that?”

Nana repeated, “Get like that?”

Emmalyn lifted her face from her hands. “Yeah… I don’t know why, but talking about the High Priest has always gotten me… heated.”

“Well,” Nana giggles, “you always get excited when talking about history.”

“I know but… this is different. I don't know how to describe it. It feels like, anger almost?” She quickly shook her head. “It’s nothing, forget it.”

“If you say so…” Nana let it go. “So his clothes are being used as a base for Friar Lawrence because they’re both religious?”

“Yes. Also, it stands out more, so we think it’ll work well.”

The clothing reference talk was fun, but Nana kind of felt like talking about something else… but what could she talk about?

“Oh! Emmalyn~Chan. Your boyfriend’s helping out with the play too, right?”

Emmalyn began blushing slightly at Nana’s question. “Yeah, Aphmau asked me and Kenmur to help out, so we did. Kenmur’s dealing more with the technical stuff like the lights. Why?” Before Nana could respond, however, a sharp look grew in Emmalyn’s eyes. “Wait… is this about that weird shipping thing Aphmau warned me about?”

Damn it! Nana hoped Emmalyn hadn’t heard about it. She was probably gonna have to bring it up eventually while talking with her just to keep up the act. But she hoped that if Emmalyn didn’t know, she could’ve toned it down a little.

Oh well. It was useless to worry and feel disappointed about the fact now. Time to put on the full mask.

“Yep! Kawaii~Chan just thinks that you’re such a cute ship! You got together during the New Year’s Party, right? That’s so adorable, two friends pining for each other who finally get together in the midnight kiss. So romantic! Super OTP worthy!”

Emmalyn just looked confused. “I… guess?” She sounded weirded out.

So the reaction Nana always got when she got like that. At least she hadn’t outright called her a freak despite probably thinking it. Not that she’d be wrong but it felt nice to not be called that to her face.

Neither of them talked for a few moments more and Nana realized she probably ruined the conversation.

“Well!” Nana said with a fake pep in her tone, “Kawaii~Chan thinks that’s enough of a break. We should go back to sewing, right?”

Emmalyn quietly nodded and went back to doing the stitches she needed. Nana followed the blonde’s example and did the same.

Internally, she sighed and pondered over why she always ended up doing this. Emmalyn was kind enough to not comment on her speech habits, she’d just have to accept it if the shipping thing was too much for the blonde to continue talking to her. At least it meant Nana would be distinct and easy to remember.

It was better to be weird and memorable than to just blend in and be easy to forget.

Gene felt fairly confident in saying that rehearsals had been going well. Everything in preparation for the play had been going well actually. Sasha said the set was going along nicely. Not in those words but that was the general gist of what she meant. Everyone who had speaking roles already had all their lines memorized.

Gene was thankful that he just got stuck with the role of being an extra instead of having to memorize any lines or monologues. Preferably, he wouldn’t have been involved in the play in the first place. But he was stuck in this now because of Zenix, so he’d take whatever he could get. However, it did leave him with a lot of time where he didn’t have much to do. Time he spent going around the theater and helping out the crew if they needed help with something.

It’d be boring to just sit around doing nothing while waiting to be needed onstage. Plus, they needed whatever extra hands they could get.

But things were moving along nicely, and soon he’d be able to leave the experience behind him and go back to doing what he usually did. The costume crew was beginning to get done with the costumes, so for the past few days, some members of the cast had been called in and out to try on the costumes.

Currently, Dante was the one sent to the changing room to put on his Benvolio costume. The major characters were going first, and the minor ones like himself were getting their costumes last.

Before Dante had been called out, Katelyn had wanted the cast to go over the scene between Mercutio and Tybalt, or if he were to just say the actors, Vylad and Zenix. Dante wasn’t there to play Benvolio, so his understudy, Garroth, was called in to fill in the role for the scene. Gene was just there as a background character.

Vylad and Zenix had both been the ones to most enjoy the entire process of preparing for the play. Which made sense considering they were the ones who pushed the rest of the house into joining. Though the specific roles they’d been cast as resulted in some… interesting dynamics between the characters.

More specifically that no matter what the director tried, she didn’t manage to stop the actors from playing Tybalt and Mercutio with a different tension than was probably intended by the playwright. The frustration she showed at the inability to prevent the chemistry Vylad and Zenix shared was admittedly more amusing than it should be. But it didn’t propose too much of an issue in the long run since she decided to just lean into the fact.

Resulting in a fight between Mercutio and Tybalt that was oddly charged with sexual tension for one that resulted in the former’s death.

Still, it did make for a fun interaction to watch. From his perspective at least. Who knew if the audience would think the same on opening night?

They continued with rehearsal until he heard the door to the backstage area with the changing room open. Looked like Dante was coming back with his costume.

Gene turned to look and froze once he saw Dante. He knew he stopped breathing, his skin probably paled far beyond healthy levels. Though the lack of reaction around him told he probably didn’t look quite corpse-like. But that wouldn’t really matter, would it? It’s not like he’d be able to hear any shouts of fear or worry through the ringing in his ears. All he could pay attention to was his brother standing in front of him.

He went from not breathing at all to breathing far too quickly to be healthy for a regular human. Whatever self-control he still had was spent towards trying to make it so that his reaction wouldn’t be too loud. But that didn’t stop the ringing in his ears or the shallow breaths that quickened the more he looked. (The overwhelming fear as an axe came straight for his throat and how dare he–)

His blue-haired brother (No, not brother, definitely not brother. Because his brother was dead, has been dead, and most importantly wouldn’t ever drop his guard that much in Gene’s presence ever again–) was cheerfully showing off his armor to Katelyn. But he looked too young to–.

Oh. Right. How stupid of Gene to forget. It wasn’t back then when Gene was freshly a Shadow Knight and the only connection he and Dante had was mutually inflicted pain. It was the modern era, they were hosting a play, and most importantly, the blue-haired man in front of him was only someone who shared a name and face with his brother. Not actually him.

And he looked far too young anyway. The costume (and Gene was embarrassed he freaked out enough to not be able to tell immediately) didn’t look like actual armor, It made a formidable attempt at replicating the appearance of armor, but it didn’t quite get it right. The only reason Gene freaked out was because the specific costume just so happened to look like the armor his Dante wore. Though he was older than the Dante in front of him was.

Now that he was calm, he could notice more and more of the differences. Good, Gene could just focus on those and he’d be fine. He took a deep breath with his eyes closed more from habit to relax than actual need as he forced color to return to his skin. There was no need to freak out, there was no need for his magic to react like that.

He glanced around once he felt calm enough, happy to see that the only ones looking at him were Zenix and Vylad. Everyone else was busy paying attention to Dante. He sent what he hoped was a reassuring smile in the way of his two friends. He’d be fine. He’d just have to be fine.

Chapter Text

It was the night of the play. They were half an hour away from opening the doors for the audience. Katelyn took a deep breath.

“It’s gonna go great,” she told herself.

The set was constructed on time. The costumes all looked amazing. There hadn’t been any issues with rehearsals. And she knew all the actors were taking this seriously. She’d just have to hope nothing went wrong.

She was a calm, confident director, who knew that she’d done everything she could and would just have to put her faith in the actors.

…

Oh, who was she kidding!? She was freaking out! What was she even thinking with this? She wasn’t a director! She had no idea what she was doing. She didn’t have anything even resembling experience directing beyond a few classes all the way back in high school. Why did she ever think this was a good idea?

She began pacing back and forth backstage, thankful that none of the actors or tech crew were there to see her.

She was an idiot for thinking this would go well. The audience would probably just laugh at it all and think it was the worst showing of Romeo and Juliet to ever exist.

In her pacing, Katelyn didn’t hear someone approach. “Hey, Katelyn?”

“What?” she snapped and turned her head.

Travis stood there in full costume with a hesitant look on his face.

“Shit– sorry Travis. I’m just…”

“Stressed?” Travis suggested.

“Yeah, stressed,” Katelyn sighed.

Travis stepped closer to her. “Katelyn, it’s gonna go great, I promise. The set looks perfect, the costumes fit well. Makeup is finishing up any touches they need so we’re gonna be done well before opening time. And we all have our lines perfectly memorised. Nothing will go wrong.”

“Right,” Katelyn breathed, “I think I needed to hear that. Thanks. Sorry for snapping at you.”

“All good,” Travis waved off. “I’m kind of stressed too and I don’t even have that big of a role. I can’t even imagine what it’s like for you. But I can promise you did great as a director.”

Katelyn was grateful to hear that, but she couldn’t let go of her worries.

Suddenly, Travis frowned. “Come on Katelyn. How can you expect us to go on stage if you’re so convinced we’ll mess up on stage?”

“What!?” Katelyn screamed. “Of course I believe in you guys you jerk! How dare you imply that I don’t!”

Travis’ expression shifted to joy. “There’s that fire we know and love.”

She was pretty sure she heard a record scratch in her brain. “What?” she asked in a flat tone.

“Are you still worried about how the play will go?” Travis asked.

No, she was more annoyed at Travis implying she didn’t have any faith in her friends. After she voiced as much to him, he responded,

“See! Isn’t that better than being all worried about something you can’t control?”

Did Travis seriously say that just to get her mind off things? A small laugh escaped her mouth.

“Thanks, Travis. I think I needed that a little.”

“Always happy to help a beautiful lady like yourself,” Travis chirped. He just had to jokingly flirt with her didn’t he? “But in all seriousness, I promise it’ll go fine. No need to worry.” He shot her a bright grin that alleviated a few of her worries.

With a deep breath to let go of all her anxiety, Katelyn agreed, “Right. Nothing to do but see how it goes.”

“Exactly! Think I can expect a flower from the beautiful director?”

“Dork,” Katleyn snorted as she threw a light punch at him. “Go back to the other actors and finish getting ready.”

“Yes ma’am!” The white-haired man rushed back to the other actors. Admittedly, he already looked like he was ready so who knew what he did once he got there.

The 30 minutes felt like they passed agonizingly slow, but she wasn’t freaking out as much any more. It was time to open the doors so the audience could come and claim their seats. Katelyn stood in front of the double doors leading into the theater. She took a deep breath and opened them.

Beyond them, she saw a few people. Not a lot, but that made sense. It was just a play put on basically at the last second by some random people of the community. Nothing official or licensed by anyone. Plus, it was still just opening, more people were bound to show up in the coming minutes.

Maybe if she focused on that she’d feel less disappointed.

She did, however, spot the two people she was expecting and happy to see. Abby was holding onto Jeffory’s hand, and Katelyn recognized the excitement on the little girl’s face the moment she was spotted. The small girl began running full speed to her as soon as Katelyn announced the audience could go and take their seats. Her poor father dragged behind her with a sheepish look on her face.

Abby was practically bouncing with excitement once she reached Katelyn. “Hi, Auntie Katelyn!”

She leaned down a little to be a bit closer to her niece in all but blood. “Hey, Abby. Had a good day?”

She nodded with all the energy a 7-year-old girl could have. “Yeah! And I get to see your play too. This is the best day ever!”

Katelyn heard a bit of laughter from Jeffory. She turned up to look at him and found the man looking fondly at his daughter.

“Come on Abby. We need to get to our seats.”

Abby’s expression turned almost comically serious. “Right! See you after the play, Auntie Katelyn.” The young girl grabbed onto her father’s hand and rushed to the seating area.

If nothing else, she knew that at least one person would end up adoring the play. Now it was time to put her faith in the actors and see how it went.

The play started off without a hitch. Travis recited his lines as the opening narrator in a voice so solemn it somehow looped back into being dramatic. The ever-famous opening conflict between Montagues and Capulets had the tension she wanted it to have.

Katelyn had considered cutting down the Queen Mab monologue due to the short time they had to rehearse in general. But Vylad had apparently decided to take that as a personal challenge because they came to rehearsal the day after she made the suggestion with a memorized monologue and bags beneath their eyes. And the audience was enraptured by every second of Vylad’s performance.

The scene between Juliet and Lady Capulet was emotional enough thanks to Aphmau and Lucinda. The latter played the mature coldness combined with maternal affection well.

Kawaii~Chan was a complete delight in the role of the Nurse. Every comedic scene she appeared in drew out at least one laugh from the audience. Her friend was good at almost forcing the audience to pay attention to her.

Katelyn had initially thought that Zane would end up as Tybalt when he auditioned. But Zenix ended up fitting the role more because of how malicious he came across. A petty part of her wanted to deny him a role for what happened with Kawaii~Chan at the mall. But the meif’wa had directly told her that she should just go with who she thought would best play the role. Something Katelyn did with reluctance. But it ended up going well because not only was Zenix great at acting, but he didn’t end up being severely disrespectful during rehearsals either. Got on her nerves sometimes, sure, but his roommates managed to keep him in check well enough.

Which left Zane in a role that she was a little hesitant about at first, but it ended up turning out well. The robes used for Friar Lawrence ended up looking weirdly natural on him. And Zane was serious enough for the character.

And then came the main couple. Romeo and Juliet. Aaron and Aphmau. Aphmau was very earnest in her portrayal of Juliet, which perfectly fit the character. On that, she never doubted a thing. She’d been expecting problems from Aaron. She hadn’t talked to the man much, but she knew him to be awkward. She had assumed that he’d be too awkward to participate in the play.

And there were definitely issues with him as an actor. In the beginning parts of rehearsals, much of his dialogue came out stilted and his movement was almost stiff when he wasn’t simply standing neutrally. Not to mention his weird insistence on keeping his eyes covered. But where he most shone was in his chemistry with Aphmau. Despite how awkward he was with everyone else when it came to the scenes with Aphmau, the two were so genuinely comfortable with each other. Katelyn didn’t want to pass that up. The two actors talked and moved with each other naturally and didn’t mind any of the physical contact that came with the roles.

So Katelyn ended up directing it in a way that played around Aaron’s hangups. A bit of an unorthodox move on her part, sure. But she was fairly confident that it was one that worked.

Whatever anxieties had at the beginning faded as the play progressed closer to the intermission without any major or noticeable slip-ups. The scene where Friar Lawrence married Juliet and Romeo occurred and Katelyn was confident that the rest of the play would go just as well.

And then she walked into the backstage area during intermission to talk to the actors…

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE NEEDED TO LEAVE!?” Katelyn shouted at Aphmau.

Zenix stood with the rest of the cast as their director and female lead stood opposed to each other. Aphmau blocked off the backstage exit to the building from Katelyn.

Something happened while Aaron was changing costumes into the one he’d be wearing for the second half of the play. Instead of coming out in costume, he’d come out in his normal clothes gripping his phone tightly and whole body tense. Most of the actors were more focused on his clothing than his body language. But Zenix wasn’t, and considering how tightly Aaron looked to be gripping his phone, he felt he had a pretty safe bet as to what happened in the changing room.

He quickly walked to whisper something to Aphmau that Zenix couldn’t overhear, had announced that he needed to leave, and ran out before anyone could react to that statement.

While most of the cast was still in shock at the revelation, Katelyn had happily come backstage. A happiness that quickly faded after Kawaii~Chan had fearfully explained what just happened.

Which led them all to this situation. Where the two friends were staring each other down. One with anger clear on her face, and the other determined.

“Look, a family emergency came up for him, so he needed to leave right now. He’s sorry for being so sudden. But he hadto leave immediately.” Aphmau looked completely earnest as she said this, staring her friend down without hesitation.

Zenix called bullshit.

She was too tense, her eyes were moving around too much, and there was a nervous energy to her movement that felt off to him. It’s not hard evidence, but Zenix’s intuition had never failed him when it came to lies and he had a feeling he was seeing one now.

Sure, the reasoning fit Aaron’s reaction, but the way Aphmau was acting still didn’t look real to Zenix. She was hiding something.

Well, nothing for Zenix to call out. He wanted to be able to actually finish the play, or at least get to his big scene with Vylad. And pointing out the lie, while fun, would probably be too disruptive.

“So, he had to leave, so what?”

Everyone turned to look at him with various looks of incredulity. Laurance and Gene’s were laced with warnings. Rude.

“It’s not like Aaron being here is absolutely vital to the rest of the show. We have Laurance after all.”

“Right, he’s the understudy!” Aphmau jumped in. “He can play the role for the rest of the show.”

Katelyn took a deep breath with closed eyes and opened them as she breathed out. She didn’t look happier, but she looked a little less murderous. A bit boring, but Zenix would just have to accept that.

Katleyn looked at Aphmau. “Are you completely sure it was so urgent that he couldn’t even bother to give an explanation before leaving?”

Aphmau stared back earnestly. “Yes.” It being something important at least, Zenix didn’t think was a lie.

Katelyn sighed, “The show must go on. Laurance, get ready to go on stage. Be as quick as you can about it. Hopefully they either don’t notice, or aren’t too distracted by it being a different actor.”

“Yes ma’am,” Laurance said before leaving to put on his costume and getting ready to play the lead.

Lucinda felt like she could safely say that the play was going well all things considered. Most of the cast had been surprised by Aaron suddenly leaving, but they recovered. Laurance got some platform shoes to boost his height a little and a wig to make him look a bit more like Aaron, and the distance seemed to do enough to trick most of the audience. Hopefully.

No one looked unsatisfied with Laurance’s performance. The brunette had taken up the role as if he’d been playing Romeo all night. And he wasn’t too bad on the eyes himself.

Currently, Lucinda stood backstage next to some other cast members as Vylad and Zenix had their fight on stage. Out of those around her, the only one she knew by name was Garroth. The rest were people she didn’t recognize. Some of them with named characters, some were extras, and some were part of the technical crew without anything to do at the moment.

And of course there were the members of the crew that had roles other than actors were running around, frantically trying to do any last-minute changes caused by Aaron’s disappearance.

The main pair of the current scene did a great job on all their earlier scenes. But this fight? It showed Lucinda why Katelyn decided to cast and direct the two the way she did. The couple moved in perfect sync. There was no hesitation on either end as they recited their lines and fought. It was clear, even as an outsider who couldn’t get a perfect view of the two, that their attention was purely on each other.

To Lucinda herself, it was like they were practically glowing just from the fact they were doing it together.

On a surface level, neither of the two actors took their characters in any direction that was particularly interesting or unique.

As Mercutio, Vylad may as well have been playing a jester for all the seriousness he showed. The character was played like he saw the situation around him as nothing more than an amusing joke. At least for most of the night. Because the moment that the fight began, there was a sense of passion in every individual movement that simply wasn’t there before.

And Zenix gave back the same energy as Tybalt. While the man had been consistently portrayed as someone who viewed others beneath him, the fight brought out something different. Lucinda was tempted to compare the smile on the man’s face to that of some feral animal. But despite that, there was no mistaking the genuine glee in it.

Lucinda had no other words for it. At that moment, it was undeniable that the two were in love with each other. They were delighted simply to be in each other’s presence

Well, not like she really needed something else to add to the small pile of evidence pointing to them and the people they live with not being that different from other people. Despite the never-ending well of wrongness in their magic.

“It’s hard to look away, right?” Garroth whispered next to her, snapping Lucinda from her thoughts.

“Yeah, it really is.”

The fake swords they wielded clashed again and their faces got extremely close to each other.

“... Is it just me, or does it feel like we’re watching something intimate?”

“No, I think I know what you mean.” It did feel like the two were almost flirting with each other in some way. So maybe the two weren’t all that similar to regular people if a sword fight was their equivalent of flirting.

A wave of cheers came from the crowd as Mercutio was finally stabbed by Tybalt. Vylad began to give their monologue before they died.

“It looks like the crowd loved it at least,” Lucinda mentioned.

“Hopefully that’ll help Katelyn be less angry,” Garroth muttered.

“I don’t know. Seeing her angry’s kinda fun. She’s cute when she gets all riled up like that.”

Garroth threw her an incredulous look. “Unbelievable. Really. She is terrifying.”

Killjoy.

There weren’t gonna be many scenes for her left now. It was going to get boring staying through the rest of the show with nothing to do. And they were specifically told not to use their phones.

Good thing Lucinda brought something else to entertain herself then. Though she probably wouldn’t be the only one getting bored with all the waiting… No harm in sharing the fun.

Lucinda turned to face the blonde. “Hey, Garroth, wanna see something interesting?”

Garroth made a noise of soft curiosity.

“I brought a little something in case I got bored tonight, wanna come with?”

“We’re supposed to be ready for our next scenes,” Garroth pointed out.

“As long as we pay attention to not miss our cues, there won’t be a problem,” Lucinda retorted.

Garroth didn’t look fully convinced but did eventually relent. Good. The rest of the night was gonna be a bit more fun.

They went and did their next few scenes. After that, they had a bit of time before they were needed, so Lucinda took advantage of the opportunity to show off a little.

“This potion makes the person who throws it switch places with anyone it hits.” The play was about to wrap up with the big dramatic suicide and Lucinda was standing offstage, showing off her work to a few of the other crew members. They were careful to not be too loud, they didn’t want to interrupt the scene of the play after all.

But Lucinda was beginning to get bored. And a little bit of magic to muffle sound from where she was did just the trick to not cause a disturbance. Plus the group around her was enjoying it too. So it was fine. Even if Katelyn might get a bit annoyed by it if she found out.

Kawaii~Chan, Sasha, Garroth, and a few other people Lucinda didn’t know as well or wasn’t interested in were looking at her collection. Lucinda herself was showing off and soaking in the well-deserved compliments to her work.

“Lucinda~san! These are so cool!” Kawaii~Chan said while jumping around as she looked at the different potions that Lucinda had laid out.

“I know, I know. Best witch ever, at your service.”

Sasha picked up one of the potions, one she hadn’t explained the use of yet, and inspected it. Just as Lucinda was about to explain the use of the red potion, Lucinda began to speak.

“This one looks well made. It’s meant to heal minor injuries when you drink it.” She said it without much intonation in her voice. Just reciting something she knew for far before moving on to something else.

“Oh? Do you do stuff with potions too?” Lucinda prodded. This might be a fun little morsel of information about Sasha and her roommates. It's not like potion work was common knowledge. At least not to the extent of being able to recognize the effects of a potion based on sight alone.

“Not really,” Sasha shrugged, “I’ve just met some people who did and picked up a bit from them. I don’t actually make potions though.”

“What a shame,” Lucinda sighed. “And here I thought I finally found someone to talk potions with.”

“Lucinda~san!” Kawaii~Chan whined.

“Sorry hun. But you don’t know enough to talk in depth. And none of the times I’ve tried to teach you have helped out.”

Kawaii~chan had a bit of a pout on her face but didn’t react further.

Lucinda looked back to the stage to see how the scene was going. It looked like they were about ready to go through with the big final kiss everyone remembers from the play.

She was promptly distracted by some commotion to the side. She saw Garroth and one of the extras both reaching for the potion that let someone switch places. They both tried pulling it towards themselves.

“Excuse me, I grabbed onto it first,” Garroth said, tugging it towards himself slightly with a polite smile.

“Come on, I just wanted to take a closer look,” the other complained and pulled it towards themself.

Garroth took it back and it became apparent it would quickly become a tug of war over a very fragile potion.

“Careful–” Lucinda warned.

However, Garroth tugged way too hard with not a strong enough grip apparently because when he pulled next, the potion practically flew away from him. Straight onto the stage. Where Aphmau was positioned just about to give Laurance the kiss.

Oh no.

Laurance was lying on the coffin with his eyes closed as he waited for Aphmau to finish her monologue before she… kissed him. Truly, he was sure that the Aphmau he knew, Irene or whatever she ended up as while in heaven, was looking down at this situation and cackling. Cadenza probably was too if she wasn’t too angry at him. Or maybe she’d just be laughing at his sheer misfortune.

Because really? Being kissed by the woman who is probably a reincarnation of someone he used to be in love with for the sake of a play? There was irony and then there was whatever was going on here.

He knew it was a possibility once he learned he’d be cast as the understudy for Romeo, but after the play started he thought he wouldn’t have to do it. At least that was the idea until Aaron supposedly had to deal with some kind of emergency before running off without explaining anything.

Seriously! Couldn’t the man at least have the decency to actually explain himself before running!?

Which left him on stage. Lying down as he waited to be given a stage kiss by someone who looked identical to a woman he once might’ve given almost anything to be kissed by.

He could practically already hear at least one of his roommates cracking jokes at his expense after this whole situation was over.

Oh well, nothing to be done about it now. And the situation was admittedly kind of funny from a certain point of view.

Aphmau had nearly finished her monologue. He heard the short woman step closer to the bed, marking that the play would soon be over. And then he could go back to his house and get some sleep he technically didn’t need but desperately wanted.

Laurance didn’t think he’d regret going along with Zenix and Vylad’s whim of auditioning. Despite the slight embarrassment, he was about to go through. And the slight discomfort at seeing the weirdly familiar looking costumes.

Aphmau recited her last few lines, and the ruffle of clothing marked how she leaned down to kiss him.

Any second now…

Suddenly, there was a slight shift of something (magic?) in the air, along with the sound of glass breaking. But before Laurance could think on it further, a pair of lips crashed into his. The lips felt rougher than what he expected of Aphmau. And there was a weight lying on him that was way too heavy to be Aphmau with her small size. The crowd made noises that weren’t quite what he expected.

In fact, everything about the situation felt ever so slightly off.

Laurance dared his eyes open and… Instead of tan skin and amber eyes, he was met with a pale-skinned man who had blonde hair and wide blue eyes staring right back at him.

Chapter Text

Zenix was bored. He was so bored in fact, that if he stayed in the damn house for longer, he was going to break something. Maybe a window, maybe a door of its hinges, anything would do at this point because he was so bored.

And it’s not like there was anyone else in the house he could go bug.

No, that’s not right, there was one other person in the house. He just didn’t want to talk to him. Who could blame him? He was sure most people wouldn’t want to talk to Mr. Laurance-has-barely-left-his-room-Zvahl. At that point he wouldn’t cure his boredom, it’d just be all depressing instead.

Laurance was all mopey, and he wasn’t in a stage of that where Zenix would get a reaction. He needed to be alone for a bit to get better.

So yeah, he was stuck inside the house, fated to be by himself, with someone who was currently refusing to talk to people. Even if he did choose to go talk to him, it wouldn’t be fun.

And to top it all off, Vylad and Sasha had apparently left to do something while Zenix was asleep and they still hadn’t come back yet. And Gene himself was still out doing his own job.

…

Screw it, he was gonna go search for them. It would probably be more fun than just sitting on the couch while watching TV shows and movies he didn’t actually care about by himself.

Sasha and Vylad were walking down the street. They walked in silence as cars occasionally passed on one side while houses lined up on the other. Sasha was wearing a light jacket and Vylad was wearing their green scarf.

The two had returned from an art gallery that Vylad had dragged her to see. They claimed it was because she was apparently the one person in the house who would actually appreciate the artwork. Though, it was more the displays of photography that Vylad was interested in.

And admittedly, some of the paintings that Sasha ended up seeing were pretty nice looking. There was a wide arrangement of different art styles there. From modern works that Sasha didn’t quite understand but could at least appreciate looked complex, to some art pieces that looked to have taken inspiration from art styles and movements from a lot of history. Up to and including a few here or there that were very likely found inspiration from art that dated all the way back when she and the rest of her roommates had first become Shadow Knights.

She was pretty sure one or two of them literally was about Shadow Knights, even if it was a… creative take on them. (She knew that horns were common in demonic imagery but that was way too many of them on a single body)

The experience ended up being less boring than she expected. It wasn’t really any different than any other art gallery she’d gone to, but there was a reason she didn’t mind going to stuff like this. Even if the experience of going to an art gallery or museum was fundamentally the same, she could at least trust that she’d see something different and somewhat unique every time.

She’d have to find a way to thank Vylad later.

The two continued walking back when Sasha suddenly saw a pair of people that she recognized. In front of them were Zane and Aphmau, walking towards them but too engrossed in conversation to see them.

Beside her, Vylad fell behind ever so slightly as they faltered for an instant before catching up to her. Aphmau turned her head forward and smiled once she saw them.

The short woman ran up to them and the black–haired man didn’t change his pace as he followed. “Sasha, Vylad! Hi, how are you?”

Vylad responded without missing a beat, “We’re good. We just came back from looking at a nearby art gallery. What were the two of you doing?”

“Not much, we were just taking a walk,” Aphmau happily answered. Zane reached the three of them and stood behind Aphmau with his hands in his pockets and face mask covering most of his face like always.

“Zane,” Vylad greeted with a polite nod that she didn’t think was genuine.

“Hello. Vylad, Sasha,” Zane returned the greeting.

Aphmau began to ask, “Are you going somewhere now, or–”

“No, we were just heading back home,” Vylad interrupted.

Suddenly, one of the few cars on the road turned into the driveway of the house they were standing in front of. It was an average-looking orange car that had a cobweb design on the doors. The car stopped in the driveway and Lucinda stepped out with a slightly surprised smile.

“Hello, I didn’t expect to see you guys here.”

“Lucinda!” Aphmau turned and rushed towards the ginger. “You live here now? How come you didn’t tell us?”

“I practically just moved. I wanted to get settled in first,” Lucinda explained.

Sasha couldn’t see her face, but she had a feeling Aphmau was pouting when she said, “Fiiine.”

“But now that we’re here… can we come inside?”

Lucinda turned to look at the rest of them for a moment before saying, “Sure, but you need to help me unpack my groceries.”

“Great!” Aphmau cheerfully agreed without asking any of them if they actually wanted to.

“Thank you so much. Now come on, we want to put the stuff that can go bad in the fridge.” The witch went to open the trunk of her car, revealing the grocery bags in it.

Zane just mumbled something under his breath and walked up to the pair of women and began helping.

Sasha sighed internally. She could just walk away with Vylad. There really was nothing stopping her… But being around them wouldn’t be the worst thing ever. Lucinda was the only person she’d met in recent times to be able to tell she and her roommate were something non–human. Even if Lucinda spent the entire time subtly needling for any information Sasha or Vylad let slip, it’d probably be decently entertaining.

So when asked by Lucinda whether or not they were coming in, Sasha simply let the fact that she went to help move groceries answer the question. When she turned to Vylad with the grocery bags in hand, she found them standing on the sidewalk with an odd look on their face. Sasha questioningly gestured to the front door –which Lucinda was opening– with her head.

The brunette just nodded and walked up to her to grab the final bag.

Sasha carried the light grocery bag with one hand and walked inside the house at Lucinda’s guidance. She followed the three who had already entered the house to the kitchen with the sound of Vylad following behind her.

As they walked, Sasha noted that the house was pretty barren. There was only the bare minimum in terms of decorations. Which is to say that there were no actual decorations on the dark green walls. The line of people walked down a short hallway and exited to the left into a room where most furniture present was some chairs and sofas. Sasha assumed it was the living room. Then they turned right into the room that Sasha assumed to be the kitchen on account of the fridge.

The kitchen consisted of a countertop that had a knife holder, a tea kettle, a microwave, and an empty stove. Anything else Sasha assumed to be in the kitchen cabinets. There was a lot of… calling it empty space felt weird but she couldn’t think of a different way to describe it.

It just felt empty. Though that just came with the territory of moving to a new place.

Sasha placed the grocery bag on the counter and didn’t expect the thud it made once she did. Apparently, it was heavier than she thought.

“That was my heaviest grocery bag and you didn’t even struggle,” Lucinda commented.

Sasha just shrugged in response. Didn't feel like much when she was holding it.

The group began unpacking the groceries at Lucinda’s direction (proving in the process that the kitchen really had been as empty as she thought).

“So, Aphmau, I didn’t get a chance to ask back when we were doing the play. Are you and Zane friends now?” Lucinda asked.

“Yep!”

“Never would have expected that.”

Sasha noticed Vylad perk up slightly at the topic of conversation. “Oh? Why’s that?” They asked.

Lucinda hummed slightly. “Let’s just say he had a bit of a reputation for being a bit of a bully back in high school.”

“I’m right here,” Zane complained.

“I’m not wrong though.”

Sasha could practically feel Vylad filing this information in their head.

“Lucinda, that was a long time ago. I’m sure all of us have moments in high school that are embarrassing looking back on them,” Aphmau said.

“Fair enough,” Lucinda sighed. High school drama. Sasha is thankful she never had to experience anything like that.

“I mean, you had that old boyfriend of yours, right? What was his name…”

“Ivan,” Zane answered for both of them off to the side where he was putting away a few cups of instant noodles.

Ivan… the name felt oddly familiar. He wasn’t a Shadow Knight, a Jury member maybe?

“Yes, actually. How did you know that?” Lucinda sounded surprised that Zane knew.

“We hung out a bit during high school. He wouldn’t stop talking about you after you got together. We stopped talking after he graduated and good riddance for that. The man was annoying.”

“Of course he hung out with you back then. Why am I not surprised?”

“Watch it,” Zane warned.

Vylad was looking more and more interested in whatever they could glean from teenage Zane apparently being a bit mean. Why did all of her roommates have to be weird about the reincarnations of people they knew? She acted just fine around Emmalyn and Kenmur. The only one that was exempt from the statement was Zenix for Irene’s sake.

“Sorry, sorry. If Aphmau sees you as a friend, then I guess I can let bygones be bygones,” Lucinda amended.

Zane froze for a moment. “Oh… um. Thanks, I guess.” The man sounded almost surprised.

So there was more to him than just rivalling her in her desire to not talk to people at social gatherings.

“I honestly have no idea what I ever saw in him other than a pretty face. Or why I even got back together with him.”

“What!? I thought you broke up in college.”

“We did, but then we got back together… more than once. Long story short, we were watching a show together, but he watched an entire season without me. Things escalated and it just brought us back to why we broke up together the first time. So I decided to just break up with him and things ended up with me moving. Simple as that.”

Ugh. Relationship drama.

“Good for you and all that, but it looks like we're done taking care of all the groceries. So can we just leave now, Aph?”

“Aph?” Lucinda asked while wiggling her eyebrows teasingly.

Sasha noticed Zane flush slightly as Aphmau rolled her eyes. “It’s not like that Lucinda.”

“But to answer your question, you’re free to leave. But before you do, wouldn’t you like to stay for some tea? Consider it a reward for helping me.

“Aww, Lucinda, you don’t have to. We’re just happy to help a friend.” Maybe Aphmau was. But Sasha was pretty sure the rest of them barely counted as acquaintances

“I insist, you’re guests. And we can talk some more.”

“Ok. Then I guess I can stay for some tea,” Aphmau replied.

“Guess that means I’m staying too,” Zane said. The black–haired man was leaning on a counter.

Sasha turned to Vylad with a questioning look and received a nod in return. She was sure that Zenix could last a bit longer before she or Vylad made it back.

Oh who was she kidding, he’d be insufferable about how bored he was and how long it had taken the two to come back.

“Vylad and I don’t have anything better to do.” Sasha hadn’t gotten anything from Lucinda trying to pry into what she is or her past yet. And Vylad was probably staying for their own reasons.

“Wonderful,” was Lucinda’s reply.

The ginger witch moved around and grabbed some tea leaves and the kettle to begin preparing the tea.

“Any preferences on type?” Lucinda asked. When none of them answered, Lucinda just decided to surprise them.

“So, Sasha, Vylad. Where did you two grow up?” Lucinda asked while the tea was left to boil.

“I’m from New Meteli,” Sasha answered.

“I was born in O’Khasis, but I didn’t spend much of my life there,” was Vylad’s answer.

“Oh! Zane and Garroth are from O’Khasis,” Aphmau chimed in.

“Only when I was young. We moved out of there before I was even in high school.” So the entirety of their neighbors presumably all had their high school education from somewhere outside of O’Khasis then.

“Where are the rest of your roommates from, if you don’t mind me asking?” Lucinda asked.

“Yeah, you said you’ve all known each other for a long time, right?” Aphmau asked.

“Yeah, but not all of us come from the same place,” Vylad said.

Time to bring up the cover story.

“Only Laurance and Zenix are also from New Meteli,” Sasha began. Only one of those was true because she had no idea where the Nether Zenix was from and the man refused to say. “And Gene’s from Boboros, but he ended up moving to Meteli a bit after Vylad did.”

“Oh, I think that Dante’s mom is also from there,” Aphmau commented. So the Ro’meave brothers from this time period were from O’Khasis originally, the same as the ones from back then. And Dante’s immediate family is from the same area that Gene, and by extension the Dante from back then were born.

That’s… an odd coincidence.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

“Now who could that be?” Lucinda asked. “Better go see. I’ll be back in a moment.” The ginger witch left the kitchen and walked to the front door.

“So, Aphmau, where are you from?” Vylad asked.

“I was born and raised in Phoenix Drop. It’s where I ended up meeting all my friends during high school.”

Before the conversation could continue, there was a loud sound from the front door. “LUCINDA~CHAN!?”

“Oh, Kawaii~Chan. Might as well go say hello. Excuse me,” the short woman said as she also went back to the front of the house.

Zane remained leaning on the counter with phone in hand.

“Not gonna follow her?” Vylad asked in a tone that Sasha had learnt not to like.

“If it’s that pink meif’wa, probably better I don’t.”

“And why’s that?” They followed up.

And that was her cue to leave. She knew Vylad well enough to know what that tone meant, and she did not have the desire to deal with Vylad’s whole set of issues.

She was taking her chances with the loud meif’wa instead.

…Sasha should’ve left when she had the chance.

Sasha left Vylad and the reincarnation of their brother to whatever uncomfortably faux-polite conversation was going to be had and followed the other women in the house to the front of the door.

“Aphmau~senpai,” the girl practically cried, “you moved out without telling Kawaii~Chan!? How could you!?” She was waving a basket around as her arms flailed.

“No, no no. I’m just here visiting Lucinda. She just moved in,” Aphmau explained.

“Lucinda~Chan…?” The meif’wa looked at the witch as if she just remembered that the other woman was there. Lucida just gave a little wave in return. “Waaaaa! Aphmau~Senpai moved in with Lucinda~chan without telling Kawaii~Chan!” the pink-haired woman began crying again. It’s like she wasn’t hearing or actively ignoring what was going on around her.

“Wow, are you deaf or are you just ignoring her on purpose?” Oh, this could get messy. If nothing else, Zenix had a way of making situations more interesting. As long as Sasha herself didn’t have to get involved of course.

“Hey Sasha,” Zenix greeted as he stopped next to Kawaii~Chan. Who thankfully had shut up after Zenix interrupted her whining.

“Hello, Zenix, right?” Lucinda asked.

“Yep. You were there for the whole play thing, right? The person who had that potion that got Laurance and Garroth to kiss on stage?”

“Guilty as charged.”

“Ha! Gotta thank you. It was funny as all Nether to see that happen. Laurance’s expression afterwards was priceless.” Shellshocked was probably a more accurate descriptor. But to each their own and all that

“Trust me, it’s not as fun when it ends with you being chewed out by a certain angry director.”

“She should just learn to calm down.”

“The play was something she really wanted to go well. She was mad that something so big happened at the last moment because the actors weren’t taking it seriously,” Aphmau explained.

“Well, she should learn to not hold a grudge about it then. Sucks that it didn’t go how she wanted or whatever. But she isn’t going to get anything done if she just gets pissed and does nothing about it.”

Aphmau looked more than a little annoyed and her eyes narrowed in Zenix’s direction. Though she didn’t say anything to counter the man’s argument.

Lucinda and Kawaii~Chan were both looking back and forth between the two.

“So, Zenix. How’d you happen to find the house?” Lucinda asked.

Zenix looked a little disappointed that he didn’t get an excuse to continue antagonising Aphmau, but hid it quickly. “I was just walking down the street to find where my roommates were when I heard her,” he pointed at Kawaii~Chan, “practically screaming at the top of her lungs. Honestly thought I’d see someone being murdered or something.”

“Hey!” Aphmau shouted on her friend's behalf. Zenix was probably delighted he’d found someone whose buttons he could easily press if the grin on his face was anything to go by.

Suddenly, there was the sound of loud stomping coming from the kitchen that slowly grew closer. Zane entered the hallway, practically radiating anger as he quickly left the house only barely saying goodbye.

Everyone that was in front of the house stood there for a few seconds, most probably wondering why exactly that had happened. But Sasha had a feeling she already knew the reason. Because as Zane was leaving, the brunette that was in the kitchen joined the rest of the group with a crafted neutral expression.

Sasha was glad she decided to exit the situation earlier when she did.

“I… I should probably go see what that was about,” Aphmau said. She gave an apologetic goodbye before rushing out of the house and in the direction where her black-haired friend had left.

“Wait for Kawaii~Chan, Aphmau~Senpai!” The meif’wa turned to Lucinda and quickly gave her the basket she was holding. Then, she left and ran off in the direction of her roommate.

“Well, that’s probably as good a sign as any for us to leave,” Vylad said. As if they hadn’t likely been a cause for at least part of it. “It’s been lovely, but I think it’s time for us to go.”

“Yes, I guess it is,” Lucinda sighed. “Well, thank you for your help. Maybe next time you come over, we can actually have some tea.”

Presumptuous of her to assume that there would be a second time. Though, Sasha guessed that she didn’t quite get what she wanted out of this herself. She knew that Lucinda was somewhat aware that she and the rest of her roommates weren’t human. Maybe a more private talk would lead to the witch being more forward in her questioning.

Not that she should get her hopes up. She’s lived long enough to know that expecting something interesting to happen only for it not to be how she expected would just be worse overall.

Still, giving Lucinda the opportunity to interrogate wouldn’t be the worst thing ever.

“Maybe,” Sasha hummed. Which was the closest to a yes that she felt like giving.

The three Shadow Knights said goodbye to the owner of the house and made their way back to their own home.

“So, what’d you do to make Zane leave like that?” Zenix asked.

“No idea what you mean,” Vylad denied.

“We can both tell you’re lying, you know.” As far as lies went, this was a pretty weak one for Vylad.

They just hummed noncommittally and refused to answer the question.

“Well, whatever. Did you have fun with your art thing?” Zenix asked. Sasha didn’t believe for a second that he was that willing to let go of his curiosity.

“Yeah, it was nice. Right, Sasha?”

“It was fine.”

“You're calling something fine. It must have been damn near amazing then.”

Sasha just rolled her eyes in response.

“So, why’d you come look for us?” Vylad asked.

“Ugh, it was getting so boring inside the house. Laurance is just bringing down the mood. It wasn’t even fun to try and get him angry or anything.” Only Zenix would complain about someone not getting mad at him.

But they probably should’ve considered Laurance reacting like that considering how the play ended.

“Is it really bad or…?” Vylad trailed off.

“Laurance is just moping in his room,” so as expected, “and Gene’s still at work.”

“Think we’re gonna be able to drag him out of his room?” Vylad asked.

“No, it’s probably better if we just let him come out on his own,” Sasha spoke up.

“If you say so.”

She did. She’s known Laurance the longest and she knew how to deal when Laurance got like this. As the three walked back to the house and Vylad talked to Zenix about some art pieces that they found interesting, Sasha’s mind wandered back to the play.

Even if it was annoying how it led to Laurance dealing with this issue like he dealt with all similar issues… It wasn’t as bad an experience as she thought. It was nice finally painting again after so long.

…She was never letting Zenix know that or she’d never hear the end of it.

Chapter Text

Aphmau walked towards the house of her acquaintances/tentative new friends. She wasn’t fully sure where she stood with all of them. They hadn’t known each other for long, and some were friendlier than others. She had no way to tell what they thought of her.

And that’s why she was going to them! After all, the best way to befriend someone was to spend time around them. So she was going to them, and inviting them to hang out with her and some of her other friends.

Hopefully, they’d accept.

Aphmau stopped in front of the house. She clicked the doorbell button and waited. Soon enough the door was opened by Zenix. Great.

She’d say she has nothing against the man, but that wouldn’t be true. The situation where they first met at the mall with Kawaii~Chan? She could understand and forgive.

Aphmau loved Kawaii~Chan as a friend with all her being, but the meif’wa could be… a lot. And admittedly, loudly crying in the middle of a very public mall over figurines wasn’t one of her friend’s best moments.

So even if she wished that Zenix hadn’t been as rude, or that he would at least try and apologize for being that harsh— she could understand where it was coming from.

The real problem she had was how he reacted after learning how Katelyn took the incident at the play. It was obvious that it was very important to Katelyn that everything went perfectly. So when things went off the rails at the end, she got really mad. But Zenix just brushed it off as if it didn’t matter!

So it was safe to say that Zenix was probably the person liked the least out of everyone who lived in the house she was standing in front of.

Still! She could try to move past that. Other than him, all the rest of the people who lived in the house were nice enough. And she wasn’t about to let negative feelings towards one of them affect her becoming friends with the rest!

“What’d you want?” Zenix asked. He was leaning on the doorframe with long black pants and a sleeveless black shirt. This was the second time she’d seen him dressed like this. How wasn’t he cold? The worst of winter might’ve passed but that didn’t mean it wasn’t still cold. And Aphmau couldn’t help but notice that the short sleeves put his scars on full display yet again. She wondered how he got those…

Not the time. She was here to ask him to come over.

“Hi, I just wanted to see if you or your roommates were free to hang out with me and some of my friends.”

“Why?”

“Well, I know that we’ve done stuff together, and you’ve been invited over to me and my friend’s houses, and we’ve talked here and there when we see each other, but we’ve never really hung out before,” she explained.

Zenix hummed for a few seconds in consideration and Aphmau thought he was going to refuse. Instead, he shrugged and said, “Sure, I’ll be at your house in a bit. Just gotta get Laurance to come.”

“Ok, see y-” He shut the door in her face before she could even finish saying goodbye.

How rude!

It’s fine. He agreed to come and it sounded like he’d bring Laurance along too. Laurance was nice. The blue-eyed brunette had been nothing but polite whenever she’d spoken to him. But not in a stiff way, he just seemed to be a genuinely nice guy. And Aphmau hadn’t seen him since the incident with the play a few days ago. She was wondering how he was doing.

Satisfied with her results, Aphmau walked back towards her own house, where her friends were waiting.

She entered her home and found her friends more or less like she’d left them. KC looked like she was nearly interrogating Travis on the couch with the intensity of her movements, and the white-haired man himself trying to appease her. Garroth sat on one of the chairs, looking thankful at not being the target of the meif’wa attention.

The blonde man turned his head at the door closing.

“Aphmau, you’re back!” Garroth cheered.

Travis shot her a look that was really more of a cry for help. Oh Irene what did Kawaii~Chan do?

“Aphmau~Senpai! Tell Travis~kun to spill about Dante~san and Nicole~san’s love lives!”

Irene damn it. She was back on her shipping thing. Part of Aphmau was happy that she wasn’t involved this time. The rest of her was exasperated at her roommates' continued obsession with other people’s love lives.

“Why do you need to know? It’s not any of your business you know,” she said as she walked closer to the couch.

“Thank you!” Travis called.

“But Aphmau~senpai,” she whined, “you already told Kawaii~Chan to stop focusing on you and Aaron~kun so much. And she’s respecting that. But she wants to know more about Dante~san’s relationship but Travis~kun isn’t telling!”

“Yeah! Because I know how you get. And I’m pretty sure Dante and Nicole wouldn’t appreciate it.”

“But Kawaii~Chan wouldn’t tell them,” she pleaded.

“I’m pretty sure that’s not the problem here,” Garroth said.

Kawaii~Chan crossed her arms with a pout but didn’t look like she was about to let it go. And she knew that Travis wouldn’t budge his stance on this problem either.

Ok, this could develop into something bigger. Guests were on their way, and Aphmau really didn’t want them to see an argument due to her roommate’s habits. She needed to diffuse this quickly.

“Look, you can continue this conversation later. Let’s not start the day with an argument, ok?”

“Fine,” Kawaii~Chan sighs. Aphmau needed to find out just what it was with relationships that Kawaii~Chan found so easy to obsess about.

“Anyways, I did actually get some people to come over and they’re on their way.”

“Who?” Travis asked.

“Zenix was in the house, and he said he’d get Laurance to come too.” She shot an apologetic look in Kawaii~chan’s direction at the mention of Zenix. She knew that her friend didn’t really get along with the guy.

Then, the doorbell rang.

“Speak of the Shadow Lord, I think that’s them. I’ll go open the door.”

She walked to the door and opened it to reveal Zenix and Laurance. They were both wearing jackets compared to the short-sleeved shirt Zenix was wearing earlier.

“Hello Aphmau, thanks for inviting us,” Laurance greeted.

“No need to thank me. I just wanted to hang out.”

“Yeah, yeah. Can we come in?” Zenix asked.

Aphmau nodded and stepped aside to let the two men in.

The two walked into the living room and she followed after closing the door. As soon as her other friends came into view, she noticed that Laurance suddenly froze. He didn’t get any closer and stood in place a bit too far away from the rest of the group to be natural. Zenix just moved to sit on the chair not occupied by Garroth.

“Laurance! Come on over buddy, sit down,” Travis said as he gestured at the brunette to come closer.

“Right,” the man responded before doing so. He went to sit on the side of the couch closest to Zenix.

Aphmau wondered why he stopped so suddenly.

She went to sit next to Travis, positioned so she could see everyone else in the room.

“So, Laurance, Zenix, how’ve you two been?” Garroth asked.

“We’ve been fine,” Zenix answered.

Neither Laurance nor Zenix looked like they had any plans to continue the conversation.

“Anything interesting happen to you guys recently?” Garroth asked.

“Not really. Honestly, it’s been kinda boring since the play.” While Zenix talked, Laurance just propped his arm on the couch and wasn’t looking at anyone.

“That reminds me, I didn’t get to ask you when I saw you at Lucinda’s house, did you all enjoy the play?” Aphmau asked.

“Yeah, actually. It was the first time any of us ever participated in anything like that. It was fun to try out something new.”

“Really, not even trying out for a play in high school or anything?” Travis asked. “Because you and Vylad were really good.”

“We’re just that talented.” Zenix practically radiated smugness. “Not to mention how it ended. Honestly, that was hilarious. Really Garroth, I gotta thank you for that.”

Why did Zenix have to go and mention that?

Garroth chuckled awkwardly and rubbed his neck as he pointedly looked away with an embarrassed blush. “Yeah, uhm. Not one of my most responsible moments.” Laurance had moved his arm and was now tightly gripping the couch’s arm with his hand as his body tensed.

“Hey, Katelyn was really mad about what happened with the kiss,” Travis said, “can you please not treat it like some joke to laugh about.”

“Like I said. She should just get over it. The show went wrong at the end and she told off the people involved. There’s no point in you being so serious about it.” Travis didn’t look particularly happy about the response. Aphmau herself wasn’t either. Kawaii~Chan and Garroth both just looked slightly uncomfortable at the dismissal of Katelyn’s feelings.

Garroth spoke up, “Well, regardless of how Katelyn feels about it. I’m sure that Laurance didn’t appreciate being kissed like that.”

Laurance's voice came out as extremely tense when he said, “It’s fine.”

“I still feel like I should apologize for it-”

“Already said I wasn’t mad,” Laurance said tersely.

“Regardless-”

“I said it’s fine so drop it!” Laurance snapped. “You already apologized when it happened and I told you it was fine then. So don’t mention it again.” It almost sounded like a warning.

Everybody in the room froze at Laurance’s voice. The tone and look in his eyes were enough to send shivers down her spine.

“G-got it,” Garroth nodded shakily.

Laurance stayed quiet and went back to not looking at Garroth. Zenix was looking at Laurance with a frown.

No one spoke up after that for a little bit.

When the silence got too much for her, Aphmau spoke up, “Why don’t we change the subject?” It came out a bit shakier than she intended.

“...So! Zenix, Laurance, how did your roommates feel about the play?” Travis asked.

Aphmau thought that it would be Zenix who answered considering Laurance’s mood, but instead… “Vylad had a lot of fun with it. Sasha didn’t say she liked it, but she never does and I don’t think she hated it which is as good as we’re getting. And Gene…”

“Gene’s been working a lot and hasn’t said anything about the play,” Zenix answered.

That was a weird shift. Laurance practically snapped at Garroth but acted just fine when responding to Travis. Why? Maybe she was just imagining the difference?

“Hopefully he liked it,” Garroth said.

Laurance hummed in what Aphmau thought was agreement.

“Eh, I’m pretty sure he didn’t hate working on it at least,” Zenix said.

“I don’t know… you had to fight pretty hard to get him to agree,” Laurance said.

“Why?” Aphmau asked.

“Sasha and Gene didn’t want to join in at first. So I ended up having to convince them to,” Zenix explained.

“And everyone in my house can be pretty stubborn when they feel like it.”

She definitely wasn’t imagining it. There was a big difference in how Laurance had reacted to Garroth’s apologies and to how he was acting now.

“Well, good things that you got them to come ‘cause I’m not sure the set would’ve looked as nice as it did without Sasha’s help,” Travis said.

“Yeah, Sasha’s great at art,” Laurance agreed.

The conversation lulled for a moment, but it felt much more natural than the abrupt stop that Laurance had caused earlier.

“What were your favorite parts of the play?” Aphmau asked. She’d already asked all her friends.

“Kawaii~Chan liked the marriage between Romeo and Juliet!” Aphmau was just going to assume it was because she liked the moment as a whole and not think too hard about the actors portraying the two characters when they performed. For her own sanity.

“Makes sense,” Travis said.

“The sword fight I got with Vylad was cool.”

“You and Vylad~san were so passionate!”

“Maybe a little too passionate,” Aphmau said. It was really hard not to feel like she was intruding on something when the fight happened.

“What can I say? Sword fighting can be hot as hell,” Zenix said casually.

Laurance shot his roommate an almost reproachful look.

“Yeah, I get that,” Garroth nodded.

Aphmau choked out a laugh, “What!?”

Laurance and Travis both turned to give the blonde questioning looks. Meanwhile, Aphmau could swear that Kawaii~Chan muttered something under her breath about ‘having read that fic before’.

“Moving on,” Aphmau said, “Laurance, what was your favorite part?”

“I don’t know. I liked a lot of it, I don’t think I have a favorite.”

“Come on dude, you gotta have something you like. There are so many great moments!” Travis argued.

“I just don’t have a favorite,” he shrugged

“What about all those scenes everyone remembers? The opening monologue, Tybalt’s introduction, the fights between the Montagues and the Capulets, Mercutio’s death,” Garroth listed.

“Yeah, they were all nice scenes, but I don’t think I have a favorite.”

“Boo,” Zenix jeered.

Aphmau saw Laurance roll his eyes at his friend. "You're just happy you got to fight with Vylad on stage. You and I both know you don't actually care about any of the moments in the play," he accused.

"Well, duh."

“What about the moments between Romeo and Juliet? A lot of those are popular,” she suggested. Their romance was the major draw of the play after all.

“Ohh! Kawaii~Chan agrees! There’s their meeting, the balcony scene is super romantic too! Then there’s them getting married! It’s all so romantic!”

“I’d call it more stupid than romantic considering they barely know each other and end up killing themselves because they can't be together,” Zenix commented.

Kawaii~Chan stuck her tongue out at him.

“It’s more complex than that,” Aphmau argued.

“Is it though?”

Laurance sighed, “Regardless of whether it’s romantic or stupid, I still don’t have a favorite.”

“What about the final kiss?” Aphmau asked.

The moment those words left her mouth, she noticed Laurance’s hand move to the armrest with a tight grip.

“I don’t want to talk about that moment,” he said flatly.

Message received. She’d stay away from that. Though she didn’t get why he didn’t want to talk about it.

“Awww, but it’s such a big moment!” Kawaii~Chan whined. “That final kiss is super important to the story. And even if it didn’t go right when we did i-”

The meif’wa’s ears and tails stood up straight as the energy in the room suddenly changed. She, alongside everyone else in the room, had frozen at the near hostility that was radiating off of Laurance.

“I said I didn’t want to talk about it!” he snapped.

It was almost like there was a physical pressure in the room that wasn’t there before. Everything in her body was telling her to get away from that.

“Laurance!” Zenix said in a tone that matched Laurance. And suddenly that pressure had left and Aphmau felt like she could breathe again.

Laurance himself jolted in place like he’d received a shock. “Sorry about that. I should go.” Without waiting for a further response, the man stood up and practically ran out of the room. The opening and closing of the front door marked him leaving the house.

Zenix stood up much more slowly and said, “I should probably go after him. This was… something, I guess.” He followed after his roommate and no one else in the room said anything to say goodbye.

She couldn’t blame them. She still was reeling from whatever had just happened.

The sound of the front door opening and closing was almost like a signal for everyone to spring back up.

“Ok, what the fuck was that,” Travis demanded.

“How the hell should I know!?” Garroth said in return a bit hysterically.

Kawaii~Chan just shivered in place with a low distressed mewl coming from her. Aphmau moved closer to her and began running her hand up and down her friend’s back.

“Everyone else felt that, right?” Aphmau asked.

“Yeah, it felt like I was in danger,” Garroth muttered.

“Was it just me or did Laurance look… weird when he said that?” Travis asked.

“No, I think you’re right.” It might’ve just been Aphmau’s imagination, but she could swear that just for a moment, his skin had begun to turn a lot paler than it was a moment ago. And while he was leaving, Aphmau caught a glimpse of his eyes and she was sure there was some red in the irises.

That… hadn’t gone how she wanted it to. She just wanted to invite them over to hang out. Instead, she ended up with… whatever had just happened.

Chapter Text

“Thank you so much. Really, you don’t know how much this means to me.”

“Katelyn, it’s fine. We’re more than happy to help,” Travis waved off.

“And I’m sure that babysitting Abby won’t be bad. She’s a sweet girl, and you and Jeffory already told us everything that we’d need to do,” Aphmau reminded Katelyn.

“Are you completely sure? I know it’s a bit last minute for me to spring this on you guys.”

“It’s fine, Jeffory has stuff he needs to do, and you need to go take those theatre classes.”

“I don’t need to–”

“But you want to,” Aphmau interrupted, “you’ve wanted to do theatre for a long time. Go take your shot! Travis and I can take care of Abby for one evening.”

“Yeah, Auntie Katelyn! I want you to direct more shows for me!”

Katelyn smiled and leaned down to be on the same level as the young girl who had jumped into the conversation. “Now how could I say no to that?” She gave Abby a quick hug, and with a goodbye to the three people in the room, she left to take the class she wanted.

Travis couldn’t help but find it cute how good Katelyn was with Abby. Was it just her, or did Katelyn act like that around all kids? She was normally so fiery and passionate– which she still was with kids of course, she wouldn’t be Katelyn if she wasn’t– but there was a bit of softness that came out around little kids.

Travis really liked seeing that side of Katelyn.

“Come on Travis, Abby now, daydreaming about Katelyn, later.” Aphmau led Abby to the living room couch.

Travis felt his face heat up as Abby and Aphmau giggled to each other. Jerks.

“Aphmauuu,” Travis whined as he followed after them. Abby had sat down in the middle of the couch and Aphmau sat to the little girl’s side. Travis chose to sit on the other side.

“You know I’m right.”

“Does Mr. Travis like Auntie Katelyn?” Abby gasped and looked up at him, eyes shining with excitement.

“Yes he does~,” Aphmau said in a sing-song voice. Traitor.

Travis looked down to the brunette girl who looked delighted at the information she had just received. “I do like her, but please don’t tell Katelyn.”

“Why not?”

“I wanna tell her myself.”

“But I want to tell Auntie Katelyn!”

Oh no. Travis did not think he could handle the embarrassment if his feelings were revealed because of an overexcited child.

“Now, Abby. Would you be happy if someone else told Katelyn or your dad something about you that you were really excited to tell them?” Aphmau asked gently. He mentally thanked her for the save.

“No…”

“Which means?”

“I’m not going to tell Auntie Katelyn about Mr. Travis’ liking her.”

“Good,” she cheered, “You’re such a smart little girl, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am!” Abby turned to look at Travis. “Katelyn says all the girls daddy goes out with have to be good enough for him, so you have to be good enough for her too!.” It looked like Abby was trying to glare at him, but considering she was so small, it looked a lot cuter than it was probably meant to.

“I’ll try my best.”

Abby looked satisfied with the answer and gave a happy nod. She’s such a cute little girl. He can see why Katelyn adores her so much.

But as adorable as Abby making sure anyone Katelyn dated deserved her, he’d rather move the topic away from his love life.

“So, Abby. Did you like the play?”

The change in topic seemed to work since Abby then started talking about everything that she liked about the play. Which as it turned out, was a lot of it. “--and all the knights looked super cool, and Ms. Aphmau looked really pretty!”

“Aww, thank you.”

“Anything else you like?”

“The fights were super cool! They swung their swords like shing and clash.” She mimed the motion of swinging a sword. “Me- Mer”

“Mercutio?” Aphmau suggested.

“Yeah! Mercutio and Tybalt’s fighting was super cool.”

“Yeah, the actors did an amazing job, didn’t they?”

Abby nodded eagerly at him agreeing with her.

“But the kiss at the end was really weird. It should have been Juliet kissing Romeo.” Travis suppressed a frown at that. The last kiss was one of the most well-known moments of the play. It going wrong pretty much ruined the story’s climax. But because people were messing with potions backstage, it was Laurance and Garroth who kissed instead of Laurance and Aphmau. Katelyn had been furious when she saw it happen.

“Yeah, but the rest of the performance was really good, right?” Aphmau said.

“Mhm!” The conversation died down before Abby declared, “I’m going to the bathroom.” She then jumped off the couch and went in the direction of the bathroom. He turned around and watched her to make sure she was going in the right direction.

“You know where it is, right?” he called.

Abby responded with a yes from what sounded like generally the right direction.

Travis turned back to Aphmau who had a large smile on her face.

“She’s such an energetic girl, isn’t she?”

“Yeah, it’s nice that she liked the play. I’m sure that Katelyn’s happy about that.”

Travis agreed. It was obvious that she really cared about the little girl, and he was sure that her enjoyment was important to Katelyn.

“Shame about the final kiss though.”

“Yeah,” she sighed, “Katelyn was really hoping that it would go well.”

The talk about the fact that Laurance and Garroth had kissed made Travis think of a few days back when Zenix, Laurance, Garroth, and Travis had been hanging out with Aphmau.

Well, maybe not “hanging out”, because Laurance and Zenix had left very quickly after arriving.

“While we’re on that subject, Laurance was acting… weird a few days ago, right?”

Aphmau pressed her lips in a thin line. “Yeah, he was. I’m not sure why. Maybe he was just having a bad day?”

“His behavior was a bit too strong for just a bad day.” Calling it strong felt like an understatement. There was this tangible pressure in the room when he shouted at them. He wasn’t sure why it was, but some part of Travis had felt terrified for a moment back there.

“I know, but I really can’t think of why he acted like that.”

“It looked like he was fine at first.” Maybe he was a bit more subdued than what he’d been acting during rehearsal, but nowhere near as angry as he ended up getting. “It was zero to a hundred. He was fine but he just snapped as soon as they mentioned… the kiss.”

Wait.

It looked like Aphmau came to the same realization as he did because she straightened up.

“Do you think he got like that because we were talking about the kiss?”

“I can’t think of a different reason. I mean, he only got mad once we mentioned it.”

That’s when Abby rushed back into the room with an energetic declaration of her return. Looked like that conversation would have to wait then.

The little girl sat back on the couch and didn’t continue her previous conversation about the play. Travis himself wasn’t sure if he wanted to continue talking about it after realizing that how it ended may have been the reason that Laurance reacted so strongly a few days ago.

“Do you wanna watch a cartoon?” he suggested.

Abby shook her head. “No, I wanna play a game.”

“Oh? What kind of game? Tag, hide and seek, red light green light?

Abby didn’t look particularly happy or excited about any of Aphmau’s suggestions. But suddenly, she jumped up and said, “PRINCESS TEA PARTY!”

“Oh, what’s that?” Aphmau asked. Travis also wanted to know, but he had a feeling he already had an idea. But he was really hoping he was wrong.

Ignorant to his internal pleas, Abby barreled on with explaining. “It’s really fun! We dress up like princesses and get all pretty and then we have a tea party!” Oh no.

Travis did not want to do that. He could already tell that if he ended up putting on a dress, he would absolutely hate the experience. He was having a good day and he did not want it ruined because a child had roped him into putting on a dress.

“I think I might sit this one out…”

Abby turned to look at him with a devastated expression. “But why?”

Oh, dear Irene. How did he get out of this? He needed to give her some actual reason. Simply saying ‘I don’t want to’ didn’t feel like it was going to cut it. But he also very much did not feel like explaining the concept of gender dysphoria to a child.

Aphmau, like the saint she was, saved him from awkwardly trying to get around explaining his complicated feelings around being feminine. “Maybe Travis would rather be a prince instead?”

“No,” Abby stubbornly refused. “I wanna have a princess tea party! And Daddy said that boys can be princesses too! So Mr. Travis has no reason not to be a princess!”

Were they all sure that Abby and Katelyn weren’t actually related somehow? Because that stubbornness sounded like it came directly from the blue-haired woman.

Aphmau paused for a moment, outwardly she looked fine but Travis could see from the look in her eyes how she was trying to think of a way out of this situation. “Weellll,” she drawled, “I have a bit of an idea. What if, Travis is a prince, that was taken by an evil dragon, so the two princesses need to go rescue him.”

“I like that idea.” He didn’t have to explain dysphoria to a child, and he also got to keep playing and making her happy. Double win!

Abby looked a little dubious. “Can we still have a tea party after?”

“Of course, why wouldn’t the princesses have a tea party to celebrate rescuing the prince?” he reassured.

The little girl’s hesitation melted away as a large grin grew on her face. “Save the prince and then we have a tea party!”

Which was how Travis and Aphmau ended up in the basement looking for props for their game of make-believe while Abby was distracted for a few minutes with kid’s cartoons.

As they were searching, Travis spotted an old-looking calendar that showed February, promptly reminding him of the month it currently was.

“Oh right, Valentine’s in a few days,” he muttered.

He really needed to just man up and ask Katelyn.

But how was he supposed to do that!? Katelyn was so big, strong, confident, and also a little bit intimidating despite how long they've known each other. And he wasn’t even sure if she’d say yes anyway. Or even take him seriously.

He heard Aphmau rummaging through a box and shout triumphantly at something.

Actually…

“Hey, Aphmau?”

“Yeah?” she asked, now head first looking into another box.

“Could you do me a favor?

She was still looking for more stuff to be used in the tea party. “What do you need?”

Ok, this was just a simple favor to ask a friend. He could do this. It was just a question.

“CouldyoupleaseseetupagroupdateforourfriendssoIcangowithKatelyn,” he rushed out in a breath.

Wow, that was a lot, he needed a moment to breathe.

Aphmau pulled her head out of the boxes she was searching in and looked at him. “Could you repeat that please?”

Travis took a deep breath. “Could you…set up a double date with Katelyn, me, you and someone else?”

“You’re finally going to ask Katelyn out!?” she squealed.

“I, um, ye–”

“If you’re going to ask her out, I think your first date should be just between the two of you,” she barreled.

“I need to work my way up to that! Asking her out on my own is too intimidating. I can start with a double date and then maybe I can work up to a one-on-one,” he explained.

“You really should start by asking her out directly.”

“Come on Aph, please?”

She was looking at him doubtfully.

He sighed, “Look, I know how Katelyn is, she’d be more comfortable on a date if it isn’t just us. If you’re there, then I think she’ll be more willing to open up and have fun.”

“Oh, that’s actually really considerate of you.”

“I just want her to be able to enjoy herself.”

“Why didn’t you just lead with that, you dummy?”

“Because all the other stuff is true. Also, I resent the dummy comment!”

“Well, it’s true.” Aphmau stuck her tongue out.

“Real mature.”

She playfully shoved him and he shoved her back.

“Well, I’d love to help, but I don’t really have someone I could go with to make it a double date.”

“Gar–”

“No.”

Well, there went his attempts to wingman.

“Aar–”

“I really don’t want to give KC more fodder to use.”

Fair enough.

“Would a group date work instead of just a double date? I’m pretty sure I could get a few of our friends to go as a group. You can still do Valentine’s Day stuff with Katelyn even if it’s a bit more than a Double Date, right?”

He ran up to his friend and hugged her. “Thank you, Thank you, thank you!”

Aphmau laughed and patted him on the back. “Now come on, we don’t want to keep Abby waiting.”

Travis let go of his friend. “Right, of course. Any idea about who’s gonna be our ‘dangerous dragon’?”

“Well, I’m sure Celestia would love to play with Abby.”

“Are you sure you’re gonna be able to get her to behave?”

“Excuse you! Celestia is super obedient and would be a wonderful dragon,” she huffed.

“Sure, sure, whatever you say.”

The two went up and Travis had a wonderful time being rescued by a pair of super cool princesses from an adorable dragon. At the end of it all, Travis could not be more excited for Valentine’s Day.

Chapter Text

Laurance wasn’t prepared for what he was facing. It was a Saturday afternoon and Laurance had more or less been lazing around the house with Sasha watching admittedly mediocre soap operas on TV. There was no one else in the house besides them, either to work or just out of a desire to go out and do something.

So Laurance had been having a pretty relaxing day with his friend. He’d finally begun getting over the… thing at the play and figured he might as well hang out.

And then the doorbell rang. Sasha, being herself, told him to get it without looking at the door. Which he did because he knows Sasha well enough to know he wasn’t convincing her otherwise.

Which left him in his current situation.

Aphmau, standing in front of him, and him a little stunned because he has no idea what to say. And a bit of awkwardness due to how their last interaction ended.

“Hey, Aphmau. What are you doing here?” he asks only because he remembers the basic politeness of greeting people at the door.

“Hey, Laurance. I have a favor to ask if you don’t mind?”

Normally, Laurance would agree. From what he’s seen, this Aphmau is similar to the one he knew; kind. But he also remembers the result of the last thing he did at her request. “What do you need?”

“Well, me and some friends are planning on going and hanging out together as a group on Valentine’s Day since most of us are single. I was wondering if you or some of your roommates might want to come?”

“Are you sure? I’m not sure if my friends would be up for it and… you know how I acted last time we saw each other. Sorry. About snapping like that by the way. It was uncalled for,” he apologized a bit awkwardly because he really had no excuse for getting angry enough that his nature as a Shadow Knight slipped out.

Aphmau shook her head rapidly. “It’s fine. You clearly said that you didn’t want to talk about what happened and KC kinda ignored that.”

“It was still an overreaction.”

“We can call it even then.”

“If you’re sure…” he said hesitantly.

Aphmau nodded with a bright smile. “Of course! No harm done, right?”

Considering how Laurance could get when his Shadow Knight stuff came out… Aphmau was a bit luckier than she knew about the fact no one was harmed.

Regardless, Laurance nodded along.

“But still, I’m not sure about the group thing.”

Aphmau frowned a bit and sighed. “That’s fine. It’s just that… you know how Travis kind of has a crush on Katelyn?”

That was out of the blue. “Yeah, it’s kind of obvious actually.”

Aphamu laughed a little, “Yeah, it really is. But anyway, it was actually Travis that asked me to organize this. He wants to ask Katelyn out eventually, but he knows she’d probably do better if their first ‘date’ was more of a group event. It’s so that they can both feel more comfortable. So I’m asking a few friends so that things can start more casual and if they’re both up to it it can become more of an actual date afterwards. It’d be fine if you don’t want to come, just thought you should know the reason behind it.”

Darn it now he felt bad about refusing. He had nothing against Travis, and if this was happening to help him get with Katelyn…

“Fine, I’ll think about it.”

Aphmau’s expression brightened. “Really? That’s great! Thank you. You still have my number from the play, right?” Laurance nodded. “Great! I’ll text you the details later and you can tell me if you decide to come.”

With her piece said, Aphmau said a quick goodbye and left.

Laurance was probably going to end up going. But he’d really rather not be the only one in his group to go to that. Vylad and Zenix would have plans, Gene generally kept to himself whenever Valentine’s Day came around, which left… Sasha.

Now how to convince her?

Laurance closed the door and went back to where his friend was sitting on the couch. Her head was leaning on her hand and she had a vaguely bored-looking expression as she watched the screen.

“So, who was it?”

“Aphmau.”

“What’d she want?”

Ok, he really wanted Sasha to do this with him, he just had to convince her.

“She asked for a favor.”

Sasha hummed to show she was listening but didn’t offer any further commentary.

“So you know how Valentine’s Day is coming up?”

“Yes…” Laurance could tell by her tone of voice she already didn’t like where this conversation was headed.

“Well, apparently she’s planning on having some of our neighbors all hang out that day as a group and wants us to come as well…”

“And you want to go but not be the only one of our group that does,” Sasha finished the sentence for him as she turned to look at him.

“Yeah, pretty much,” he admitted.

“Tough luck but you’re gonna have to find someone else.”

“Sasha,” he pleaded, “you’re the only one who’d be willing to come. Vylad and Zenix already have plans and you know how Gene gets around Valentine’s Day.”

“And I don’t particularly feel like going either. So you’ll just have to deal with going alone.”

“C’mon Sasha, please? For me?”

She stared at him with a completely flat expression. Then, she slowly turned back to face the TV screen. Darn, harsh as far as rejections went.

Just as Laurance was thinking that he’d

“Why’d you even want to go anyway? It’s not like we need to hang out with them just because we’re neighbors.”

“I know that it’s just…” He hadn’t told anyone about the whole fiasco a few days ago, but he may as well do it now. “A few days ago, I went to Aphmau’s house with Zenix and-”

She interrupted, “Completely snapped at them. I know, Zenix told me.”

“Of course he did,” he sighed.

“So you just feel like making it up to them. Why not just apologize then? Most of the people there are the type to accept an apology with no questions asked.”

“I know that,” he grumbled. “The thing is, that Aphmau said this is sort of a thing to try and help get Travis to ask Katelyn out. She said they’d both be more comfortable with more people there.”

Sasha turned to look at him again. This time, she had a small frown adorning her features. “Laurance, you know that they aren’t actually your friends from back then.”

Laurance knew that. Honestly, it was part of the problem.

“I’m aware. I just wanna see if I can help those two get together.” He smiled at her. “You know I’m a total romantic at heart.”

“To the dismay of everyone around you,” she replied flatly.

“Hey!” he replied indignantly.

“But fine. I guess I can go with you to the mall thing. Not like I have anything else going on that day.”

Huh. He expected her to put up a bit more of a fight. “What, did my charms win over this time,” he teased.

“Don’t push it.”

“Sorry, sorry.”

The two went back to watching the bad soap opera that had somehow gone completely off the rails in the short time he’d been distracted.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Chapter Text

Sasha and Laurance made it to the mall around the time Aphmau had told them to be there. They probably could have been there a little bit earlier, but Laurance had decided to spend way more time on his appearance than was necessary.

Still, they were by no means late. Not that Sasha would care either way, but Laurance probably would.

Neither was really wearing anything fancy. Sasha just went with a lilac sweater and her hair done like it always was. Laurance wore his usual outfit, a striped hoodie and jeans, and his hair done nicely. The hair was what caused her to have to wait so long.

It looked nearly identical but he was satisfied with it. She really didn’t get it.

When they got to the agreed-upon meeting place, a water fountain on the mall’s first floor, the only people present were Aphmau, Aaron, Zane, and Travis. The former two didn’t look any different than they normally did (including Aaron covering his eyes). Zane appeared to have simply chosen to not wear a hoodie but looked the same besides that. Travis however, had dressed himself up and was wearing a fancy-looking black vest over what looked like a white button-up.

Sasha wondered if he would’ve worn a full-blown suit if it were more socially acceptable to do that at a mall. What he was wearing was still too much considering the current setting but whatever.

Travis was also clutching a small bouquet of purple flowers and looking at Zane almost teary-eyed.

“Thankyouthankyouthankyou,” the white-haired man said hurriedly.

“Don’t mention it,” Zane grumbled. He had his arms crossed and was looking away slightly. Sasha thinks she spotted a hint of red on his cheeks. Was he embarrassed?

Vylad and Zenix would have probably been very interested in that reaction. For two very different reasons, but still interested.

“Did we miss something?” Laurance asked in lieu of greeting.

“Zane just gave a flower to Travis,” Aaron explained.

That was admittedly a little unexpected. Not really interesting by any means, but she hadn’t thought Zane was the type to give flowers.

“Don’t say it like that,” Zane complained, “You’ll give them the wrong idea.”

“So what did happen?” Laurance asked as his eyes flitted at the still weirdly emotional white-haired man.

“Someone forgot to bring flowers despite being the one person who’s actually here for romantic reasons. I did bring flowers, so I just gave them to him. And then he started…” Zane gestured to the teary-eyed man.

“Thank youuu.”

Much more in line with what Sasha expected then. A lot more boring too.

“Actually, Zane, why did you bring flowers?”

Zane shot Aphmau a flat look. “You’ve met my mother. Do you think she would have been happy if she found out I came to something even vaguely relating to Valentine’s Day without flowers?”

“Fair enough,” Aphmau laughed.

This was the first that she’d heard about this Zane’s mother. She lightly wondered if she was anything like Vylad’s. Neither she nor Laurance had been able to properly meet her, so there was no way to tell. Though figuring out similarities required meeting whoever the current Zane and Garroth’s mother was. Which would be unlikely at best.

“Yeah, Zianna seems like the type,” Aaron said with a small smile.

Laurance’s hand twitched ever so slightly at that.

Zianna… the same name as Vylad’s mother if she remembered correctly.

That implied some things that they should probably bring up later. Maybe she’ll end up looking the same too. It was true for her kids after all.

Zane turned to face Aaron. “You’ve met her?”

Aaron nodded. He didn’t elaborate further.

“When?”

Aaron hummed noncommittally.

A small part of her wanted to know why exactly he was avoiding the question. Whatever, it wasn’t any of her business anyway.

Just as Travis was beginning to calm down from his exaggerated reaction, two new people joined their group.

“Hey, guys. Hope we aren’t late,” Dante called as he approached. Standing next to him was Garroth. Both of them were also wearing their normal clothes.

She could tell the exact moment that Laurance spotted the blonde, seeing as he ended up subtly stepping behind her in such a way that her body acted as a barrier between the two.

A fully ineffective one seeing as she was half a foot shorter than the brunette. But this was the primary reason she was brought along anyway.

“Hey, guys!” Aphmau greeted. “How come you didn’t arrive with Travis?”

“Well that was the plan, but then a certain someone decided he needed to go out and ‘make himself look real nice.’”

“I want to look really good for her,” the white-haired man that the statement was obviously directed to defended himself.

Dante went to talk with Aphmau and Travis (Aaron and Zane were also closer to those two than they were to Sasha and Laurance but not participating in the conversation) while Garroth turned to face her and Laurance.

“Hello,” he greeted.

“Hi,” Laurence said in return.

Then the two just stood in silence, and Sasha was stuck between them. She looked between the two of them, and it was clear in their faces that both had things that they wanted to say but didn’t know how.

Suffice to say, it was an extremely awkward environment that Sasha was stuck in. She never should’ve agreed to join in on this.

Finally, Garroth began an actual conversation and cleared his throat. “I feel that I should apologize for pushing you–”

“What!? No, no. I was the one who snapped at all of you for no reason,” Laurance refuted.

“But you asked us not to mention it and we still did.”

“That still doesn’t justify how I reacted,” Laurance argued.

And that was her cue to exit the situation. She did not care to be standing in the middle of whatever that conversation led to. As long as she stayed close enough to get Laurance away if he began getting too emotional, it would be fine.

She decided to go stand next to Aaron instead of being subjected to whatever conversation those two were having. She did not care enough about how that went to subject herself to listening to that.

Aaron tilted his head at her questioningly but didn’t ask. Good.

The following silence was boring, but it beat getting dragged into conversations she didn’t really care about.

As they waited for the next people to arrive, Laurance and Garroth continued their back and forth that didn’t seem to actually be going anywhere. Aphmau, Dante, Zane, and Travis were all talking. From the sound of it, Dante was surprised that Zane had been nice to Travis.

But nothing truly interesting came from the conversations.

Not soon after arrived a pair of meif’wa. One was Kawaii~Chan, and the other one was Michi. The former was wearing an obnoxiously pink outfit that could only be described as ‘cute’ if not impractical. The latter was wearing much more sensible clothes, a grey crop top and a short black skirt.

“Kawaii~Chan! You’re here! I almost thought that you weren’t going to come.” Aphmau rushed forward to greet her friend.

“Kawaii~Chan just had to pick up Michi~Chan.” the pink meif’wa gestured to her… friend(?) who looked almost as bored as Sasha felt.

Aphmau turned to said woman and said with a certain tightness in her voice, “Yeah… you know I wasn’t expecting her to come to this.”

Michi rolled her eyes and turned to look at the rest of her group that arrived. She stopped when her eyes came across Laurance and then once again for Aaron.

Something about the way that her eyes went up and down as she looked felt uncomfortable. It looks like Aaron found something he didn’t like in her stare because he stepped back slightly with his mouth twisted into an uncomfortable grimace.

“Yeah well, I heard there was a thing going on today and I decided to come around.” She smiled in a way that rubbed Sasha the wrong way as her eyes flickered between Laurance and Aaron. “And with these two… I’m glad I did.”

Sasha saw Laurance’s expression curl into a frown. Great, something for her to look out for it seemed.

She went back to waiting because it looked like there were even more people yet to arrive. The rest of the group went back to their respective conversations.

Laurance and Garroth reached… not a resolution to their conversation but they stopped talking and she couldn’t sense Laurance’s magic giving off any concerning signs. Kawaii~Chan joined in with whatever Aphmau was talking about. And Michi followed Sasha’s example of not talking to anyone. Though it looked like the meif’wa was still occasionally looking at Aaron.

And as Sasha was still standing next to him, she could also feel those stares. She was sure she’d felt less invasive stares from creepy old men.

Everyone else mingled for a bit. The pink guy from the party arrived at some point and the two meif’was both reacted with excitement. Thankfully, no one tried to talk with her the whole time. Laurance had joined in peaceful conversation with the rest of the group.

Not that long after, came a certain witch. Sasha had been passively checking the magic signatures around her -in order to make sure Laurance wasn't close to losing it- and she picked up on the familiar magic of a ginger witch.

Sure enough, Sasha looked in the direction she felt the magic coming from and saw the familiar face she was expecting. Lucinda was strolling to them with comfortable confidence and a smile on her face.

She wore a shoulderless black and white sweater, and her wavy hair flowed behind her as she walked.

The witch spotted Sasha looking at her and waved as she walked with renewed purpose.

“Hi, Aaron, hi Sasha,” she greeted.

Aaron made a vague sound of greeting and Sasha just nodded.

“Surprised to see you here. Really doesn’t seem like your type of thing.”

“Aph convinced me,” Aaron said with some fondness.

Lucinda smiled at that, “Yes, I’m sure she did. And you Sasha?”

“Laurance dragged me along.” She pointed at the brunette who was talking with Dante and Travis with a content smile.

At least someone was enjoying themself.

“Hmm, didn’t take you for the type to be easily convinced.

“Laurance is the most stubborn man I’ve met.” Not the most stubborn person though. A few other women from back then beat him.

Aaron was clearly no longer paying attention now that he was not directly involved in the conversation. She could only wish she could disconnect herself from her surrounding environment as easily.

“Well, I should go greet everyone else. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of time for us to talk today.”

The witch left and was happily greeted by her friends.

Sasha already couldn’t wait for things to be over. Maybe she could figure out a way to leave early…

Not a chance. She needed to be there in case something caused Laurance to freak out. According to Zenix, the group had already done it once on accident.

She’d just have to deal.

Not long after two more people arrived and Sasha really wanted them to be the last ones.

It was Katelyn and Nicole. Laurance said that this was mainly for Travis and Katelyn, so hopefully, it means that things could finally begin.

As soon as the rest of the group noticed them, multiple people happily greeted them. Practically everyone except Michi, Zane, Aaron, and herself. Laurance also greeted the two women, though less enthusiastically than all the people who actually knew her.

Though the biggest greeting came from Travis, who with a blushing face walked up to Katelyn to give her the flowers he had.

“These are for you. A beautiful lady should have some flowers on Valentine’s Day.” He had an earnest look on his face and was failing at any attempt at confidence.

Nicole had quickly walked to stand by Dante’s side, so it was only Katelyn standing before Travis.

“O-oh! Gee, Travis, I’m flattered. Thanks.” Katelyn had a grateful look on her face.

Aphmau loudly cleared her throat to get all attention on her. Though she looked happy at what had just gone down.

“Now that we’re all here, we can finally start. To the arcade!”

Chapter Text

Katelyn and Travis were walking through the arcade trying to find something new to play together. Aphmau had split up the group in pairs, claiming that she wanted to ‘stay in the spirit of the holiday’. Which Travis was sure was just an excuse to get him and Katelyn alone. Not that he was complaining.

They’d spent their time in the arcade playing games together. Mostly competing at Katelyn’s behest. Even in games that technically shouldn’t involve competing with another person.

Travis didn’t think that competitive Pac-man was a thing before this but Katelyn managed.

As they walked, Travis spotted the air hockey tables. He poked Katelyn in the arm and pointed to the tables.

“Feel like doing some air hockey?”

“Only if you're ready to get your butt kicked.”

The pair began heading towards the tables. “Ohoho, confident are we? Guess I’ll just have to show you my skills.”

“Ha!” she laughed, “You can try, but don’t start crying when you lose.”

“Well, it’s a good thing I won’t be losing then.”

“That’s what you said last time, but I still won.”

The two reached an empty table and stood at opposite ends.

“Yeah, well this time you’re strength isn’t going to get you the win.”

Their last contest had been on one of those games where you hit a button with a toy mallet to see how strong you were. Katelyn had utterly destroyed him.

They began their game and the puck went back and forth.

Travis had been having fun so far. It was great to just hang out with Katelyn. Especially on Valentine’s Day. Even if it wasn’t technically a date. He was content just being around her for the day.

And maybe… maybe this would let him work up the courage to ask her on an actual date.

“Are you having fun?” he asked as he moved to block the puck.

Katelyn struck hard and scored a point.

“Yeah. I was a bit worried when Aphmau said she wanted us to split into groups. But it’s been pretty cool to hang with you for a bit.”

Katelyn was enjoying herself! She was having fun with him! He was so thrilled at the knowledge that he failed to block and Katelyn got another point.

Crap. He needed to focus if he didn’t want to lose. “Well, I’ve had a lot of fun too. Hard not to when I’m next to such a beautiful lady.”

She snorted in laughter, “dork.”

Travis liked her laughter. He got a point.

They continued in silence, until eventually, they were head-to-head, both only needing one more point.

“Hey, Travis… thanks.”

Travis looked up to find that Katelyn had a… shy look on her face. It wasn’t one he’d seen on her face often.

“No need. Like I said, it’s my pleasure to spend the day wi–”

“No, not because of that. I mean— that too, but I was actually talking about just being with me in general. I know I’m not always the easiest person to be around.”

Travis frowned. “Katelyn, I love being around you.”

Katelyn smiled a bit. “Thanks, but we both know it ain’t always easy. You have to admit that I can get angry really quickly. And that when I get mad, I get mad.” Travis couldn’t exactly refute that. “But when I got pissed after the play… you helped me calm down. And you made me stop freaking out before it started. You always help me when I ask you something, like taking care of Abby. So… thank you. For supporting me and being there when I got angry.”

Katelyn was looking at him with a small smile that he rarely ever got to see. Travis was sure that his face was bright red.

Katelyn won the game.

Nana’s time at the arcade had been… fine, so far. Nothing had gone wrong, and she enjoyed moving around the large arcade and playing whatever caught her interest. Honestly, there wasn’t anything worth complaining about.

In most situations, Nana was sure that she’d be having fun running around and playing games.

She couldn’t even claim to be feeling alone or anything like that! When the large group had split up, (as an excuse to get Travis and Katelyn together) they all left in pairs.

And she instantly went with Reese, who was busy playing one of the rhythm games in the arcade.

Because that’s what ‘Kawaii~Chan’ would have done. Immediately went after the guy she was obsessed with. And Nana was already in way too deep to break character that drastically.

Plus, it helped with what Aphmau asked her to do.

She’d gone into this hopeful. She’d hoped to use it as an opportunity to get to know the cute guy she was meant to have an extreme crush on. Maybe if she ended up liking his personality it’d be easier to fake the crush for a while. If she was lucky she’d even develop an actual crush!

That was the hope anyway.

Instead, she got… Objectively, there was nothing wrong with Reese. The man was very nice, extremely polite, and respectful.

It’s just that… He was so boring.

One would think that with how he looked he’d actually be interesting. But all the stories or anecdotes he’d told so far had been so bland that no matter how hard Nana tried, she could barely recall any meaningful details from what he’d said.

And really, Nana was trying. But she could only take so many uninteresting stories about high school or college before she had to accept that it was getting unbearable. For Irene’s sake, she’d had more fun waiting for cookies to bake in the oven!

It didn’t feel like she’d actually learned a single thing about the man in front of her despite having been together for well over an hour. She wasn’t confident she’d be able to name anything he liked or disliked for crying out loud. Not for a lack of trying.

She’d tried asking what Reese enjoyed but he just gave non-answers and then asked her something. The entire ‘date’ essentially just consisted of Nana asking something to Reese, him barely giving an answer, and then letting her fully decide on what to do.

The entire time he just let her decide everything without saying what he wanted! It was so… so… boring!

But she had to stay because it’s what ‘Kawaii~Chan’ would do. And she refused to let her mask slip even the tiniest bit. Because if she dropped the mask then… she wasn’t sure anyone would want her around.

Her friend would no doubt be betrayed by her lies and probably never want to see her again. And if she let the act drop… after putting it up for so long, Nana wasn’t sure she’d be willing to put up the act again if she revealed herself.

And if she was just Nana, would anyone even like her? No one had, back then. Not enough to remember her anyway.

So she’d stay on this impromptu date with Reese even though she’d much rather be with one of her friends than standing here. She could find a way to enjoy herself. Hopefully by getting Reese to actually be interesting instead of just saying yes to everything.

She could feel her stomach growl slightly. Well, when an opportunity presents itself, she should take it. Just like mom and dad said.

“Reese~senpai! Kawaii~Chan thinks that we should go get something to eat. What do you think.”

“That sounds great actually.”

Good! Surely with some food, he’d talk a bit more and feel less like cardboard.

“What would you like?”

“Oh, I’m fine with anything. You can pick and I’ll eat it,” he smiled at her.

Nope, she couldn’t do it. She needed a break.

“Actually, Kawaii~Chan needs to go to the restroom first. I’ll meet you at the food court area.” She did not need to go to the restroom but Reese didn’t need to know that.

Reese nodded and walked away with a wave. Nana went in the opposite direction towards the restrooms. She just… she needed a minute or two to herself.

Zane should not have let Aphmau talk him into going along with all this.

‘It’ll be fun,’ she said. ‘You should spend more time with people’ she said. But no. He was stuck with someone who very clearly would rather be anywhere else.

The feeling was reciprocated.

The only reason they were together right now was because all the people he’d be fine spending the evening with had other people to be with. Which meant that they were left either sticking together, going off on their own, or trying to awkwardly join a separate group.

So there the two were. Awkwardly standing near the restrooms.

At this point, the idea of ditching Michi was getting more and more appealing with every passing second.

But no, he’d promised to try and make an effort to interact with whoever it was he got stuck with.

It just so happened that the person he got stuck with was someone he had literally never interacted with. Why couldn’t it be someone he’s actually talked to? Even if it was someone insufferable like that pink-haired meif’wa. At least then he’d have an idea of how to start a conversation.

With Michi, he’d have to start with the awkward small talk one did with strangers. And Zane really didn’t want to sit through the whole ‘So what stuff are you into?’ conversation.

He looked at his ‘date’ and saw her twirling a strand of purple hair between her fingers with a frustrated look on her face.

She turned to him sharply and growled, “Ugh! Why’d I have to get stuck with you of all people? I mean seriously! So many cute guys and you’re the one I’m stuck with?”

“I’m not exactly thrilled to be here with you either,” he replied flatly.

A comically outraged look crossed her face. “How dare you! I’m a hot young woman and you’re just… You! You should be thankful I’m talking to you!”

So she was calling him ugly. How original.

She was wearing a simple black crop top that fit her really well. She had an open plaid jacket that based on how the sleeves were hanging, was just a size or two bigger than what she needed. It made her look smaller than what she was. Some might call it cute. As for pants, she was wearing jean shorts that showed off the legs.

For all intents and purposes, Michi did legitimately look good.

Zane made a show of slowly looking her up and down. “Let me tell you a secret. You aren’t all that.”

This made her even angrier. She made some growling and hissing noises that maybe would have intimidated a child before walking away with her tail thrashing angrily.

Ha! And she hadn’t even managed to make him emote.

…Aphmau probably wouldn’t be too happy about him getting Michi to leave like that. He’d just have to deal with it. Although maybe he can frame it in a way that makes Aphmau a little bit less annoyed with him.

As he was thinking of ways that he could phrase the interaction in a way that would win sympathy from his friend, he was distracted by a voice.

“Zane~san, weren’t you supposed to be with Michi~chan?”

Great, it was the other meif’wa. Annoyingly peppy, but at least she didn’t openly dislike him. So marginally better than previous company.

“She ditched me. Shouldn’t you be with that dreamboat of yours?” Considering how she was, Zane assumed she wasn’t going to leave the guy’s side for a single second.

“Kawaii~Chan just needed to use the ladies’ room. But for your information, she’s been having a great time with Reese~senpai.” There was an annoyingly wide smile on her face.

“Well that makes one of us,” Zane muttered.

“If you’re alone now, why don’t you join me and Reese? We were just about to go eat something at the food court!” she said in an excited voice.

“No.” There was no reason for Kawaii~Chan to want him to go with her. If anything she should want to monopolize as much time as possible with that guy she likes. He didn’t trust her. Also, he’d rather not third-wheel two people he barely knew.

“But Zane~san,” she whined, “why not?”

“Why do you want me to? Shouldn’t you want to be alone with that Reese fellow?”

“Well… it’s more- um- Fun! Yeah, it’d be more fun to hang out in a group than just the two of us!” He did not think that was the real reason in any capacity. Zane had both seen and told much more convincing lies.

Still… it’s not like he had anything else to do. He was riding with Aphmau so leaving without her wasn’t an option. As bad as third-wheeling the meif’wa would be, third-wheeling Aaron and Aphmau (despite her insistence there really was nothing going on) would be worse. And he didn’t want to join any of the other pairs that consisted of people he either barely knew or disliked him. Or worse, his brother.

And the pink girl was harmless. She’d just be annoying at worst. And if he was lucky, she’d be too busy swooning over the guy she liked to bother him.

Not to mention that the look on her face told him she wouldn’t give up on trying to convince him.

“Fine,” he sighed.

He could practically see stars in her eyes from how happy she was at his compliance. “That’s great! Give me a second to go to the restroom and Kawaii~Chan will lead to Reese~senpai.

He silently waved her off and leaned against the wall to wait for her. He really didn’t know why he let Aphmau convince him into coming.

He looked at the clock on the wall. Dear Irene, he’d be here for another few hours.

After a short wait, Kawaii~Chan emerged from the bathroom and started walking to what Zane guessed was the food area. And because he really didn’t have much better to do than wait in the arcade by himself, he followed.

As the two arrived at the food court, Zane saw something that made him stop.

On one of the tables, Reese was sitting down. The part that made him stop was the fact that Michi was also there, kissing the man. It wasn’t anything particularly passionate. Just a kiss that was probably toeing the line on appropriate PDA.

Damn. Zane doesn’t really care about Michi, but it was probably still rude of her to kiss someone else on what was technically their “Valentine’s Day Date.”

Zane noticed that Kawaii~Chan had also stopped in her tracks when she caught eye of the couple.

Right. Kawaii~Chan had a crush on Reese.

Should he comfort her? They had a mutual friend and sort of knew each other. Which probably made it so that he should at least try comforting her. If only for politeness sake.

He had no idea how to do that but Aphmau would want him to at least try.

He (unenthusiastically) stepped forward to try and comfort her but was surprised at the expression on her face. There was no anger, no sadness, nothing. She looked like she really couldn’t care less. At least until she saw that he was looking at her, and then the waterworks started.

But it was too late. Zane could confidently say that those were crocodile tears. And... didn't she refer to herself in the first person earlier?

Maybe Kawaii~Chan wasn’t quite as shallow as he thought she was.

Maybe certain people (Aphmau and Katelyn) would get upset at him for getting Nicole to ditch the arcade with him. But look, it was Valentine’s Day, and he was the only person in the group who was actually in a relationship. So he was going to take his girlfriend on an actual date.

He was sure that Travis would understand.

It was easiest to stay in the mall, so that’s what they were doing. Thankfully, Dante knew of a little cafe-looking place that had opened up recently that would be perfect for a date. So that’s where he decided to take Nicole.

The cafe had special Valentine's Day drinks on the menu for couples. They ended up sharing a fruity drink that was in an over-the-top, heart-shaped cup with two straws. It was going great considering how last minute it was.

At the moment, they were sitting together at a table for two, facing each other. He was telling her a story of something that happened with his roommates.

“And then, I shit you not, Garroth ripped the door entirely off its hinges.”

“You’re kidding,” she gasped.

“I’m not!”

She was quickly shaking her head in disbelief. “There’s no way. No one’s strong enough to just rip off a door like that. I refuse to believe it.”

Dante put one hand to his heart and the other up like he was swearing an oath. “Cross my heart and hope to die, I am telling the truth. That man ripped the door entirely off its hinges. Ask Aphmau, she saw it happen,” he insisted.

“Fine, guess I’ll have to.” She had a smile on her face as she crossed her arms on the table.

“Wanna know the best part?” he asked excitedly.

“You mean there’s a part better than the fact that your roommate is allegedly as strong as a bear?”

“Ok, your best friend’s just as strong so it’s not impossible.” To this day, Katelyn is the one person he’s met who can match Garroth in an arm wrestling contest.

Nicole opened her mouth like she was going to give a retort, paused, and then closed her mouth with an accepting nod. “Ok, fair enough. I can’t deny that.”

“Thank you. Anyways, the best part? It’s that the reason Garroth ripped the door off like that was that he thought I was flirting with Aphmau and he got jealous. I was just showing her some baby pictures!”

“He ripped off a door like that because he was jealous?” she said incredulously.

“Yeah, I don’t think he even meant to do that in the first place. I wish you could’ve seen his face, he looked so surprised when he noticed what happened to the door.”

Nicole let out a laugh at that. “Dear Irene, I can almost see it. He did that face where he looks like a confused dog, didn’t he?”

“Like a golden retriever that had no idea what was happening around him,” he confirmed.

Nicole shook her head in amusement. “Dante, you really tell the best stories.”

“Well, what else am I gonna bring to the relationship? Besides my dashing good looks of course.”

“Wow, so humble too,” she snarked.

“Just one of my many, many virtues.”

The conversation quieted down to that nice, comfortable silence that meant things were going well. The two basked in that environment for a few moments. It was nice. Just relaxing in each other’s presence. Dante liked it when his girlfriends got to the point where he and the girl could share a comfortable silence. He liked being able to get to the point where he could just exist with another person.

Nicole broke that silence. “Hey Dante, promise not to laugh if I say something super mushy?”

Dante reached over to hold one of her hands. “You can tell me anything.”

“I think you’re the most fun relationship that I’ve had in… a while. I always have fun when I’m around you, and it never feels like a moment is dragging on when I’m with you. So… thanks.” She was looking at him with a small smile and a fond look in her eye.

Oh. Huh. He wasn’t sure what exactly to do with that. When a girl he was dating confessed that she was beginning to get more emotionally invested in the relationship. He wasn’t sure if what he felt was what he was supposed to be feeling towards that type of confession.

But he knew he had to respond.

“I’m honored. I’m really glad I make you feel that way. I really like being in a relationship with you too.

The statement was mostly true.

Chapter Text

Come on, just a little bit more and… “Woo! I win again!” Aphmau cheered.

As the arcade machine showed that the game had ended, Aphmau jumped in joy at her continued triumph while Aaron stood and shook his head exasperatedly.

“Yeah, yeah. I know.” Aphmau may not be able to see his eyes, but she could feel the way that Aaron was rolling his eyes at her.

“What’d you wanna play next?” They’d been going around the arcade, taking turns choosing what they would play. They’d just finished with the fighting game in which she crushed him, so it was Aaron’s turn to pick.

“How about a racing game?”

“Come on,” she groaned, “you just wanna pick that because you know I suck at those so you’ll win.”

“We both know you just chose the fighting game because I’m no good at those.”

Completely accurate but she wasn’t about to just admit that.

“Whaaat? Nooo… I just chose a fighting game because… I happened to see it. Yep! That’s it. No other reason.”

Aphmau could clearly see the cringe on his face as soon as the words left her mouth. She fully understood. That was… not some of her best work. “Did you even try with that lie?”

“...No. Not really.”

He huffed out a rare laugh, “You’re ridiculous. You know that?”

She leaned closer to him so her shoulder brushed his arm. “Aww, but you loooove me,” she teased.

“Platonically.”

“Obviously,” she agreed.

“You know, playing like this kind of reminds me of how we first met.”

Huh. Aphmau hadn’t thought of that. The first time she’d met Aaron was in an old MMO that had long since shut down. Even if they only started actually talking to each other after they met in person, that didn’t mean they weren’t friends before that. The best of friends really. Though, that last bit might have to do with the fact that neither of them even had any other friends besides each other.

She still remembers playing with him for hours on end, only knowing him as another player beyond the screen of her computer.

“Yeah, this sort of is how we became friends, isn’t it?” The medium was different, but their friendship was built on playing video games together.

“You know… I still remember how bad you were when you first started.” There was that teasing smile that only she ever actually saw.

She leaned away. “Okay. Moment ruined. Come on, we got a racing game to play.” She grabbed his hand and started dragging him off to the part of the arcade with all the racing games.

As they walked, she began to notice that more and more people were beginning to give them looks. More specifically, they were beginning to give Aaron looks.

Not that weird considering that Aaron is both built like a giant brick and constantly insists on covering his eyes with a bandana.

The height alone would be enough to call attention, but most people would probably look away if it were only that. The bandana, however, would get people to keep staring as they tried to figure out why he was wearing it.

Which is a question that Aphmau doesn’t actually know the answer to.

Despite how long she’s known him, and the times she’s asked, Aaron has never actually said why he always wore the bandana when around other people. The most she’s managed to figure out was that it had something to do with his family but she didn’t have any solid proof.

She’d tried to keep digging at first. Kept asking, thinking that eventually her stubbornness would win out and Aaron would say something.

But after a while, it became clear that Aaron wouldn’t budge, so she stopped asking him.

But just because she stopped asking, doesn’t mean she wasn’t still curious. Both about the bandana, but also about Aaron’s family in general.

Because Aaron made a point of talking about his family as little as possible. She knew basic things like their names and that they were wealthy, but nothing about any of their actual personalities.

But beyond that, Aaron refused to talk about them in any meaningful detail.

And it didn’t take a genius to know that wasn’t normal.

Once they reached the racing games, Aphmau saw that all were being used, so they’d have to wait in line. As she waited with Aaron, the thoughts of his family kept swirling in her head. Specifically, the most recent thing involving his family.

Them calling him during the play.

“Hey Aaron… What actually happened during the play? Why’d you have to leave?”

Aaron stiffened at her question. Something he almost always did when his parents were brought up. “I told you. They called because I wasn’t home, so I had to run back.”

“But, why? Couldn’t you have just told them you were busy?”

Despite his eyes being hidden, it was obvious Aaron was staring at the floor. “Not really.”

“Why? You already had something you were doing, and it’s not like they warned you they were visiting,” she pointed out.

“Look,” Aaron sighed, “my parents did not know I was in the play, and I did not, and do not want them to know.”

“Wh–”

“Trust me. It’s just… it’s better they just thought I was out eating or something.” He had that tone to his voice that told her he was close to just shutting down completely. He wouldn’t talk about anything if she kept pushing.

“Sorry for bringing down the mood. We can talk about something else.” She grabbed his hand and squeezed it slightly.

He looked down at her and smiled. “Thanks.”

As soon as the two people racing were done, Aphmau and Aaron took their spots. It was a bit of an older game that she remembered playing before. She knew most of the tracks pretty well. Not that it gave her an advantage, since Aaron probably did too.

Still, it meant neither of them really had to focus much as they played.

“Hey, Aph, why’d you invite me to this?”

“Because, you’re my friend, duh.” She invited as many friends to come along.

“I get that, but this wasn’t to hang out with friends. You told me this was to help your friend, Travis, right?”

“Yeah?” Where was he going with this?

“Well, you didn’t need me here for that. Actually, there’s a lot more people here than what you needed. The group date things would’ve probably worked better if it was one or two other couples besides Travis and Katelyn.

“I just… thought it was a good idea for you so you could make more friends.”

“Aph, you know you’re not a great liar. And if that were true, you would’ve encouraged someone else to join our group.”

Crap. He saw through her.

“Fine,” she sighed, “you got me.”

“You going to tell the truth now?” he asked.

“Promise you won’t get too mad?”

“I doubt I will.” He had a relaxed tone as they played the game. At no point in their conversation did he seem so much as annoyed.

Well, no point in trying to continue lying. “I just wanted a buffer for Garroth,” she admitted.

Aaron sighed in exasperation, “Seriously?”

“I’ve told you how he can get. And it’s Valentine’s Day! I knew that if he saw a chance to be on a date with me, he’d take it,” she grumbled.

“So you decided to not give him a chance by inviting as many people as you could and making sure you ended up with different people. Meaning me.”

“Yeah…” Well, that and… one other reason. Anyway, the game had come to a close and Aaron had won.

They both stood up from the machine to let other people have a turn.

“Why don’t you just tell him you're not interested in a relationship?” Aaron asked.

“Because he’s my friend. And it’d be awkward if I just rejected him. So I’m just hoping that with enough time his feelings will just… go away?”

“Aph…” She had legitimately never heard him sound so disappointed before.

“Whatever. That’s not what we’re here for. Let’s go find something else to play. Come on!” She grabbed him by the arm and started pulling him despite his light protests. It was her turn to pick anyway.

Lucinda sat at a circular table in the arcade with Sasha sitting across from her. Out of sheer luck, the two of them had ended up paired together for this ‘date’ that Aphmau set up.

Not that she was complaining. She’d been meaning to speak to Sasha.

But that didn’t need to happen immediately. So far, she’s had a nice time just hanging out with her. Not much conversation had happened, but that was fine. Irene knew that Lucinda’s friends were talkative enough that she’d learned to appreciate spending some quiet time with someone else.

“Have you managed to figure out what me and my roommates are?” Sasha asked out of nowhere.

“Excuse me?”

“You figured out the moment that we met that I’m not particularly human. Have you managed to figure out what exactly it is we are?” She was propping her head up against her hand with a bored look on her face.

Lucinda sighed, “No, not really. I’m assuming something old, nothing that hasn’t been alive for a long while could have magic as strong as you do.” Even now, when Lucinda wasn’t trying to sense the magic around her, Sasha’s was palpable. It was almost uncomfortable to be around. She could say the same for that other roommate of hers, Laurance. She could probably pinpoint where exactly in the arcade he was without even trying.

“You’re correct.”

“You’re actually going to say some things about yourself?” Lucinda had expected Sasha to be cagey about what she is.

“I won’t go around just giving you information, but I’ll answer some questions. Tell you if your assumptions are right or not.”

Lucinda wasn’t expecting that. She wasn’t about to complain about the opportunity to interro-interview Sasha about what she was, but… “Why?”

“You’re the first person in a long time who’s been able to figure out I’m something not human. I want to see where it goes,” she shrugged.

“Ok then… Where should I start?”

“I don’t know. Throw some guesses at me or something.”

Lucinda hummed in thought. Extremely old and more magical in nature alongside not being something she recognized. “An elf maybe? But no, that would mean you’d have to hide pointed ears with illusion magic. And I definitely don’t sense that.” Sasha’s magic may be entirely alien to Lucinda, but she was confident she’d be able to recognize a layer of illusion on top of it all.

“Decent guess, around the right time period.” That was good! So she was at least from around the time that elves were said to still walk the land. Which was… a very long stretch of time millennia back. Lucinda had thought it was only a few centuries, but maybe Sasha was older than she thought. “You’re right about the lack of illusion magic. Though you should know, those like me can alter our appearance as if it were an illusion. Though it’s a lot more limited, and different enough that it wouldn’t register as one to you no matter how hard you tried sensing it.”

Ok, so Sasha and her roommates can apparently alter their appearance to some extent. That made for a wide range of possible creatures they could be.

“How do I know there’s any records of what you are?” Sasha might just be messing with her and sending her on an impossible chase for information.

“That’s fair. But I guarantee that you could find information on what I am.” It didn’t look like Sasha was going to volunteer any more information on that subject.

“I guess I’ll have to take your word for it,” she sighed.

“No other ideas?”

“I’ll need some time to think and look up some possibilities.” She really didn’t have much to narrow it down. She’d confirmed that they were ancient beings and that apparently minor shapeshifting was a thing Sasha could do. That still left a lot of possibilities.”

“We’ll see if you figure it out.”

The conversation petered off after that and the two returned to a comfortable silence. Though, it didn’t take long for Lucinda to remember just how their first meeting went.

“I should probably apologize,” she said without really meaning to.

“For what?” Sasha turned her stare towards her.

“For how our first meeting went. I was more aggressive than I really needed to be.”

Sasha hummed, “No, it made sense. You saw something with a strong magical presence. And I know what mine and the other’s magic feels like. I know just how wrong it can feel. Anyone in their right mind who can sense magic well would treat us like a threat.” It was said like it was something obvious. So Lucinda could assume that whatever Sasha is, she at least considers herself dangerous.

“Well, you should know that I don’t think of you or your roommates as a threat anymore.”

Sasha’s eyebrow raised slightly, “What changed your mind?”

“The play mostly. I spent some time with all of you, and I decided you aren’t dangerous.”

“What part of the play made you think that we aren’t fully capable of hurting others? Laurance freaking out over a kiss?” The sarcasm was clear in her tone.

“Maybe I should rephrase it. What I meant is, that even if you are all capable of hurting people, I don’t think you will. The way you all acted made me realize something. None of you are all that different than anyone else. Not in how you act, anyway. Your magic is still a complete mystery to me.”

Sasha tilted her head a little and her eyes narrowed. “How… optimistic of you.”

“Well, none of you have done anything to prove me wrong. Laurance even decided to come to this to help someone he doesn’t really know all that well. And dragged you here too.”

“How are you sure I wasn’t the one to drag him here?” Sasha said this with full seriousness.

“Oh please,” Lucinda laughed, “Maybe I don’t know you all that well, but I feel like I’ve made a good enough read on you to figure out you're not the type to do that.”

Lucinda could swear she saw the barest hint of a smile on the other woman’s face.

Laurance was beginning to regret agreeing to come to this. He’d thought that they’d be in a few groups and that at worst, he’d have some people to be a buffer between him and Garroth.

But no, Aphmau declared that they should all split up into pairs. And before he even really knew what was happening, Laurance ended up with Garroth. Who very obviously wished he’d paired up with Aphmau. Garroth tried to act like he was happy with their situation, but he was very open with his feelings and his disappointment was easy to see.

Which meant Laurance had to spend the evening with someone who would rather be with someone else. Which he was trying very hard to ignore, both for his pride and also because he’d rather not think about Garroth in a romantic context (lips meeting his; strong arms holding him; holding a body that’s bleeding out, dead because of HIM–). Just felt like a bad idea.

“Should we go play something?” Garroth asked.

“I don’t really care,” Laurance shrugged. “Don’t go to arcades much.”

“Well, something has to catch your interest,” he insisted.

“Not really, no.”

“How about… the racing games?”

“Sure, whatever.” Not like he knew where anything was at the arcade. He just wanted this to be over.

“Well, follow me.” It looked like Garroth did know where things were because he started walking with purpose. Laurance just followed because he was probably expected to stick with the guy he was paired with.

As they walked through the arcade, Laurance saw that Garroth’s face was moving around like he was looking for someone… Oh, that’s what he was doing, wasn’t he? He was trying to find Aphmau in the crowd.

Laurance reached forward and grabbed Garroth by the shoulder. The blonde man stopped moving and turned around.

“Look,” he sighed, “let’s just go look for Aphmau. That’s what you’re trying to do, right?”

The man’s face lit up in a bright blush. “Whaaat, nooo. Pshh, I was just, um-”

“You were obviously looking for someone in the crowd,” he interrupted. “And I know that you have feelings for her. So let’s just skip the pretense and go look for her.”

“Are you sure?”

“I wouldn’t be saying this if I wasn’t,” it came out a bit more snappily than he intended but he couldn’t bring himself to care. Maybe if he managed to get them to talk to each other during the duration of the date, he could just go somewhere else in the mall until Sasha told him it was time to leave.

Leave those two to have a date during the day of love while he left to be by himself. He was kind of beginning to get why exactly Sasha didn’t care for Valentine’s Day.

“Thank you.” Garroth sent him a grateful smile that Laurance wanted none off.

“Let’s go.” The two began walking, but neither really knew where she was. He was letting Garroth take the lead again since he knew her better.

Hmph! This wasn’t going to get them anywhere. It was no different from Garroth’s original plan of hoping they came across her while going to the racing game.

If he wanted to get this done with soon, he’d need a way to find… her… Just his luck, he did have a way. While he was one of the worst of the Shadow Knights when it came to sensing magic, it was still something he could do. And Aphmau’s signature was distinctive enough that he should be able to pinpoint her location if she was close enough. Which given the size of the arcade, she would be.

It was just a little bit of focus and… There! She wasn’t that far. No sign of the slightly

off presence that Sasha said belonged to Aaron.

“Hey, I think I saw her, follow me.” Not technically a lie. It’s just he didn’t see her with his eyes.

Laurance took the lead and left Garroth to follow. And there, in front of one of the games, was Aphmau all by herself. Her ‘partner’ for this date was nowhere to be seen.

“Aphmau! What a surprise!” Garroth greeted.

The short woman turned her attention from her phone to the blonde. “Hey, guys! What’s up?”

“Well, we happened to spot you two, so we came to see how you were doing.”

“We’ve been having fun. Just going around the arcade and playing different games, you know?”

“And how have you two been getting along?” Garroth asked.

Wow. So this Garroth absolutely sucked at subtlety.

This made Aphmau tilt her head a little. “Fine? We always get along well.”

“But how well? He’s not here right now. Why?” Laurance wanted to leave more and more the further along Garroth got in his questions.

And it looked like Aphmau picked up on what Garroth meant because her face twisted into a frown. Maybe he could leave while they were distracted by Garroth’s bad attempts at subtlety.

“Fine. And Aaron is in the restroom right now.” she gritted out in the most frustrated tone he’d heard from her yet, “How’s the day been for the two of you?”

Darn it. Now he had to stick around. If only so that he could answer before Garroth so-”

“Oh, you know. Great! We’re the best of pals! The day’s going great!” That was… so bad. So exaggerated that literally no one would believe him. He should have spoken up before Garroth had the chance.

Garroth’s obvious lie caused the frown on Aphmau’s face to deepen.

“So, pretty bad, huh?”

“Whaaat? Noooo? I told you, we’re getting along fine? No awkwardness at all! Right, Laurance?”

He was not above lying but this was just pathetic. “No, we haven’t really been talking much. It’s been a bit awkward.” Both because neither knew what to say to each other and because Garroth really obviously wanted to be with her instead. Not that he planned on letting that last bit of information slip.

It wasn’t his place to reveal Garroth’s feelings for him.

Aphmau’s frown deepened further.

“Are you two still stuck on the kiss thing?” Garroth’s face brightened to red while Laurance assumed his face did the exact opposite.

Laurance had been trying very hard to not think of… that. He clenched his fists and took a deep breath.

“Hey, please don’t mention the kiss again. I didn’t like getting kissed unexpectedly like that.”

“I’m really sorry about that…” Garroth muttered while averting his eyes.

“Already said you don’t need to do that.” Multiple times in fact. Despite the fact that every time Laurance had responded the same way, Garroth kept insisting.

Aphmau had this frown on her face that just… irritated him. “That’s no reason to not be able to talk to each other.” Was he imagining the condescension in her words? “Honestly, I was hoping that this would be a chance for you two to clear things up.”

“What?”

“I was hoping you two would end up paired together so you could talk this out.” Ok, he shouldn’t jump to conclusions. Deep breaths. Focus on the pressure from the indent of his nails against his palm. She probably just meant that when she realized he and Garroth were stuck together it was a stroke of luck that meant they would talk. He knew that jumping to conclusions often led to not great results.

“So you were hoping that me and Laurance would end up together?” Garroth sounded disappointed as he voiced Laurance’s thoughts.

Aphmau’s expression shifted to slightly guilty. “Kinda…”

“Explain.” Deep breaths, Laurance. Deep breaths. He glanced at his wrist. They were paler than he thought they should be.

“Ha ha,” she chuckled in a gratingly awkward way. “I might have… kind of… asked some of my friends to try and make sure that you two would end up together.”

“You did what!?”

“Just so you could talk!”

That… that… What right did she have!? How dare she try and trick him into doing something! He told her repeatedly he didn’t want to talk about what happened at the play. But did she listen? No. Because apparently, Aphmau thought she knew better or some shit like that.

“Laurance?” asked a voice that Laurance didn’t care to recognize. He was too focused on the woman in front of him.

He stepped forward but someone held a strong grip on his arm. Who dared–

“LAURANCE!” He turned to look at who shouted at him and was met with Sasha who was staring at him with the most intense look he’d seen in a while.

Behind her were rows of a random assortment of arcade machines.

Right. Because he was at the arcade. In public. Surrounded by people.

He turned around and was met by Lucinda standing protectively in front of Garroth and Aphmau who both looked wary.

Irene… what was he about to…?

“I-I need to leave,” he whispered. He shook Sasha’s grip off and only barely didn’t run right out of the arcade. He didn’t bother to pay attention to whether or not people were calling after him or if someone was chasing after him.

He just… he needed to leave.

Chapter Text

Zenix was talking with Vylad over their half-finished meals at the restaurant that Vylad had gotten them a reservation at. It was Valentine’s Day, and this year, it was Vylad’s turn to decide what to do for their date. And they decided that they were having lunch at a nice restaurant.

It was definitely more Vylad’s type of thing than it was Zenix’s but it was still nice enough. And the wilderness hike he’d taken Vylad on last year was more his type of thing than Vylad’s so it was only fair and all that. Talking with Vylad made up for the fact that he didn’t really care for the whole restaurant date thing.

Also, Vylad looked very nice in the brown suit they were wearing because the restaurant was fancy. That was also a bonus.

Right now, he was telling his partner about some of the customers he’s had to deal with at the flower shop. “So then came this lady, who just radiated ego, and she could not have made it more obvious that she thought she was too good for the shop. Can you believe that!? Sure it isn’t fucking massive but it had a good selection and the flowers were good quality! Who the hell was she to turn her nose at us?” Ok, maybe he was ranting. But Vylad didn’t mind.

They’d said before that they enjoyed listening to him talk.

“And you didn’t immediately curse her out the door?” Vylad asked with a smile.

And they also asked questions that got him to keep talking. Which meant they weren’t just saying it to appease him and were actually enjoying it.

He rolled his eyes, “I know how to treat people at work. I actually like the job so I’m not gonna go and get a customer pissed off enough I get fired.”

Vylad raised a disbelieving eyebrow in response.

“I just made sure the entire experience was as uncomfortable for her as I could make it.” With just the tiniest bit of his Shadow Knight aura to make that happen. Didn’t want to make it too obvious that he’s pretty much a demon to the other employees.

“Of course you did.” It was probably meant to be chiding.

“Don’t give me that. Like you haven’t done similar shit with some of your bad customers.”

Vylad crossed their arms and frowned, “...Well maybe they shouldn’t have demanded I had the pictures within 24 hours of the job,” referencing some of their more recent experiences. Ha! They admitted it.

Zenix knew that he fucked with people, oftentimes because they annoyed him and sometimes just for the sake of it. He knew who he was and had no shame about it. What good would it do him to be ashamed of what he enjoyed doing?

But Vylad? If Zenix could be petty then Vylad could be downright vindictive. If they ever got to the point of actually being bothered they would find a way to get back at the person at fault no matter what.

“You didn’t just freak them out, you went out of the way to make the pictures just subtly bad enough that they wouldn’t be satisfied, but still good enough that they couldn’t actually say anything to you.”

“Excuse you, those were some damn beautiful wedding pictures.” They were glowering now.

“And we both know that you could’ve made them better but chose not to because they pissed you off.” Zenix was staring at his partner unflinchingly with a grin.

Vylad conceded by breaking eye contact and taking a bite of their pasta. “...Maybe so,” they muttered.

Win for him!

They continued to talk as they ate until both were done with their respective dishes.

Vylad stood up from the table. “I’m gonna go wash my hands, could you ask for the check if you get the chance?”

“I’ll do it when I see the waiter pass by.”

“Thanks.” Then, they walked in the direction of the restroom.

Zenix turned to look around to see if he could spot the waiter but instead saw a somewhat familiar-looking brunette rushing past the table faster than was normal for inside a restaurant.

Wasn’t that the guy who was working some of the lighting stuff during the play? And maybe also at that New Years’ Party. He didn’t really make an impression back then. And Zenix was more focused on Vylad anyway.

He looked in the direction he was coming from and saw a blonde woman with glasses and a purple dress reaching towards the man who ran past. She also looked familiar. He was pretty sure she helped that pink meif’wa with making costumes.

She put her arm down and got this sad look on her face.

Looks like the date hadn’t gone well.

Not his problem.

The woman then saw him and was staring directly at him. Irene damn it.

She better not-

Too late. The blonde had stood up and was heading towards him shyly, holding onto a beige purse.

She stopped near his table. “Um, hello. You’re Zenix, right? We worked together on the play that Katelyn put on.”

Zenix made a point of not looking at her and instead kept keeping an eye out for the waiter. He sees him all evening but suddenly when he actually needs the guy, nowhere to be found.

“Umm… Excuse me–”

“I heard you,” he interrupted.

“Then why…?” He took a glance at her face and it saw that her brows were slightly creased.

“Because I’m looking for the waiter to get the check and also I don’t care enough to be bothered with whatever you’re going to ask.”

Zenix saw the grip on her purse tighten. Maybe if he keeps this up, he’ll frustrate her enough to leave him alone. “I was just wondering–”

He made a show of having his gaze sweep right past her, “What part of ‘I don’t care’ don’t you understand?”

“I wanted to–”

“Look lady, just leave–”

“I wanted to ask about relationships!” This time, she was the one to interrupt him instead.

Zenix actually took a look at her and saw the frustration he expected, but a determination in her eyes that surprised him. He’d pegged her as the shy type, not someone who would shout in the middle of a restaurant. She looked uncomfortable, but he didn’t think she’d stand down.

Huh. If he remembered right, Sasha had mentioned knowing her back then. Said she was passionate. If he remembered right… her name was Emmalyn.

Maybe this might actually end up being somewhat worth his time.

“Ok then. Sit down.”

Clearly, this wasn’t how she’d expected him to respond, because the frustration and determination gave way to wide-eyed surprise.

When she didn’t move, he began to lose his patience. “Well, are you gonna do it or not? I’m not going to sit around and wait for you to do nothing with that stupid look on your face.”

That got her to move pretty quickly. Once she settled in the seat that was previously Vylad’s, she was the one who started the conversation.

“Won’t your partner get mad at you for having someone else sit on your table?”

Ha! Vylad getting jealous. Funny idea. They’d be more likely to ask why he’d been tormenting her.

“Not any more than yours would be for being the one to sit here. Or is that part of the problem?”

She winced. Bingo.

“So… you saw him run off?”

“Yeah. Now enough chit-chat. Cut to the chase and tell me why you came to talk to me.”

Emmalyn took a deep breath before asking, “How do you build a good relationship?”

“What?”

The deadpan tone made her start squirming a little. “Well… back during the play one of your roommates -Laurance, I think-,” Irene dammit Laurence, “told me that you and your partner have been together for a long time.”

“That’s true, but why did you actually come talk to me? Is it just cause your guy ran off?”

Her face turned red as soon as he referred to the brunette as ‘hers’ but she continued anyway. “Kenmur asked me on a date today since it’s Valentine’s Day. And that’s great! It made me really happy! The thing is, he’s just seemed really stressed out all day, and that’s been bothering me. I didn’t want to bring it up, but I think he might’ve caught on I guess, and he’s just been stressing more as the date’s went on and… yeah. You saw how it ended.”

Something stood out to him about what she said. “So you haven’t said anything to him about how off it’s been?”

“No…?” Confusion was obvious in her tone.

Really? “You came to bother me for this? If something was wrong then tell him about it. It’s not rocket science.”

How disappointing. He was hoping for something more interesting.

“But I didn’t want to make it worse.”

He went back to searching for the waiter. More worthwhile than this dumb conversation. “What’s the point in being in a relationship if you can’t tell the guy you’re dating that something’s off with the date? I mean seriously, telling him something like ‘I can tell you’re stressed’ really shouldn’t be that hard.”

Emmalyn didn’t say anything in response but she wasn’t leaving either. And he didn’t feel like turning to see what face she was making.

“Thank you, Zenix. You were a lot of help.”

Yeah, at telling her the obvious. He heard her stand and saw her make her way back to her table with a comfortable air about her. What a waste of time.

Vylad was taking a long time washing their hands.

Vylad stepped out of the restroom and saw someone leaning on the wall and looking… bad. In a ‘really stressed out’ kind of way.

It was a short-haired brunette wearing a red suit. He was holding his head in his hands and he was clearly taking deep breaths. Actually… now that Vylad was taking a closer look, he was kind of familiar.

They approached the man gently.

“Hello, you’re Kenmur, right? Are you doing okay?”

The brunette lowered his hands from his face, though his breaths kept coming out in huffs.

“Oh… you’re… Vylad, right?”

“Yep. We worked together during the play, remember?”

Kenmur nodded and took one final breath before his breathing changed into a more regular pace.

“Well, thanks for checking in on me, but I’m doing better now. I’m sure your boyfriend is waiting for you back at the tables.”

“He can wait.” Probably not but Kenmur didn’t need to know that. And Zenix would probably find something else to entertain himself in the meantime. Possibly at the expense of others.

It would be a fun story to hear.

“Are you sure?”

“Someone that I know was looking like he was doing pretty bad. Hearing you out is the least I could do.”

“Well, if you’re sure… you know that I’m dating Emmalyn, right?”

“Yes, you two got together recently, right?”

Kenmur nodded. “It’s our first Valentine’s Day together, and I just wanted to make it perfect. But it hasn’t… We didn’t leave early enough to avoid traffic. The walk in the park I had planned got interrupted by a horde of geese!” Kenmur was gripping a tuft of his hair with his hand. “The skating rink I was going to take her to was closed today for some reason! And… and it just isn’t going how I wanted.” Kenmur slumped down against the wall.

Ok, that was… something to take in. But before that, Vylad had one question in mind.

“Did you have fun though?”

Kenmur looked up at him incredulously. “Didn’t you hear what I just said? Almost the entire date went wrong, and now I’m here instead of– oh my Irene I’m the worst boyfriend ever.”

Ok, Vylad should probably nip that in the bud. “Nope, don’t think about that right now. Answer my question. Did you enjoy yourself today?”

Kenmur paused for a moment. “Well… yeah. I spent the entire day with Emm. Of course I enjoyed it.”

Vylad nodded. “Good, that’s what matters. You should enjoy being around the person you’re dating. What you’re actually doing together really isn’t as important as you think as long as you have fun together.”

Kenmur looked at them with an unsure expression. “Are you sure?”

They chuckled, “Take it from someone who’s been in a relationship with a guy who likes to cause problems on purpose. A date can be great even when it doesn’t go to plan.” Something they’d had to learn the hard way. Zenix really did have a way to make a mess of things in the best way possible.

Maybe too much of a mess sometimes. But they couldn’t exactly have the good without the bad.

Kenmur nodded, looking much more sure of himself. “You’re right! I’m gonna go back there, and have fun with my girlfriend.” He stood up straight and determinedly walked back to the dining area.

It felt nice to help others like that.

Now hopefully Zenix wasn’t too badly annoyed by the wait.

Well, only one way to find out.

Vylad made their way back to the dining area of the restaurant and found Zenix standing by their table. They also saw Kenmur and Emmalyn talking to each other at a nearby table.

Good, hopefully, they managed to work it out.

“Finally, I already paid for the meal, so we can go now,” Zenix said as soon as he spotted them.

Ok, Zenix didn’t sound too badly annoyed. That’s good. They grabbed him by the hand and began walking out of the restaurant.

“So, what took you so long in the restroom?” Zenix asked when they got in the car.

“Sorry about that, I saw Kenmur and-”

“He needed help with his relationship,” Zenix finished the sentence for them.

“Yeah actually. How’d you guess?”

“Because his girlfriend for some reason decided to do the same to me,” Zenix’s tone screamed annoyance.

Vylad remembered seeing them holding hands and smiling as they walked out.

“Well, looks like they resolved whatever was going on.”

“Yeah, ‘cause my advice is great. Even if it’s the most obvious thing in the world.”

Huh, so Zenix actually helped Emmalyn out.

“She must’ve made one hell of an impression if you actually decided to help.”

Zenix shrugged, “She was a lot more determined than I expected. Even if the problem was stupid.”

Vylad leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek. “I think it’s great you decided to help, even if it annoyed you.”

He rolled his eyes, but he was still smiling, so Vylad would take it as a win.

“Yeah, yeah. Start the car already, I wanna go home.”

“Of course.”

Vylad started the car and they drove back in a comfortable silence while listening to the radio.

Well, comfortable until they started getting closer to the house because before they even got into the neighborhood, they were hit with a burst of rotten magic emanating from the area of their house.

Vylad’s grip on the steering wheel immediately tightened, “Zenix do you-”

“Yeah,” his voice came out tight. Vylad snuck a glance at their boyfriend and saw that his body was fully tense, and his hand was near the seat belt buckle, ready to release himself at a moment’s notice.

Honestly, Vylad probably hadn’t needed to ask. Even if they were better at sensing magic than Zenix, this was obvious enough that anyone at the house would’ve noticed. Even Laurance, being the worst of them at sensing.

Speaking of which… “That magic… it’s Laurance, right?”

“Definitely. And he’s really freaked out if it’s leaking that strongly.”

Vylad thought about where they were in relation to their house. Assuming there was no traffic, they’d get home in around 15 or so minutes if they followed the speed limit.

Vylad felt like this was a bit more important.

It took some speeding, but they made it home in 8 minutes. Vylad wishes it was faster because the oppressive sensation of the magic Laurance was radiating felt like a beacon that was only getting brighter.

As soon as the car was parked in the garage, both of them jumped out and started heading inside. They were immediately met with Sasha and Gene, who were standing near the doorway, talking to each other with concerned expressions.

They stopped as soon as they realized that Vylad and Zenix had arrived.

Sasha turned to the two first. “Good, you’re here. Something happened today.”

“Yeah, no shit. Why the hell is Laurance like that!?” Zenix demanded.

“Sasha was just filling me in, apparently the group outing they went on with our neighbors went really badly,” Gene said.

“Explain.”

Chapter Text

Sasha wasn’t fully done explaining what she’d managed to learn happened with Laurance before Zenix began rushing his way up the stairs.

“Zenix! I’m not done explaining yet,” she called after him.

“I got the gist of it!” he called back, now out of their field of vision.

Sasha shared a look with the two other Shadow Knights still with her. Vylad looked exasperated at their boyfriend’s antics and Gene just looked tired in general. Though, it looked like all three agreed that they should follow Zenix because the three of them went after him without saying a thing.

They found him banging his fist against Laurance’s door, “Open the fuck up!”

“We already tried that. He won’t open, or even say anything to us,” Gene explained.

Zenix considered that for a moment, nodded and stepped back slightly.

Sasha did not trust it one bit, and from the looks of it, neither did the two standing on either side of her. Both of them had suspicious looks on their faces.

It looked like Zenix was bracing himself for… something.

“I’m telling you! You should save us the trouble and open the door for us!”

When Laurance didn’t respond, Zenix shrugged and muttered, “These really aren’t good pants for this…”

There was no way… Zenix wouldn’t go that far, would he?

She was proven wrong when he proceeded to deliver a front kick to Laurance’s door that miraculously didn’t send it flying off its hinges. However, there was a clear imprint left on the door from where Zenix kicked it.

“Zenix!” Gene called out in reprimand.

Zenix ignored him and repeated, “Open the door. If you don’t, it’s coming down with the next kick!”

Absolutely not. Sasha was not going to let him break down a door. They might really need to get into that room, but breaking down the door was a far too annoying way to do that.

Neither she nor Gene would appreciate having to try and reinstall it after all this was done.

Before either of them could stop Zenix from going through with his threat, the door slammed open.

“Don’t you dare.” Laurance growled.

He looked… honestly as bad as expected with how strongly his Shadow Knight magic was leaking out.

His eyes were a crimson red, contrasting with the corpse-like pallor of his skin. Everywhere that his skin was visible, black veins wormed around his body. His expression looked pissed, but it was slightly offset by the tear tracks and the slight tremors going through his body. His hair was askew and looked like it had been pulled harshly in a few spots.

Laurance had always been the one among them to have the most extreme reactions to his emotions. She was a little surprised that he was managing to keep the Shadow Knight armor from coming out.

Zenix immediately grabbed Laurance by the arm, holding on when Laurance tried to pull away. Which, considering how much physical strength Laurance would have given the magic radiating off of him, was impressive.

“What do you want? I’d rather be left alone right now.” Laurance tried pulling away again, but if anything, it looked like Zenix’s grip tightened.

“No, fuck that.”

Gene sighed, “Zenix, you really shouldn’t–”

“No! We’ve let Laurance deal with shit like this by letting him lock himself in his room. He did it after the kiss,” –Laurance’s red eyes narrowed dangerously at the mention of the kiss– “but clearly it didn’t do anything at calming him down.”

“This works fine.” His voice was clipped and short. He was obviously trying to hold himself back.

“Laurance, that’s a lie and we both know it,” Sasha said.

He shot a glare at her that she ignored. She wasn’t a guard in a village and then a Shadow Knight in the war just to be intimidated by one of her friends being a little bit angry.

“She’s right, so this is what we’re gonna do. We’re gonna go to the basement, and have a nice, old fashioned, fight,” Zenix said.

That… isn’t quite what she was expecting. Sasha wasn’t expecting much at all, but leave it to Zenix to offer an interesting solution.

“Excuse me?”

“What? You going deaf in your old age? We’re going to the basement, and we’re beating each other up.” What in the world was Zenix’s plan here? Him wanting a spar made sense, but it really wasn’t the time.

“And why would I agree to that?”

“You don’t need to. I’ll just come at you anyways if you say no,” Zenix shrugged.

It looked like Vylad had caught onto whatever scheme Zenix had cooked up, because they said, “You really should just agree so we don’t need to bother with property damage we actually care about. Unless you're just scared to lose to him.”

Laurace’s glare turned to Vylad this time. “What??” Each passing moment of this interaction really was just serving to get Laurance angrier and angrier. Was this part of Zenix’s plan?

“Vylad’s right. Just man up and fight me. Or are you just being a chicken? Think I’ll beat you up in front of the group in the state you’re in?” he taunted.

Laurance’s short temper compared to the rest of the group came to Zenix’s advantage because he immediately responded, “Fine. Let’s go.”

Zenix finally let go of Laurance’s arm and the pale brunette walked past them down the stairs. Zenix himself tried following after Laurance but stopped when Gene grabbed him by the arm.

“Zenix, seriously, what are you planning?” He was rubbing his forehead like he was fighting off a headache. Sasha could relate.

Vylad put their hand on top of Gene's and gently pulled it off.

“Look, just trust him. He knows what he’s doing.” Vylad then shot a look at their boyfriend. “And he should also change because he better not ruin that suit.”

“I have some spare clothes for sparring down in the basement,” Zenix replied as he continued going down the stairs.

“Could you please explain what Zenix is thinking?” Gene asked.

Vylad smiled. “What? Can’t you feel it?”

Feel it- wait.

“Laurance’s magic…” Sasha muttered. It was less erratic. Still leaking a lot more strongly than was safe, but it was better than it was before the conversation.

Gene probably realized the same thing because the noise he let out felt more relieved than anything. “Ok then. Let’s go watch. We’ll probably want to supervise to make sure neither of them go too far this time.”

No one had anything to say against that idea, so the three followed their other two friends into the basement to see the upcoming sparring match.

The basement was the same as it always was. Bare walls and floor with no decorations. The only piece of furniture was the workbench where she occasionally made healing potions when they ran low so that these spars wouldn’t leave any visible marks. Besides that, it was only a few crates pushed to the corners that were filled with the few things they’d collected over the years that they thought were worth keeping, but not important enough to keep in their own rooms.

The vast majority of the basement was empty space so that whoever was sparring actually had space to do so. Mind you it was still very different to the fighting in open air without any boundaries that they were all used to, but they had to make do.

White lines around the room formed a large rectangle that marked out the space where the fights would happen. On one side of the rectangle stood Laurance, who had already gone full Shadow Knight and was in the old, black and crimson armor. The red lines that flowed through the armor looked to be almost glowing, making it look like it was blood flowing through the suit. In one hand, was a crimson shield. In the other, was a Nether-red sword that he was impatiently tapping against the ground.

His face had gone fully corpse-like, with the exception of the marks littered across his face that stood out against the paleness of the rest of his skin. Now that he’d dropped the magic that disguised him as a human, the rotten feeling that came with all things associated with the Nether was out in full force.

Sasha, Gene, and Vylad all situated themselves against a wall that was outside the boundaries of the rectangle and settled in to wait until the fight was over. Vylad placed their foot against the wall and leaned back, hand in pockets. Gene chose to remain standing straight with his arms crossed against his chest. Sasha herself chose to sit down against the wall and pulled a knee to her chest while she waited for Zenix to come out.

It didn’t take long for Zenix to step out of the bathroom on the far side of the basement, wearing exercise pants and a tank top while the suit he was previously wearing was folded up in his hands. When he spotted Vylad, he threw the clothes at them, who easily caught it.

Zenix stood opposite of Laurance and raised his hands in front of him in a fighting stance.

“Finally ready?”

“Yeah.” he leapt forward, and his armor came out as he did.

It was always an interesting experience seeing the armor manifest on her fellow Shadow Knights. If she weren’t so used to it, she’d call it disturbing.

Zenix’s face had gone from its usual complexion to the paleness that characterized all the Shadow Knights at a dizzying speed, the dark veins visible on his skin. The clothes he was wearing earlier shifted, all but melting into the armor that looked to have almost grown out of his flesh.

The basic design of the armor was the same as Laurance’s, the same as all of the Shadow Knights. Dark armor which was highlighted by crimson lines moving through the armor. But the details were different. While the crimson flowed through Laurance’s armor with no apparent rhyme or reason, Zenix’s was different. On him, the red lines looked to all flow from a specific spot. A blot of red where his heart would be, and the blood-like lines all flowed from it like a river, thinning out the further they got from the origin point.

And finally, the biggest difference was his weapon. Where Laurance had a sword and shield, the traditional weapons of guards, Zenix wielded a pair of crimson gauntlets that had spikes at the knuckles. She’d never seen Zenix put them away when he had the armor out. The fact that the red lines on his arms seamlessly flowed into the gauntlets made her wonder if he even could, or if they were attached to his skin the same way their armor seemed to be.

Not that she ever asked. It’s not like the answer would matter.

In a flash, Zenix reached Laurance and threw a punch, but Laurance had been ready, and had his shield up, so the gauntlet collided with it with a resounding clang.

Zenix had a grin that was just a touch too feral and Laurance glared impassively from behind the shield.

Zenix jumped back when Laurance swung his sword and moved forward with a ruthless assault. The taller of the two perfectly dodged all the swipes with the practice only someone who had sparred with an opponent for years could have.

Never let it be said that just because Zenix was the largest in their group, he wasn’t also possibly the most agile. Besides maybe Sasha herself.

Though Zenix’s success in avoiding hits didn’t necessarily mean he was winning. While he succeeded in avoiding getting hit, Laurance wasn’t giving Zenix the opportunity to retaliate either.

“Well,” Gene sighed, “waiting for those two to tire out will take some time. Sasha, do you mind finishing explaining what happened at the mall?” He was still focusing on the fight in front of them.

“Sure. Now where was I…”

“Laurance had just run off after you found him,” Vylad helpfully chimed in.

“Right. Like I said, I was talking to Lucinda and felt Laurance’s magic practically spike, so I went to where he was. When I got there, Lucinda and I found him with Aphmau and Garroth. Aphmau was looking guilty, and Laurance looked furious and was walking closer to her.” She could still remember how it felt to be that close to him when his magic was reacting that strongly. It had been centuries since he’d last gotten to that point of instability.

Though, as the spar between Zenix and Laurance progressed, the latter’s magic was very slowly becoming less and less overwhelming. Zenix sidestepped a vertical swipe from Laurance’s sword and then dashed forward and landed a hard punch on the man’s chest.

Even despite the armor, it still looked like Laurance felt the punch. Despite that, the brunette powered through and used his shield to force the other man back.

“Come on, you can do better than that,” Zenix taunted.

Laurance snarled and this time he was the one to move on the offensive.

“And after you found him, you snapped him out of it, and he ran to the car, correct?” Gene asked.

“Ýeah. I tried going after him, but I needed to do some damage control. I just said that Laurance was going through something and that we had to leave. Honestly, I doubt that any of them were gonna leave it at that. It was bad enough that a person wouldn’t need a strong sensitivity for magic to tell it was more than someone just ‘going through something.’”

Gene sighed, “Ok, that’s… something we’ll just have to figure out now.” The smell of coffee would probably become more potent in the house within the next few days.

“The excuse that Sasha gave was pretty vague, so as long as our stories are consistent, we won’t have any constraints on figuring out what to say.” Vylad had a point. They all had free range in figuring out a reason to give for Laurance’s freak out that wouldn’t give away what they were.

Though it would definitely be annoying to try and come up with a good enough reason. Never mind the fact that no matter what they said, Lucinda might not buy it. It’d be annoying if the witch became suspicious of them because of this.

Laurance thrusted forward with his blade, and Zenix jumped back to dodge. Only for Laurance to take advantage of the small bit of time Zenix was airborn to hit him with his shield, sending the other man to the ground. That would definitely end up bruising at the very least.

It’d better not have broken any ribs. They were running low on the stronger healing potions, and Sasha didn’t feel like going and getting more ingredients for those.

Zenix stood up with a feral grin and laughed, “That’s more like it!” He leapt at Laurance to continue the fight.

“I followed Laurance out of the mall. We got into the car and I drove us back. Tried talking to him, but he refused to speak the entire time. As soon as we got back, he bolted to his room and you two know the rest.”

Vylad let out a long, impressed whistle. “Damn, he actually let you drive and didn’t react? He must’ve been really out of it.”

…She was going to ignore that remark given the greater issue at hand.

Gene muttered, more to himself than to either Vylad or Sasha, “So something happened with Aphmau and Garroth that made him freak out.”

“Yeah. I would’ve asked what happened, but I thought it was best to go after him as soon as possible.”

Gene hummed, “Yeah. You probably made the right choice. Any ideas on what happened?”

“No clue,” she shrugged.

“It is Valentine's Day. Maybe Laurance walked in on Aphmau and Garroth kissing or something and that caused him to react badly. He was in love with the original Aphmau and was in something of a love triangle with the original Garroth, right? Maybe he’s just not over her and seeing them kissing made him lose it,” Gene suggested.

“No, I don’t think that’s quite it.” Vylad sounded doubtful of Gene’s idea.

“Then what’s your theory if you think it doesn’t involve that whole mess?”

“Don’t get me wrong, it definitely has to do with the love he felt back then. But the situation was a bit more complicated than what you think.”

Gene sighed, “I really don’t get why you people bother with romance. It sounds like so much more trouble than it’s worth.”

“It doesn’t matter either way. We can find out once those two are done beating each other up,” Sasha cut in. The three settled back into silence as they watched Laurance and Zenix fight.

Zenix had gotten a few punches in and there was a line of blood running down Laurance’s nose. But he didn’t seem to even notice, his gaze was steady and focused entirely on Zenix.

Zenix was looking absolutely gleeful at how the fight was going, even if he himself had some thin cuts on his face from places where he failed to fully dodge Laurance’s sword.

The two were circling each other slowly, but Zenix was the first to break. The man rushed forward towards the center, and Laurance ran to meet him.

Zenix threw a punch Laurance blocked with his shield. The resounding clang of the spikes against the metallic shield resounded throughout the room. Zenix showed his truly impressive strength because Laurance was struggling to keep his defense from breaking against Zenix’s fist.

Sasha absentmindedly noted that to a normal human, the fact that Laurance’s shield was struggling against what was only one man and his gauntlet would probably be unnerving.

Laurance moved the arm with the shield sideways, forcing Zenix’s fist to go off course, and then slashed with his blade. And Zenix, being the absolutely insane man he is, decided that instead of dodging, using his gauntlet to catch and stop the sword swinging at him was a great idea.

Forget the potentially broken ribs, Sasha was definitely pulling out one of the good potions for that stunt alone.

“Vylad, what the actual fuck is wrong with your boyfriend?” Gene asked with an amount of exhaustion that showed his actual age.

“I could not even begin to tell you,” they sighed in a way that was far too dreamy for the given situation.

Zenix then headbutted Laurance and took the resulting disorientation to uppercut him with the hand that wasn’t just used to stop a sword.

Laurance staggered back, clearly in pain from the two consecutive hits. But Zenix wasn’t done, because the man then proceeded to tackle Laurance to the floor, armor and all. He kicked Laurance’s sword away as soon as they hit the ground and pinned down his arms and legs.

Laurance struggled, but it was a weak attempt. It was obvious to her that he’d already accepted that he’d lost, and that last bit was more for show than anything.

He weakly patted Zenix on the back and said, “Fine, fine. You win. Now get off of me.”

The larger of the two quite literally rolled off of him and laid face-up next to Laurance as he let the armor recede. The black metal all but disappeared into his body, leaving behind the clothing he was wearing beforehand. Albeit now they had the odd cut here and there. And also Zenix very clearly had bleeding injuries now. Most prominently in the hand where he’d pulled the stunt with the sword.

His skin tone also went back to the healthy complexion it usually was instead of the corpse-like paleness.

Despite the fact that he was very beat up, he was grinning like a madman.

Laurance himself also shifted back into his clothing, though much more slowly than Zenix had. Finally, he was back to his normal eye color and slightly tanned skin. His clothing didn’t have any cuts the way that Zenix’s did, but she’d bet good money that if he lifted his shirt she’d see a lot of bruises.

But the most important difference was that his magic was calmer than it had been at any point after whatever happened at the mall.

So apparently beating Laurance up could get him to calm down. Good to know.

She walked to where the two men were lying down and knelt by them.

“Come on, I need to see how bad the injuries are so I know how strong I need the potions to be.” Zenix lifted his injured hand and let her examine it. It was about what she’d expected. There was a massive gash in his hand from where the sword had hit. She definitely had a few things that would heal it, but they’d want something that would leave as small a scar as possible. Preferably no scar at all but with the cursory glance she was giving it, she couldn’t tell how potent a potion that would take.

She should use the strongest potion that she has on hand just to be safe.

Then she turned to the other Shadow Knight who was lying down with an exhausted look on his face. She could already spot a few spots that would definitely start bruising without intervention, but that’s not what she wanted to check.

“Shirt. Off. Now.”

“What the hell, Sasha,” Laurance grumbled.

“I need to see just how bad the injuries on your torso are to see what kind of potion I should use. So take it off.”

Thankfully, Laurance decided not to be stubborn because he actually proceeded to do just that.

The areas where Zenix punched him were an angry red color that foretold some bruises. At least Zenix’s weapon didn’t typically leave large cuts and cause them to bleed heavily after a spar. Not that the bruises were a lot more fun to deal with.

“Ribs?” she asked.

“Didn’t hear or feel anything cracking,” he reported. “Doesn’t feel like any of the other times these things broke. They might be a bit bruised though.”

“You sure?” She poked one of the injured areas on his chest to check the reaction. She didn’t really need to, she trusted his judgment on his own body’s status.

“Ow! Sasha!” He deserved it for being dumb.

Still, this was the most injured any of them had gotten in a while. It’d probably be best to get the strongest possible potions to minimize any lingering issues.

Damn it, now she’d have to actually brew some more.

“One of you get me a healing potion and a regeneration potion from the workbench. The strongest ones of each should be separated from the rest of them,” she called to one of the other two uninjured Shadow Knights.

Soon after, Gene handed her both and she checked them to make sure they were the correct ones. The brightness of both told her that they were.

Vylad had sat down next to their boyfriend and Gene did the same a bit next to Sasha after he gave her the potions.

“Zenix, you’re first. I need you to sit so you can drink this.”

He grumbled about it but did slowly raise himself from the ground. With a bit of support from his partner.

All of Zenix’s relevant injuries were cuts, so the regeneration would go to him. Technically, straight-up healing was more efficient, but that one was more likely to leave scars no matter how strong the potion was since it forced the wound close. Using regeneration to let the skin mend itself at an accelerated rate than usual would make any scars left less noticeable.

Although this potion would be potent enough that there shouldn’t be any obvious scars left, even on his hand.

The man drank the potion without complaint, though his face scrunched up at the taste. Vylad laughed at the expression on Zenix’s face and she even heard Gene let out a small chuckle.

“Fucking Nether, Sasha. Last one I had was not this bad.”

“You decided to grab a sword with your hand, you get to deal with the bad-tasting potion afterwards.” Already, some of the smaller cuts were beginning to stitch themselves closed.

When she turned to Laurance, his hand was already out to grab the potion. She handed it to him and he drank it without prompting.

The bruises she could see began to fade as if they had never been there in the first place.

The five of them sat in silence as they let the potions do their thing on both of them. It didn’t look like any of them had any idea on what to do now.

Zenix was finally the one to break the silence. “So, you finally willing to talk or do you want another round?”

“Absolutely not,” Gene cut in. “We do not have the potions to heal you two again.”

“It’s fine,” Laurance sighed. “I’ll talk. I feel a lot more clear-headed now anyway.”

“Actually, before we start; I’m curious. Zenix, how’d you know that fighting him would get him to calm down a bit?” Vylad asked.

It was a pretty good question. It was weird that Zenix jumped to this so quickly. He probably did already know that it’d work.

“It ain’t the first time that we’ve done this,” Zenix shrugged.

“Definitely the most violent though. In a good few centuries, at least,” Laurance added.

“Okay, then. Now onto the important question. What actually made you freak out like that?” Gene asked

Laurance stayed silent for a few moments before starting with, “How much do you guys know right now?”

Vylad spoke up. “Only what Sasha’s been able to tell us. You agreed to go to a group date event that Aphmau set up to try and get Katelyn and Travis together. The way it ended up going, all of you got split into pairs; you ended up with Garroth and Sasha was with Lucinda. The pairs all split up for a bit, and at some point, Sasha noticed that your magic was getting dangerous so she rushed to where you were. When she found you, you were next to Garroth and Aphmau, and you were about to lose control. She snapped you out of it, and you ran away,” Vylad summarized.

“Yeah, that’s all pretty accurate to what happened.”

“But why did it happen?” Sasha asked. Laurance was normally better at keeping his emotions in check. Or at least in check enough that this wasn’t normally an issue.

“...It was kind of a combination of things,” he admitted.

“Go on,” Gene encouraged.

“So as I’m sure you all figured out, what happened with Garroth at the play left me… rattled.”

Ok, so it did have to do with Garroth specifically.

“I was wondering about that actually,” Gene said. “I get that getting kissed by someone unexpectedly would be really uncomfortable, but your reaction afterwards felt like… a lot. Even if it was because Garroth is the reincarnation of someone you were close with back then.

Sasha could swear that Laurance’s face had a slight blush as he pointedly looked straight down instead of any of them. “I’ll… get to it. I just need to let you all know that ever since the… kiss, it’s been a bit weird to even think about him. I thought I’d be able to handle being one-on-one with him today. But, you saw how that went.” Laurance had curled into himself by drawing both his knees close to his chest.

“So the kiss messed you up enough that just being around him for too long got you stressed? Then you saw Aphmau and them talking sent you over the edge? Did they mention the kiss again or something?” Zenix threw out some guesses.

“Sort of?” Sasha was pretty sure Laurance meant to say it as a statement, but he was so unsure that it came off as more of a question. “They did bring up the kiss a few times despite the fact I specifically asked them not to mention it, which was annoying, but I can’t honestly say part of me wasn’t expecting that. So it definitely didn’t help, but that wasn’t the cause either.

“What caused it then?” Sasha asked. She understood that the context was probably important, but she was just interested in what actually made him snap.

“It’s mostly because of Aphmau,” Laurance’s voice turned bitter, “Turns out, she specifically tried to make it so that me and Garroth would end up alone so we could talk through the whole play incident or something. She was hoping we’d ‘make up’ so she got some of her friends to pair up with people other than me or him so the two of us would end up alone. I mean really! What right does she have to interfere in between the two of us!? Who went and decided she knew best and that she could just meddle like that when it isn’t any of her business!? And when she actually came clean she was just so damn self-righteous! Like it didn’t even cross her mind that maybe she had no business doing that to me or Garroth!”

“Laurance, breathe,” Zenix interrupted and Sasha couldn’t help but be grateful. Laurance had been ranting more than explaining, his arms moving around wildly as he gestured angrily.

She was sure that venting like that was probably good for him, but he also probably needed to take a moment to collect himself before his emotions got the better of him again.

Laurance took a deep breath and let it out. “Honestly, that was just the last straw to a pretty shitty day for me. The time I was with Garroth could not have been more awkward. It was obvious both of us were thinking about the thing at the play, and even more obvious that Garroth would have rather been with Aphmau than around me. Which is fine, I guess, just wish he’d either been upfront about it or willing to put his feelings aside for a bit. I mean really, if the two of us were paired together, couldn’t he have at least been polite enough to actually try and talk to me?” He was ranting again, but this wasn’t as impassioned as he had been about Aphmau’s meddling.

Once it was clear that Laurance wasn’t going to continue, Gene spoke up. “Let me get this straight, being around Garroth was already awkward because of how much you were affected by the kiss, then you were paired with him in the event and the way he acted only made it worse by putting you into a bad mood. Then, when you came across Aphmau and she admitted what happened, it got you angry. You were already in a bad mood, and her confession just made things worse. And the additional stress made your emotions go haywire which caused you to nearly snap. Did I get all of that right?”

“Yeah, pretty much. Though honestly, part of it was that the whole meddling just reminded me of some… issues I had with the Aphmau from back then too. I thought I was over it, but clearly not.” He let out a chuckle that was more self-pitying than she’d come to expect from him.

“Eh, don’t beat yourself too bad over that. I’d get pissed too if someone pulled similar shit on me,” Zenix said.

They all remained silent for a short while. By this point, both Zenix’s and Laurance’s injuries had fully healed. The only signs of the violence that were left were the torn clothing and bloodstains on Zenix.

“There’s one more thing I’m curious about,” Gene said.

“Go ahead, I pretty much said everything already anyway.”

“You sounded like Garroth wanting to be with Aphmau the entire time was part of what got to you. Why?”

Laurance’s light blush from earlier made a comeback.

Sasha had a feeling she knew where this was going. It’d have something to do with that love triangle mess he was part of back then. Probably just lingering resentment towards Garroth due to the fact they had feelings for the same woman.

He was probably just blushing out of embarrassment or something boring like that.

“Umm… that sort of has to do with something I’ve never actually told any of you. Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever told anyone.” Laurance raised his head and took a breath. “This happened back when the war between the Shadow Knights and the Phoenix Alliance was nearing its final stages. It was a bit after the point where the rebels that Zenix and I were leading formally teamed up with the rest of the Alliance. Garroth pretty much cornered me privately the first chance he got and forced us to sit down and talk.” His voice became fond as soon as Garroth’s name was mentioned. “One thing led to another and we… got together. Like, romantically.”

Oh. That definitely wasn’t what Sasha was expecting that to go. It certainly explains why he was so bothered by this Garroth wanting to be with Aphmau. Someone who shared a name and face with a person that Laurance loved at one point pining for someone they’d both had feelings for in a past life would be uncomfortable at best. And if he was already stressed out by other factors… His snapping made a bit more sense.

Definitely far too emotional for anything she’d ever do. But for her friend, it was perfectly in character.

Sasha looked at Gene, who seemed to be as surprised as she was by the revelation, and then to Zenix and Vylad who… weren’t.

In fact, the two of them looked like this was fully expected.

“You two knew already,” she accused.

“We did,” Zenix confirmed without hesitation.

“I- wha– HOW!?” Laurance’s complete and utter shock was a comical bit of reprieve from the generally somber mood that the group had had.

Vylad was the one to answer this time. “The two of you weren’t as subtle as either of you thought you were. I’m pretty sure that some other people had figured it out, and we thought we’d just let you tell us on your own time, but…”

The slightly jovial mood left as soon as it came at the mention of the original Garroth’s death. Sasha herself never really knew him well. To say that she’d cared about his death in any capacity would be a lie. But she knew that he was Vylad’s brother, and (apparently) Laurance’s lover. Even if his death wasn’t important to her, it was to them.

“You can just come out and say it. It felt shitty to mention it after he died,” Zenix’s voice was blunt.

“...Pretty much, yeah. When I first met up with you after everything, I didn’t mention it because I could tell talking about him with you wasn’t the best idea. For either of us, really. And at some point, I just didn’t see a need to bring it up, so I never did.”

Gene still looked like he was puzzling some things out. “So, just to clarify, the reason that the kiss got to you that badly, is that it reminded you of when the Garroth from back then was still alive, right? And I’m guessing that meant that it made the grief hit you all over again, right?”

Laurance grimaced. “Kind of? That was part of it, but that honestly wasn’t what bothered me most about the kiss. Truth is, I didn’t hate the kiss itself.” He said this like revealing some shameful secret.

“So the thing that upset you about the kiss so much was that it didn’t upset you?” That sounded incredibly stupid and Sasha was sure that Laurance was about to pull some sort of justification that only made sense in his guilt-ridden brain.

He began to clarify, “You all know that I haven’t really pursued a relationship with anyone ever since back then.”

Gene nodded, “Right, the only two here who have are Zenix and Vylad. I have no interest in romance, and I assumed that you two both decided that your immortality drove you away from trying to get together with people who had normal lifespans.”

“That’s pretty much it for me, yeah.” That and she simply hadn’t come across anyone who interested her enough to consider dating even if the immortality wasn’t an issue.

Laurance shook his head. “That wasn’t the case for me. My biggest hangup was Garroth. You all know how things ended… For a long time, just the idea of doing anything romantic with anyone who wasn’t him felt wrong. Like I was betraying him. I mean, who am I to just move on like that? I killed him.” Laurance’s skin was quickly turning pale as tears welled up in his eyes. One of his hands had been resting on his head and it tightened around his hair with a strong grip. “What right do I have to get involved with anyone else like that when it’s my fault that he’s dead? What right do I have to enjoy how it felt to be kissed after so long when my Garroth died?” His magic was beginning to well up again. His voice was frail, on the verge of breaking through the small distortions that came from their true forms coming to the surface.

She’d known he wasn’t happy about the circumstances of Garroth’s death. She’d known what happened, but she’d had no idea it was still something that affected him this much.

Vylad got closer with a clearly unhappy look on their face. They squatted in front of Laurance who didn’t even seem to notice they got so close. And then they… flicked him directly on the forehead. This got his attention because he stared at Vylad through the tears flowing down his face.

“That got your attention? Good. You better listen because I thought we cleared this up centuries ago, but apparently not.” It was rare for her to see Vylad sound actually angry, but it looked like Laurance’s stupidity was bringing it out in them. “Garroth’s death was not your fault, and you’re an idiot for blaming yourself.” Vylad was sporting an intense glare on their face.

Laurance’s glare was no less intense despite the tears still fresh on his face. “Then explain the fact I’m still here.”

Gene was the one to cut in this time. “We all know that’s different. You might be immortal like the rest of us but the way you got yours was in no way similar to us.”

“Isn’t it? At the end of the day, I took the life of one of the people I most cared for.”

Zenix was incredulous when he said, “Yeah, in the middle of a damn warzone! Unlike other Shadow Knights, you didn’t go out of your way to intentionally kill him.”

Sasha cut in before Laurance could try and offer some dumb rebuttal. “You were the one to tell me that he would’ve died regardless. It’s been centuries. Who are you trying to help by blaming yourself for that?

“Doesn’t matter. Still killed him,” Laurance muttered petulantly.

This was apparently Vyad’s final straw because they grabbed him by the collar and forced him to look them in the eye. “Because he fucking asked you to! You were in a spot where he was going to die and was convinced there was a chance you’d die too. And he loved you! We both know that he loved you so, so much! He wanted you to have as much of a chance of living as possible. So yeah, you killed him, but only because he asked you to do it so you had a chance at surviving.” The fury in Vylad’s eyes was palpable. She genuinely didn’t think she’d ever seen them like this. Even Zenix looked a bit surprised at the display, though that paled in comparison to the confused shock covering Laurance. “You wish that he could’ve survived the war? Go right ahead! I wish the same thing every damn day of my life! The fact you were the one to kill him tears you up inside? Fine! I’d be an idiot to expect you to be fine after having to do that. But don’t you dare try and make this into some reason to punish yourself or close yourself off from maybe falling in love like that! Because I know my brother, and I know that he’d be heartbroken if he knew you were using that as an excuse to not enjoy things, ya hear me!?” They pushed Laurane back and were almost shaking with anger. Honestly, Sasha was worried they were about to have another emotion-fueled Shadow Knight breakdown today.

Thankfully, Zenix immediately moved to Vylad’s side and started rubbing their back as Vylad trembled in palpable fury.

Sasha turned to look at Laurance, who was sprawled on the floor with a wide-eyed expression. Eyes still glimmering with tears. She looked at the state of the rest of the Shadow Knights and figured it was up to her and Gene to finish resolving this issue.

Sasha moved a bit closer to Laurance to give Vylad and Zenix some semblance of space with Gene following close behind her.

“Ok, let me finish laying this out for you since you so clearly need us to. You shouldn’t use Garroth as an excuse as to why you avoid romance entirely.”

Laurance had reverted back to his more normal-looking state. Possibly from the shock of Vylad’s outburst. “So you’re saying that I should just… What? Move on?” He looked extremely unhappy at the prospect.

“No,” Sasha bluntly stated. “If you can’t move on for your own reasons that aren’t just unfounded guilt? Fine. It’s your business at the end of the day. And trying to force yourself like that would just hurt people, including yourself.”

“Then what is it? What should I do to appease you?” Laurance asked sarcastically.

“How in the Nether should we know,” Gene shrugged. “Like Sasha said, none of our business what you do with the love life you may or may not have. But you should at least ask yourself this. Would the Garroth from back then want this for you?” This caused Laurance to look up at Gene’s face. “I’m not going to act like I knew him at all, but from what you and Vylad have told me about him… I don’t think he would. I don’t think he’d want you to be this torn up about what he asked you to do.”

Finally, the look on Laurance’s face was one of contemplation. “I’ll… I’ll think about it.”

Chapter Text

Lucinda sat on her couch with a book on making potions open on her lap. It was one she’d read many times already, and only really delved into the most basic of basics when it came to the art of making potions. But it was never a bad idea to go back to the basics in a craft as delicate as hers.

Although a desire to go back to the roots wasn’t the reason she had the book open. No, her real reasoning was that it was a book she may as well have memorized, which meant she didn’t have to pay much attention as she flipped the pages. The brunt of her thoughts could be directed to how the oncoming conversation would go.

The previous day had ended… badly to say the least. Not that the majority of her friends knew that. As far as most of them were aware, the only thing that happened was that something came up, meaning that Laurance and Sasha had to leave early.

But Lucinda saw what actually happened. She and two other people were there to witness… that.

Just remembering what it felt like to be there sent chills down her spine. It was almost enough to make her wish that her ability to sense magic wasn’t so sensitive. Because if it wasn’t, then maybe she wouldn’t have felt the overwhelming terror she felt at that moment as she looked at Laurance.

Though then again, it looked like Garroth and Aphmau were also very shaken themselves, so maybe she would’ve felt something was wrong regardless.

She was brought out of her musings by the sound of her doorbell. She took a look at the clock hanging on her wall.

“Oh, looks like I lost track of time.”

She stood up and walked to the door. When she opened, Garroth and Aphmau’s faces greeted her. Both had sweaters on, blue and purple respectively, to help manage the still lingering winter cold.

“Hey guys, glad you could make it,” Lucinda smiled at her two friends.

Aphmau tried to smile back, “Hey, Lucinda.” She was probably trying to look like her usual, cheerful self. Lucinda couldn’t say she was succeeding, she looked too frazzled.

“Hello.” Garroth’s voice was cheerful and he looked like he was just happy to be next to Aphmau.

Looks like while Aphmau might’ve noticed something, Garroth probably didn’t.

“Come in, we have a lot to talk about.”

Her two guests followed her in and the three settled into her living room.

“First of all, thank you both for coming. I wanted to talk to you about what happened yesterday.”

“During the date you mean?” Garroth asked.

Lucinda nodded. “Yeah. I have a feeling both of you probably have an idea about what specifically it is I want to talk about.”

“It’s about Laurance, isn’t it? What happened right before he left?”

Lucinda nodded to confirm Aphmau’s guess.

“That? I mean, sure, he overreacted and he looked way too mad for what happened. But it’s nothing that you have to text us to come see you in person for. It’s not anything serious or anything,” Garroth shrugged.

Before Lucinda could open her mouth to explain exactly why that wasn’t the case, Aphmau beat her to it.

“No, couldn’t you feel it? Something was really off.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “There was this… pressure near the end right before Lucinda and Sasha got there.”

Huh. Looks like Aphmau was more sensitive to magic than Lucinda had assumed. Garroth on the other hand… wasn’t.

“She’s right. But before we get to that, could either of you explain exactly what happened before I got there?” She would’ve asked them the day before, but she wanted to do it somewhere private. And she didn’t think either of them were in the mood for a serious conversation. Though possibly for different reasons.

“Why? No offense, but him being upset really doesn’t feel like any of your business. Maybe he was just having a really bad day. He was kinda in a bad mood before we saw Aph anyways,” Garroth said.

Garroth probably didn’t even realize it, but that was valuable information. Laurance was already in a bad mood before the incident. “Just humor me. Please? I promise that it’s important.”

Garroth looked at her intently before somewhat deflating. “Fine,” he sighed, “if you’re insisting, I’ll tell you what happened. Not that there’s much to tell. Like I said, he was probably just already in a bad mood and overreacted after what Aphmau said.”

“Well Aphmau, what did you say?” Lucinda asked.

At this Aphmau began to squirm a little bit. “Well, I just sorta… maybe admitted that I tried setting things up so that Laurance and Garroth ended up paired together yesterday?” She looked a bit bashful and was playing with a bit of her hair.

“What?” she asked flatly.

She scrambled to defend herself, “Look! I know that it was kind of a weird way to do it! I just knew that things between Laurance and Garroth were awkward ever since the kiss. I thought that maybe making these two pair up would get them to talk and maybe resolve things?”

“Aphmau…”

“Look! I get that maybe it wasn’t the most well thought out idea, but I just figured that if things worked out they’d work out! I never expected things to blow up like that.”

“Aphmau, I appreciate that you were trying to help, but you didn’t need to do that,” Garroth said gently.

“But things have been awkward between you two because of the kiss, right? Tell me that things weren’t awkward between the two of you yesterday before you two saw me.”

Garroth opened his mouth and quickly closed it. “Ok, yeah. I… can’t really deny that.”

“See! I thought it’d just take one conversation and you two could sort it all out.”

“Aph…” Garroth sighed, but his exasperation was mixed with fondness, and he was smiling at her with a twinkle in his eye.

Lucinda was going to ignore both Garroth’s obvious feelings and also Aphmau’s need to help others solve their problems where she could. She’s been friends with both of them for long enough to get used to that.

No, the thing she was focused on was that apparently, the kiss back at the play had been an issue for Laurance. And something that had stuck with him since it happened a few weeks ago.

She didn’t pay much mind to it back then, but maybe it was more involved than she thought. Garroth had implied that things had been awkward between them during their little ‘date’ due to the kiss. Maybe it contributed to the bad mood and the following overreaction that Garroth described.

“Ok, let’s get back on track. So things were awkward between Garroth and Laurance from the start, and Laurance was in a bad mood. At some point, you found Aphmau, and she admitted to trying to plot for the two of you to end up alone together.”

“Hey! Plotting makes it sound bad. I just asked some of the people there to try and pair up with people besides the two of them.”

“Fine, planned to get the two alone together. At that point, Laurance got really angry and I arrived. Did I get all that correct?”

“Yeah, that about covers it.”

“Lucinda, I’ve got to ask, is there a point to this?”

She could understand Garroth’s impatience.

“There is, I promise. And I’m getting to it, but first, I need to ask one last question. When he got angry, did either of you feel something was… off?” She wished she could be more succinct, but she really didn’t have the right words to describe the near explosion of magic to someone who wasn’t already well acquainted with magic.

“No…? Lucinda, really-”

“I think I know what you’re referring to,” Aphmau interrupted. “When he was getting closer, it was like there was this… this pressure.” Aphmau wrapped her arms around herself like she was protecting herself from some unseen threat.

“Pressure, huh?” Lucinda nodded to herself slightly. “Yeah, that’s as good a word for it as any.”

Garroth tilted his head in confusion. “What are you two talking about? I didn’t feel anything like that?”

“That’s probably because Aphmau has a higher sensitivity to magic than you do,” Lucinda explained.

That only got her two confused stares and she remembered that magic signatures weren’t a thing that most people knew about.

“Ok, before I actually say what I wanted to say, I’ll need to explain one last thing.”

“Go on,” Aphmau encouraged.

“So, the first thing you need to know is that all living things, no matter what they are, have some sort of magic unique to them. Only some people, such as witches, warlocks, and people born with innate magic abilities, can express this internal magic outwardly. Although, that last category of people is becoming increasingly rare as time goes on. Are you two with me so far?”

Both of her guests nodded.

“Good. Another thing to note is that all people have some capacity to sense magic, even if they’re not consciously aware of it. People that are actually capable of magic will usually be very sensitive to it. Sometimes, however, people who don’t have any ability to utilize magic themselves will have an unusually high sensitivity to it. This is probably why Aphmau felt that ‘pressure’ and you didn’t, Garroth.”

“Ok… are you trying to say that Laurance has some kind of magic and that it was coming out when he got angry? Because that sounds kind of personal.”

She forgot that Garroth could actually be pretty perceptive when he wasn’t focusing on his crush. “Mmm… almost, but not quite. That’s the basic gist of it, but there’s something else that I want to add onto that.”

“What is it?”

“So, like I said, all living beings have magic unique to them deep inside. You could almost think of it like a signature. However, something interesting about these ‘signatures’, is that they tend to be similar among people who share certain similarities.

“What kind of similarities?” Aphmau asked.

“Tons of them really. But the relevant thing to this situation is that people of the same species tend to have signatures that feel similar.”

“What? Like all meif’wa have similar signatures and all humans have similar signatures?” Aphmau sounded fascinated by that. And while Lucinda would genuinely adore going more into magical theory with her, she wanted to get to the point.

She nodded her head. “Exactly what I mean.”

“In what ways?” Garroth asked.

“There really isn’t a way for me to put it into words. They just feel similar. Now, the reason I told you all this is because Laurance’s magic signature, as well as that of all his roommates for that matter, feel like nothing I’ve ever felt before.”

“What… what do you mean?” Aphmau sounded confused.

“Exactly that,” Lucinda shrugged, “Not a single one of them have a magic signature that is even remotely similar to meif’wa, werewolves, or humans. Those five are something else entirely. And I don’t know what that is.”

“WHAT!?” Were the two identical screams of shock from her two guests.

“You heard me. Whatever those five are, they’re like nothing I’ve ever seen before. All five of them have incredibly powerful magic in them. The only thing I can tell is that it’s something ancient.”

“Woah woah woah! First, you tell us that they’re some kind of inhuman supernatural creatures and now you’re saying they’re ancient?” Garroth had stood up and was waving his arms around as he spoke.

“Yeah, Lucinda. It’s kind of hard to believe,” Aphmau admitted.

“Your doubt is understandable. But you have to understand that I’m telling you this out of concern. For whatever reason, what happened back there seriously pissed him off. And what I’m guessing is that his anger was what caused that outburst of magic yesterday. And while we were lucky enough that his roommate calmed him down, if that happens again, we don’t know if she’ll be there to do it. And if his magic fully comes out? I’m honestly worried someone will get hurt.”

Aphmau stared at her intently before sighing, “You’re really serious, aren’t you?”

Garroth whipped around to look at her, “Aph! You can’t seriously believe that she’s right!?”

“Take a look at her!” She gestured to Lucinda. “Would she look that serious if she were just messing with us?”

Garroth paused to look at Lucinda before sighing and sitting down.

“Fine. What are we supposed to do then?”

“Oh, I didn’t call you guys to do anything. I just thought I should let you know for your own safety.”

“But if he’s dangerous enough to warn us about it, shouldn’t we at least call the authorities about it?” Aphmau argued.

Technically, Aphmau was right. The logical and safe thing to do was to inform the Guardian Forces, the military group that focused on investigating potential supernatural threats to the public.

However… Lucinda remembered the conversation she had with Sasha just the day before. She said she didn’t think of her or her roommates as threats. And if she was being honest with herself… that didn’t change. They were dangerous, but she knew that from the start.

She’d told Sasha that she didn’t view her or her roommates as meaningfully different from anyone else she knew. Sure, they had some unknown and horrific magic attached to them, but besides that, they didn’t strike her as all that dissimilar to anyone else. And she still stood by that statement.

Anyone would believe that going as far as reporting someone to authorities for an emotional outburst where no one even got hurt would be insane. And to her, this was no different. So she wasn’t going to report to the Guardian Forces what she’d figured out so far.

And Sasha outright told her she was free to try and guess what they all were. It may not be much, but it felt like trust. And she didn’t want to break that.

And finally… when she and Sasha actually got there and saw what was going on, she got a good look at Sasha’s face. And the other woman's expression signaled nothing but worry for her friend. Lucinda was sure that in that moment, the only thing that was going through her head was concern for her friend.

She wanted to trust that the fact that Sasha showed something that looked so similar to what any normal person would feel meant that neither she nor her friends would hurt anyone.

“It may sound naive, but… I just have faith that they won’t try to intentionally hurt anyone. I really did just let you both know because this directly involved you both. Thought you at least deserved to know as much as you could about everything. That’s also the reason I’d prefer neither of you tell anyone else either.”

Garroth slumped back onto the couch he was on. “How can you be so sure though? That they won’t intentionally hurt anyone?”

“Honestly? I can’t. All I have is faith that even if they haven’t said anything about what they were, they haven’t lied about who they were. And maybe I haven’t interacted with them much, but from what little I do know about them? I don’t think they want to hurt anyone.”

“Ok, I trust you,” Aphmau said.

“Wha- Aphmau!”

“What? Lucinda’s the magic expert here. If she thinks we shouldn’t do anything, then I say we trust her!”

Garroth took a long look at the short woman before sighing in agreement.

“Thank you both. However, if something else happens that you think is worth me learning about, please go ahead and tell me.” Just because she didn’t want to believe that anyone would actually end up hurt, doesn’t mean she had the privilege of ignoring the possibility.

She just had to hope that her judgements about the five roommates were correct.

Chapter Text

Dante was watching what could only be described as Garroth losing in a conversation. Not losing an argument (because Garroth would probably rather die than argue with his mom), but a conversation.

Somehow.

He was honestly a bit impressed at the sight.

Garroth was scrambling to appease his mother over… whatever it was that apparently drove the woman to hysterics. He wasn’t really sure what it was. By the time he’d gotten to the living room, the call was already underway and Garroth in the process of trying to get a word in against the stampede Dante could just barely overhear from the phone. He’d sat down on the opposite side of the couch and watched in fascination at his blonde roommate lose in a conversation with his mother.

The only thing Dante had managed to gather so far was that whatever it was involved Garroth’s younger brother in some way and that was about it.

Finally, it looked like the conversation was winding down. Garroth was saying goodbye and Dante was getting ready to ask what that had been about.

At least until he heard Garroth’s mom say one last thing, causing Garroth to react with a loud, “WHAT!?” before his mom ended the call

Garroth instantly sprang up from the couch with a panicked look on his face and ran towards the door.

“Woah! What’s got you freaking out so bad?”

“There’s no time!” He was frantically trying to get his blue jacket off the coat rack in front of the door and onto him.

Dante stood up and walked closer to his roommate who may or may not be going through a mental break of some sort.

“I’m sure that whatever your mom told you, it’s not that serious.”

Garroth finished haphazardly getting the jacket on and looked at him with uncontrolled panic. “She’s coming to visit!”

“That’s a good thing, isn’t it? You love your mom!” If someone got him going on the topic, Garroth wouldn’t shut up about how great his mom was.

“You don’t understand! She thinks Zane and Aphmau are dating!”

Aphmau and Zane dating? “Snrrk– BAHAHAHA,” Dante keeled over in laughter at the thought.

Garroth’s look of annoyance told Dante that he didn’t appreciate his completely justified bout of laughter. Not that he cared much, seeing as he was too busy trying to get his laughter in check.

He was still a bit shaky with laughter when he began to ask “S-so, the rea- haha. Th-the reason that you’re freaking out is because your mom thinks your brother is dating the girl you like?”

The blonde’s face was tinted red when he said, “Yes! Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go warn him.”

Oh he had to see this for himself. Garroth ran out the door and Dante followed him.

“Hey! Why don’t you just call him!” Dante called to the man who was unreasonably ahead of him.

“He wouldn’t answer!” Garroth called back.

Once the two got to Zane’s house, Garroth rushed to loudly knock on the front door. He didn’t look to be even slightly out of energy. Dante however, was panting for breath behind him.

Dear Irene, why did Garroth have to have such freakish stamina?

The front door flung open to reveal the man they were looking for. He wasn’t wearing a face mask for once, so Dante could actually see more than a quarter of the man’s face. The bangs covering one of his eyes meant that three-quarters of his face was open for the world to see. The hair not covering his eye was up in a small bun.

All of that was normal and expected. What wasn’t normal was the bright pink sweater he was wearing that had the logo for some kid’s cartoon.

He didn’t get to dwell on the unexpected article of clothing because the house’s owner said, “What?” It was so much easier to tell what the man was feeling when the majority of his face wasn’t being covered. Currently, he was expressing very clear annoyance.

“Zane, I have something very important to tell you.” The black-haired man just raised an eyebrow, as if telling his brother to get on with it.

“W-well, it looks like… Aph, she, umm–”

“Just spit it out! I was busy watching My Li– something.”

“MummythinksyouandApharedatingandshe’scomingtovisittoday!” Garroth rushed out in one breath.

Zane’s entire demeanor switched like a flip was switched. Dante saw the instant that Zane registered the words and his expression shifted into one of pure panic.

Dante was expecting Zane to speak some sense into Garroth but apparently not. Honestly, both of the brothers had to be overreacting. There was no way this was as big of a catastrophe as they were making it out to be.

“Oh no! What are we standing here for? We got to go warn Aph!”

“You’re right! I didn’t even think of that.” Garroth turned around to face him. “Come on Dante! We’re going to Aphmau’s house!”

He was a bit annoyed at being ordered around like that. But it’s not like he had any plans of leaving. Maybe Aphmau would be the one to knock sense into the two brothers.

Both brothers ran in the direction of Aphmau’s house. Dante debated also running but decided the tiredness that would follow wasn’t worth it.

He could make it to Aphmau’s house just fine by walking. Plus, it would be totally uncool for a guy to just barge into a woman’s house without any warning.

Hm.

On that note…

He pulled out his phone and sent a quick message.

There! Now Aphmau’s been warned about the pair of brothers rushing to her house and he had done his job as a good friend.

He looked up and saw just how far ahead Garroth was. Although Zane was considerably lagging behind.

Hmm… he might end up missing out on everything if he just walks. A light jog should probably be enough for him to make it in time, right?

By the time he made it to Aphmau’s house, the door was open and Garroth was waving his hands rapidly while speaking. He’s pretty sure it was Aphmau that was being hidden by the large blonde’s body.

Zane was standing a bit behind Garroth, panting for breath. Or maybe he was just dying. Considering how he looked, both felt equally likely.

Just as he made it into hearing range, Aphmau spoke up over whatever Garroth was rambling about.

“Garroth! Just– tell me– calmly what’s going on.”

“Mummy’s coming to visit today!”

“Oh! That’s wonderful! I haven’t seen Zianna in so long-”

“No! You don’t understand. She thinks you and Zane are dating!”

Words could not do justice to the look of pure and utter dread that came across Aphmau’s face.

He had been hoping that Aphmau would be the one to speak reason into them since he knew that neither brother would take it from him. It looks like he was wrong.

“And when did you say that she’d be here?” The deadly seriousness in her voice would have been concerning if Dante didn’t know just how disproportionate it was to the situation at hand. Instead, it was just downright comedic.

“I don’t know!” Garroth honest-to-Irene whined. “She just said she’d be visiting today, and that we should all go out together. So she’s probably pretty close.”

Zane, who had recovered from the little fit he’d been having earlier, joined the conversation. Dante honestly wasn’t sure if any of them had noticed he was there.

“Well, we need to make a plan. Let’s go inside.”

Aphmau nodded and turned to lead them in. He was going to follow because at this point he was invested and wanted to see where this went.

However, they were met with a roadblock in the form of Katelyn, who took one look at the four of them and clearly saw something, because she immediately told them to get out and deal with whatever was happening somewhere else.

And so, they all returned to his house.

Aphmau, Garroth, and Zane all sat down in the living room with grave looks on their faces. Dante has never been anywhere near close enough to the government to know for sure, but he was pretty sure the vibe in the room was similar to what he’d feel if he were in a room full of high-ranking officials preparing for war.

He decided to just lean against the wall and watch… whatever was happening right now.

“Ok, we need to figure out what we’re gonna tell your mom and how we’re gonna say it.”

“Maybe we can break it to her slowly?” Zane suggested.

Garroth shook his head. “No, mummy will probably just end up taking over the conversation and you won’t be able to get a word in.”

Zane sighed, “Yeah, that sounds about right. She’ll probably be too excited at the idea that I’m dating someone to listen to what I say.”

“Why can’t you just tell her directly?” The three that were sitting down turned their heads to look at him. “What? There’s no reason to drag things out. If you’re worried she’s gonna speak over you just say it nice and direct.” Dante had found that with certain types of girls, being direct instead of prolonging the inevitable worked best. Ended up hurting less in the end. The same general idea probably applied here too.

Zane was glaring at him with his one visible eye. “Okay, why is he here?”

“Well, I live here for one thing. And also I overheard Garroth’s side of his call with his mom and it sounded too funny to not follow up on.”

Garroth let out a slightly aggravated sigh. Dante was not going to apologize for his honesty here. He was right, it was funny, and he was going to keep paying attention.

“Dante, you haven’t met mummy. But just know that she really loves me and Zane. Like, a lot. And she really wants both of us to be happy. And she just sounded so happy when she called because she thought Zane had a girlfriend so…”

“None of you three have the heart to tell her the truth because it would make her sad,” Dante finished the thought for Garroth.

“Yeah, pretty much. So we need to figure out a way to tell her that won’t make her sad.” Aphmau had a bit of a frown on her face.

Hmm, trying to keep her happy while telling her news that would inherently make her unhappy.

“Well, you’re going about this the wrong way.”

“What are you talking about?” Zane asked. He really did not sound happy that Dante was becoming a part of this.

“If she’s really excited enough about the idea of Zane dating Aphmau that she came to visit, then no matter how you break it to her, it’ll make her a bit sad. So what you gotta do is find a better time to break it to her and tell her then.”

“That doesn’t resolve the issue of what we do now when she comes to visit, idiot.”

Dante rolled his eyes. He looked at the three faces in front of him. One of them annoyed, and the other two frowning in deep thought. They really were gonna make him spell it out for them, weren’t they?

“That isn’t an issue. Just pretend to date while she’s here, then in a few days, Zane can text her and tell her that you and Aph decided that you were happier as friends. Easy as pie.”

“What!?” Garroth sounded affronted.

Oh right. His crush on Aphmau.

“Relax. It’s not like they’ll have to do anything. If she thinks they’ve only been dating for a little bit, they can just hold hands and say they’re too shy to do something like kiss in public. It’ll get your mom off your backs and no one has to do anything they’re uncomfortable with.”

“Ignoring the fact that we’d be lying to our mother.” Zane was fully glaring at Dante now. He looked at the other two. Garroth had a glare that was only slightly less severe and Aphmau looked contemplative.

Really? That was the issue they had with this.

“Well, it’s either lying to her for a bit to make her happy in the long run or telling her the truth and making her sad.”

“Wouldn’t she still end up sad later if she learnt Zane and I ‘broke up?’” Aphmau added air quotes to the last two words.

“Not necessarily,” Dante argued, “If the thing she cared about most is that her kids are happy, then as long as Zane phrases it correctly when he tells her, she won’t end up as sad about it. If Zane really emphasizes that the breakup was mutual and that you genuinely are happier as friends, then there’s no issue. I’d suggest you tell her that today when she visits, but that’d be way too sudden.”

The three stared at him with varying levels of shock.

“What?” he asked defensively. “It makes the most sense and it’ll solve all your problems.”

“Are you sure this would be the best way to get through this without making Zianna sad?” Aphmau asked.

“Aphmau! You can’t seriously be considering this!”

“Look, do either of you want to risk making Zianna sad today?”

The silence from the two brothers was telling.

“Great! Now that we’ve got that settled, there’s just one more thing left to do.”

“And that would be?” Garroth asked unsure.

“Get them to be able to believably act like a couple! Thankfully, you have an expert at romance at your disposal.”

And so, Dante got to coaching his friends on how to fake-date. Well, his friend and also Zane would probably be more accurate.

It was not going particularly well. They were both just… so incredibly awkward. It wasn’t even funny anymore. It was just kinda sad.

He started off nice and simple. Just telling them to hold hands. Considering how tactile of a person Aphmau normally was with her friends, he thought it’d be easy. But no, not only was Zane blushing and stuttering more than was reasonable (that part he could accept and work with), but Aphmau herself was also embarrassed by this. Because apparently the pretext of being in a relationship was enough to make Aphmau flustered by the idea of hand-holding.

The glares and borderline growls that Garroth was shooting, not at Aphmau, not at Zane, but at Dante (which was totally and completely uncalled for) also weren’t helping.

So trying to make them act like a couple physically wasn’t going well. Fine, they could just say that they weren’t comfortable with any level of PDA out in public. Next came how they talked to each other.

That means pet names. He thought getting them to call each other pet names would make the lie more believable.

…The less said about how that ended up going the better.

Dante massaged his forehead to combat the migraine he just knew the three other people in the house were gonna give him.

“Ok, let’s hold off on the acting for now. Let’s get a story clear. How did you two actually get together? What dates have you been on? Your mom will probably want to know that kinda stuff.”

Dante was met with three blank stares.

Ok, so he was in charge of this part too. Ok. Fine, whatever.

“Garroth, why exactly does your mom think that Zane and Aph are dating?”

“She saw that picture that Aphmau took near the end of Valentine’s Day on social media. Her and Zane were standing sorta close together and she came to her own conclusions.”

“Ok, so what were you guys doing during all that? We should probably use the group date as part of the cover story.”

“I got stuck with Michi for all that but she ditched me pretty early on. Then Kawaii~Chan found me and invited me to spend my time with her and her ‘date’. But it just ended up being her because we pretty much immediately found Michi and that Reese guy sucking face,” Zane recited boredly.

“What!?” Aphmau jumped. “But Kawaii~Chan has such a big crush on Reese! And Michi should know that! Oh when I get my hands on her…” There was a fire in her eyes that Dante was very glad was not directed at him.

“Eh, she honestly wasn’t super torn up about it. Sure she cried a bit at first but she calmed down pretty quickly and we just hung out at the arcade doing… um… stuff.” Zane had been pretty calm at the start but became really red near the end.

“Baby brother!” Garroth sounded scandalized.

Dante’s respect for Zane grew a little bit.

“Oh! Is she the one that got you that giant plush from the arcade? She’s really good at getting tickets, right?”

Giant plush… The only one that he could think of from the group date was the ginormous, pink, horse-shaped thing that he’d seen Kawaii~Chan holding at the very end before they all split up.

And it was for Zane. Yeah that respect for him went right back down to where it was originally. Maybe even a bit lower.

Although seeing Zane grow significantly redder was fun to watch.

Now, back to business.

“Ok, so the person you were originally partnered with ditched you. We can work with that. Now, Aphmau, what did you end up doing during the group date.”

Aphmau’s eyes started darting around the room. “Oh… I don’t know… Why’d you ask?”

“Because it’ll be more believable if you base it at least slightly on the truth. Makes the lying more believable and you’re less likely to slip up.”

Aphmau nodded, though there was a bit of a grimace to her expression. “Ok, that makes sense. Well, at first I just hung out with Aaron and we played some games at the arcade and competed with each other. But then while Aaron was going to the bathroom, I came across Garroth and Laurance and… umm…” She was jittering slightly and her eyes were really darting all over the room now.

Laurance… Come to think of it, he and his roommate ended up leaving early, didn’t they? Does this have something to do with that? Is that why Aphmau looked so nervous?

“N-Nothing really big happened! The three of us were talking, but then Sasha came in and grabbed Laurance and the two left. It looked like it was something personal and kinda serious, so we didn’t mention it to anyone,” Garroth jumped in.

Ok, that part from Garroth sounded believable. But Aphmau was being a terrible liar. So Dante knew for sure that what they said wasn’t fully true. The looks that Zane was shooting the two of them told Dante that he’d also caught onto the bad lie.

He was about to call them out on it but then the doorbell rang.

“Oh GarGar! Mummy’s here, now come open the door and give her a big hug!” A loud voice came through the door.

The eyes of everyone in the room opened wide as saucers.

Crap! They didn’t finish ironing everything out.

As Garroth went to open the door to let his mother in, one thought passed through Dante’s head.

If he wanted to help them with the scheme they made, he’d have to go with them to play damage control and to cover up for any slip-ups.

At least it would be entertaining to watch.

Chapter Text

Aphamu did not know how she ended up in this situation.

She was standing at the mall with some of her friends. Said friends being Dante, Zane, and Garroth. That much was normal enough.

The weird part was that Zane and Garroth’s mom was also there and convinced she was dating her youngest son.

What did she do to deserve this? All she did was post a picture on social media of her and all her friends.

She was just lucky that they’d managed to get Zianna to agree to let Dante come by on the grounds of her wanting to get to know all of her children’s friends.

(And also lucky that Zane had been given the opportunity to change into clothing he’d actually be willing to wear outside instead of the My Little Horsie merch he wears when he stays at his house. If only because Zane would be a lot more irritable if he wasn’t.)

Already, Dante had been able to dodge some bullets for them by either taking over the lying or redirecting Zianna when necessary.

She felt a little bit bad about lying to Zianna, and she knew both Zane and Garroth did too, but if this really made her less sad in the long run, it was worth it.

Zianna was talking right now. She’d tried to ask about her and Zane’s supposed relationship, but Dante had managed to distract her into talking about her sons.

“Oh, GarGar and Zuzu were just the cutest little pair of babies,” Zianna gushed. “I still remember how they always played together when they were little. Zuzu used to follow his big brother everywhere as soon as he started to crawl.”

“Mother…” Zane grumbled, embarrassed.

Aphmau tried her best to hold in her giggles, but it was a struggle.

“Aww, did little Zuzu look up to his big brother growing up?” Dante teased. Zane shot a look that could kill a man at Dante for his use of the nickname.

“Yeah, yeah. Tell us more about what he was like when he was little.” Garroth fished for more information, completely ignoring Zane’s increasing fury.

“Oh, Zuzu wasn’t the only one who adored his brother. I remember one time when they were both small, and Zuzu started throwing a tantrum. Gargar was just beside himself trying to get him to calm down.”

Garroth puffed his chest up in pride. “That’s because I’m the best big brother ever.”

Zane just rolled his eye at the blonde’s statement.

“Aww, that’s sweet,” Dante cooed. “You know, I always wished I had an older sibling while I was growing up.”

Aphmu nodded at that statement. “I totally get that. It would’ve been nice to have someone else around the house besides just me and my mom while I was growing up.” She loved her mom more than anything, but she had to admit that she wouldn’t have minded to have just one other person around.

“Mhm! I completely get what you two mean! I myself was an only child, and I always wanted to live with someone my age instead of just my parents. That’s actually part of why Garte and I decided to have two kids! We wanted our babies to grow up with a friend they could rely on for the rest of their lives.” Her voice took on a soft tone at the end as she talked about her family.

“Mummy…” Garroth’s face was flushed but he looked happy. And Aphmau could see that even Zane was sending his mother a soft look. Although for some reason, the latter had that look in his eye he only got when he was frowning. So it looked slightly more pained from him than from Garroth.

Zianna flipped back to an overtly cheerful tone. “Oh, but watching them grow up was amazing too! I loved playing with them when they were kids, although Garroth did end up becoming more of a daddy’s boy as he grew up. Oh but it was just so cute to see him and his dad hang out, and Zane has always been closer to his mommy!”

Aphmau thought that this would lead to one or both of the boys getting embarrassed, but instead it looked like both their moods actually fell at that. Garroth’s face shifted into a faint grimace and Zane had what Aphmau had come to recognize as a sharp scowl.

This didn’t escape Zianna’s notice and she looked at the two and came to her own conclusion. “Oh, I know you must be so disappointed that your father couldn’t make it, and trust me, I understand. But he had work engagements he just couldn’t get out of. But I’ll make sure to have him visit and talk to both of you soon!”

“Yeah… thanks mummy,” Garroth said without looking at her.

“What he said,” Zane muttered.

Aphmau looked at Dante and she could tell that both of them were thinking the same thing. Something was really off. For some reason, both of the brothers reacted negatively to the mention of their father.

And that made her think, she’d seen both boys talk about their mom at length. But she doesn’t think she’s ever heard either of them say anything about their dad. Which was weird because Aphmau had met the man. Sure, it wasn’t much, but she’d occasionally seen him when she visited their house growing up. It was weird that neither of the two had mentioned him given how they both clearly loved talking about their mother.

And what Zianna said didn’t fix their mood at all. Something she noticed because the woman was looking at her two sons worriedly. Aphmau could just tell that she was going to push further.

Dante seemed to notice the same thing because he used the silence to say, “Hey Mrs. Ro’Meave, how did you and your husband meet?”

The mention of her love story seemed to do the trick, as Zianna’s expression immediately switched from concerned to joyful.

“Oh it’s so romantic, we met while we were at college…” Aphmau knew it was rude, but she began to tune her out slightly. It wasn’t like it was a story she hadn’t heard before.

She focused on Garroth and Zane while Dante continued to distract Zianna by continuing the conversation about how she fell in love with her husband.

The blonde was looking at his mother fondly as she rambled about how surprisingly shy her husband had been before they started dating. Zane meanwhile looked annoyed and like he’d rather be anywhere else at the moment.

But then came what she had been preparing herself for. Thanks to Dante, they’d managed to avoid the question so far, but they all knew that that was only going to last for so long.

“But that’s enough about me. This is about my darling little Zuzu and his girlfriend! Now please tell me about how you two got together.”

Ok, here it was. They hadn’t been able to come up with a proper story, so she and Zane would just have to improvise.

She just had to look at Zianna straight in her expectant, happy eyes, and lie.

“W-well… y-you see, um…” Aphmau stuttered.

She couldn’t do it.

She saw Dante quietly facepalm out of view from Zianna.

“Aphmau… you seem awfully nervous,” Zianna noted.

“W-well mummy, the thing is–” Garroth tried to join in and rescue her but was interrupted.

Zianna held up a hand to signal Garroth to stop.

“I know what the problem is,” she said solemnly.

“Y-you do?” Zane asked.

“Of course.” Zianna nodded. “It’s Sylvanna, isn’t it?”

What?

“You’re nervous because of your mother, aren’t you deary? I understand. I know that your mother can get really protective of you but don’t you worry! Remember that your mom and I are besties, and she knows that my sons are good kids. I’m not saying it’ll be easy, but I just know that she’ll accept the relationship as long as I vouch for it.”

That was… that was not where she thought that was going at all. She was speechless, and it looked like everyone else in their group was too.

Meanwhile, Zianna stood there looking proud of herself for her deduction.

Dante was the one to break that bout of silence.

“Yep! That’s exactly right. Aphmau was telling me a few days ago that she had no idea how she was gonna break the news to her mother. I told her she should just rip off the band-aid but she was insisting that wouldn’t be a good idea.”

Zianna nodded while Aphmau stared in slight shock at how lucky they were at yet another opportunity to redirect the conversation away from her and Zane’s supposed relationship.

“And Aphmau was right to think that. Sylvanna is… well I love her with all my heart but she is one stubborn woman and she has very high standards for Aphmau’s love life. And I get it– truly, I do. But I’ve always believed that she should just let true love blossom between Aphmau and whichever lucky boy won her heart. But she’s always insisted that she should be the one to make the final decision on who can date her little girl. But now that that love has blossomed between Aphmu and my little Zuzu, I’m sure I can convince her to let it be. Oh, I’m sure she’ll agree that it’s just so romantic! My little boy reunited with a childhood friend, they started talking and reminiscing, both trying to deny their strong attraction until they just couldn't handle it anymore and got together. I’m betting that’s exactly what happened. I’m right, aren’t I?”

“Yep. That’s exactly it, you got it right.” Zane looked like he was trying so hard to seem enthusiastic.

Garroth on the other hand looked really unhappy for some reason.

Oh right, his crush on her. That was… probably making this a bit hard for him, wasn’t it?

“Oh I just knew it!” Zianna gushed. “Now, there’s one more thing I want to ask you two about.”

“What’s that?”

“Valentine’s Day of course! I want to know exactly what happened. I saw from the picture that you went as a group, but what did my darling little Zuzu and his girlfriend get up to?”

Crap. Aphmau thought back to what actually happened that day. Mainly the way that Laurance freaked out on them, the overwhelming pressure she felt until Sasha intervened, and then the revelation that apparently neither of them nor their roommates were what they presented themselves as.

She glanced at Garroth and by the look on his face, could tell he had similar thoughts going through his head as she did.

They had no idea what to say when all they could think of was what happened with Laurance.

Aphmau faced Zianna, preparing herself to tell a convincing lie.

Just then, however, Garroth spoke up.

“Hey, look over there.” He was pointing at three people who were walking by.

It was Zenix, Vylad, and Gene.

Three of the people who Aphmau had just found out weren’t human. And also a good distraction.

Zenix, Vylad, and Gene were heading back home from doing some shopping, (he got stuck carrying the bag) when suddenly a woman’s voice rang out.

“Oh, hey guys!”

Zenix looked over to see who it was and saw Aphmau, Dante, Garroth, Zane, and a woman that looked older than the rest and… familiar.

He was pretty sure he’d never seen her before in his life, but something about her was familiar. She had black hair, eyes that were a color between green and blue, and was wearing a light blue shirt with a green coat over it.

The group of five started walking closer to them, and the closer they got, the more clear her face became. She definitely looked oddly familiar. Something in her face…

He looked at Garroth and Zane, who were both standing at each side of her. All three of them looked pretty similar actually. Most obviously Zane and the woman.

Oh.

Oh shit.

That was their mom, wasn’t it? Which meant that she was the reincarnation of Vylad’s mom.

He looked at Vylad next to him to see how they were doing. He wasn’t feeling Shadow Knight energy leaking out yet, so things couldn’t possibly be too bad.

Their eyes were just a touch wider than usual, and their whole body was incredibly tense. Their mouth was just slightly open in shock. It wasn’t much of an overt reaction, but Zenix could see it for what it was. Vylad was surprised, and still not fully being hit with whatever it was they were feeling.

It didn’t feel like there was a risk of anything like what happened with Laurance happening again. But that didn’t mean there wasn’t a risk of Vylad having a really emotional reaction that would warrant an explanation no one wanted to give.

Before Zenix could figure out a plan, Gene stepped forward to talk to the group and positioned himself in such a way that he blocked Vylad from seeing the reincarnation of their mom.

Good play, Gene. This gave them some time for either Vylad to calm down on their own, or for Zenix to find a way to get Vylad out long enough for them to calm down.

“Oh, are you Zane and Garroth’s mom? No, no, you look far too young. An older sister they didn’t mention?”

Probably-Zianna waved him off. “Oh you charmer. I’m flattered, but you got it right the first time. I’m the two’s mother. My name’s Zianna, and you three are?”

“My name’s Gene, and the two behind me are Zenix and Vylad.” Gene gestured to each of them as he said their names.

Ok, he got a conversation going, good. That meant Zenix had time to see how Vylad was doing and decide whether he should come up with a way to get Vylad away for them to calm down.

Zenix looked at his partner who, on the outside, looked like they were calming down from the initial shock. Their eyes weren’t wide and their mouth was closed. Potential signs they genuinely weren’t gonna react badly to this. Or it could just mean they were actively holding something in and were on the verge of blowing up.

He took a small breath and let his ability to sense spread out. He focused his admittedly subpar ability to sense magic entirely on Vylad to see if he should be worried.

He sensed nothing. Well, nothing out of the ordinary. It genuinely didn’t look like they were at any risk of Vylad having a Shadow Knight meltdown.

Zenix tuned back into the conversation happening between Gene and the group.

“We were just here running some errands for one of our roommates, Sasha. Actually, on that note,” Gene turned back to face him and Vylad, “I feel like we forgot something, did we?”

Smart way to give Vylad an out. Zenix took a look at the inside of the plastic bag to make it look like he’s actually checking what Gene asked for. He saw the bags of spider eyes, as well as the different containers with red and glowing yellow dust respectively. All the shit Sasha needed to make her potions.

“Nope, we got everything.”

“What were you buying? I don’t recognize the bag,” Dante asked.

“Just some stuff for one of Sasha’s hobbies. She ran out recently and got us to buy stuff for her.” Which wasn’t a lie on Gene’s part. It just so happened that the ‘hobby’ was potion-making, which would lead to questions since licenses were needed to purchase potion-making materials.

And the ones they just used were all very extremely fake. Too good to be noticed by most people, but still not a reason to show them off or anything.

“Oh how gentlemanly of you three,” Zianna gushed.

Gene let out one of those fake little polite laughs he tended to use. “Oh no, not at all. We’re just the ones buying because we’re sort of the reason she ran out.”

“Why’d she send three of you then? If it’s just one bag, then why’d three of you come?” Zane asked.

“Technically speaking, the person Sasha actually got to buy stuff for her was Zenix. Vylad and I are just along for the ride.”

As in, Vylad offered to come with and Zenix had to all but drag Gene to get out of the house.

Vylad stepped closer to the group and got out of the line of sight that Gene was blocking with his body. “What are all of you doing here?” Zenix followed so he was standing more in line with his two roommates.

Zianna immediately brightened up considerably and looked almost concerningly excited.

“Oh, it is just the greatest thing! My darling Zuzu and Aphmau are dating! I just found out so I came by to visit my boys and see Aphmau. And this darling gentleman,” she gestured to Dante, “offered to take us all to a nice place he knows for dinner.”

Zenix wasn’t sure what he wanted to focus on. The frankly hysterical nickname that Zianna had given Zane, or the fact that he and Aphmau were apparently dating. He looked at Vylad and Gene. The former was doing a really bad job at hiding their apparent shock since they were actually fully gaping at the statement. Gene on the other hand was being much more mild and simply let out a small exclamation of surprise.

Not that he blamed them because even if this Zane was a different man from the one back then, the idea of the High Priest of O’Khasis dating anyone was weird. He can’t think of anyone that that little wretch from back then would care enough about to go out with.

This was just more evidence that these people shouldn’t be treated the same as the ones from back then.

He looked at the 4 people who were standing behind Zianna to see their expressions. Garroth was looking somewhat annoyed and was glowering, while his brother looked embarrassed and looked like he wanted to disappear into the hoodie he was wearing. Dante looked kinda amused and was failing to hide a smile. And finally, Aphmau looked guilty of all things.

Oh, Zenix got it. They were lying.

For whatever reason, all the people Zianna was with at the moment were lying to her about the status of Zane and Aphmau’s relationship.

Well, not any of his business.

Gene continued the conversation he was having with Zianna, but now Dante had joined in and was steering the conversation away from the topic of the faked relationship.

Hmm… it could be fun to watch him squirm if Zenix joined in and decided to press about the supposed relationship. But he had something else he wanted to do instead.

He turned to look at the other three and found that Vylad was talking to (interrogating) Garroth and Zane. Perfect, that meant that Aphmau was by herself and free to be talked to.

Zenix walked up to the short woman and looked down at her.

“Hey, follow me. I gotta talk to you.” He turned around and started walking with a hand in his pocket and the other holding the shopping bag. However, his were the only pair of footsteps that he heard from their group.

He turned around and said, “Privately.”

Before anyone else could respond, Zianna’s voice rang out. “Now listen here mister! Just because Aphmau is dating someone now doesn’t mean you can give a last-minute confession. I’m sure you’re very sad you lost your chance but you did! And that does not give you the right to interfere in my baby’s love story.”

Did this woman really…

He pointed at Vylad. “I’ve been dating them for years. What I wanna talk about has nothing to do with romance and I don’t have any interest in the shorty. I have something important to talk about with her so stop making up romance drama in your head and let me talk to her.”

There, nice and polite. The only reason he didn’t curse her out was because he knew Vylad would be upset if he had. That and the conversation he wanted to have was important and probably wouldn’t happen if he did curse the lady out.

He went back to walking away from the group and was pleased to hear a light pair of footsteps follow behind. Good, she did know how to listen.

Zenix stopped as soon as he figured they were at a good spot. They were next to an escalator with not many people around. Still within view of the group they just left, but far enough away that they wouldn’t be overheard.

This was gonna be an important talk and as fun as it would be, nothing would get done if he spent the entire time arguing with Aphmau and all her present friends.

Aphmau was looking at him nervously, clutching her purse so tightly that he could see the outline of her veins in her knuckles. Her mouth was pulled down into a frown and her eyes were moving around a bit.

“Sheesh, calm down. It’s not like I’m gonna bite you or anything.”

This only made the woman tense even further. “What did you want to talk about?”

Right, important stuff first.

“It’s about what happened with Laurance during Valentine’s Day.”

This made her become even more tense. Her shoulders hunched up and her grip on her purse became tighter somehow. “W-what about it?”

Why was she so nervous? Sure, he knows that he’s pretty large, but he’s pretty sure he hasn’t done anything to cause this kind of reaction.

Although it was kinda funny to watch her squirm like this…

No, this was more important than just a conversation where he was trying to freak someone out for fun.

“Laurance told our roommates how you set things up for him and Garroth to end up together during the group date thing you held.”

“U-umm, yeah, I did.”

“Why’d the hell you go and butt in like that?”

“Excuse me?”

“Ya heard me. Whatever tension you noticed between Laurance and Garroth that day you invited us over to your house, it wasn’t any of your business to try and fix.”

That fear that Zenix had seen in her just moments ago transformed into a more defiant look.

“Well I don’t know about you, but when I see my friend in a situation that looks uncomfortable, I try to help them out. Like a good friend.”

Just what was she implyin– no, not the point here.

“And who went and died and gave you the right to intrude in stuff that has nothing to do with you?”

“Like I just said–”

“No, what was going on with Laurance and Garroth had nothing to do with you. And sure, maybe that little excuse you’re using to cover up your hero complex works when it comes to Garroth, but you barely know Laurance at all.”

“Hero comple–”

“No, I don’t care how friendly you are, you do not know Laurance in any way that’s important. You overstepped to an extreme when it came to the group date, and you shouldn’t do something like that again.

Aphmau was full on glaring at him now, the fear she was previously showing left abandoned, “What’s wrong with trying to help people?”

“Maybe the fact that this wasn’t a situation that actually required help. There was no reason for you to butt in like that other than some sort of self-righteous need to help people who never actually asked or even wanted your help. And if you didn’t notice, your little attempt to help? It only hurt him more. So maybe actually think things through when pulling shit like this in the future.”

It looked like that actually got through to her since instead of fighting back, she just had a quiet contemplative look on her face.

With his piece said, Zenix began to walk back to his roommates. It was about time to get back home anyway.

But before he went and got out of Aphmau’s range of hearing he said, “And this thing you’re doing right now? Lying to Zane’s mom about having a relationship with him? I may not know how you got yourself into this, but I’d bet good money that this is just another way for you to try and ‘help’ someone. Not sure who this is helping, but keep me updated, yeah? Really wanna know how crushed the woman is when she realizes her kids lied to her like this.”

Not that he actually cared, but he couldn’t help wanting to throw in one last little jab at her.

Zenix walked back to the small group and saw that the conversation was still going strong. Well, it looked less like a conversation, and more like Zianna was just talking at people. Garroth and Zane looked embarrassed, Dante and Vylad looked amused by whatever Zianna was saying, and Gene had that politely blank expression he wore when he was faking paying attention to something but didn’t actually care enough to listen.

“Yo, are we done? I think it’s time we get out of here,” he interrupted.

Zianna pouted at him, but Gene took it as an opportunity to check the time.

“Sorry, but he’s right. It’s my turn to cook today,” no it was not, “and we’d better get back soon if I want to get it done around the time we all eat.”

While Gene and Vylad were giving their goodbyes, Aphmau returned, and she quickly put on a fake smile. It was admittedly a pretty good fake, but Zenix could see through it. As soon as goodbyes were done, the three Shadow Knights started heading out to the parking lot so they could finally leave.

As they were walking, Gene asked, “So, what’d you talk to Aphmau about?”

“Not much. I was just calling her an idiot for the Laurance thing.”

“Fair enough,” Vylad said.

“Actually, Vylad, I was gonna ask you, how are you holding up?”

Vylad let out a confused-sounding hum.

“I’m assuming Zenix is asking because of Zianna.”

“Oh, that. Honestly, I’m fine. I was just a bit surprised at seeing her is all. It just sort of hit me how much I miss her.” There was a sort of bittersweet little smile on their face.

Zenix looked closely. He didn’t spot any of Vylad’s usual tells when they were lying… Ok, this seemed genuine.

“And I’m not the one you should be worrying about anyway. Gene’s the one who was doing all he could to avoid directly interacting with Dante.”

“I was stuck in the conversation with Zianna,” he deflected.

Zenix wanted to bash his head in against a wall slightly.

Why did he and Sasha have to be the only ones who could be normal about the reincarnations?

Chapter Text

Aphmau was petting Celestia as she anxiously waited for the two people she had invited to arrive. She may have been the one to call them over, but she still didn’t feel ready for what that would entail.

But she also wanted to actually solve the problem she had. She’d already been mulling it over in her mind for days now, but hadn’t come any closer to an answer.

So, she did what anyone would do when faced with a problem they didn’t know how to solve. Ask for the help of a friend.

This felt like a problem that she needed outside help with anyway.

It’s been a few days and she still couldn’t get what Zenix said out of her head. Or come any closer to coming up with a good rebuttal for the points he raised against her.

She didn’t fully agree with him saying that she was fully in the wrong about wanting to help out her friends. But in spite of that…

“And if you didn’t notice, your little attempt to help? It only hurt him more.”

She couldn’t exactly say that everything Zenix said was fully wrong.

Especially in regard to the last thing he said before he went off to rejoin his roommates. About how lying to Zianna probably wasn’t gonna avoid hurting her in the long run.

That, if nothing else, is actually something she took to heart. After all, almost immediately after, she spilled the beans to Zianna about what happened.

“W-what are you talking about!?” Zianna cried

“Aphmau’s just jok–” Dante tried to salvage the situation.

“No, I’m not. It’s just like I said. Zane and I aren’t actually dating, we just went along with what you believed because we didn’t want to make you sad.”

“S-So my darling Zuzu doesn’t actually have a girlfriend?” The woman was near tears.

Oh no… This is exactly what Aphmau had set out to avoid in the first place.

She hastily explained everything that happened. How her and Zane had recently become good friends, how the picture Zianna saw that had started all this had been entirely platonic, and how the event at the mall didn’t actually result in any romance between Aphmau and Zane.

Zianna sighed, “Well… I guess that my darling little Zuzu having a friend is good too. Irene knows he’s always needed more of those.” She looked a bit downcast, but much better than the state of near crying she previously showed.

“S-so, we’re good?” Zane asked.

“Not so fast buster! You and your brother aren’t off the hook for lying to your mother!”

Zianna whirled around and her demeanor changed completely as she began to chide her sons for lying to her.

Suffice it to say, Aphmau couldn’t exactly say that Zenix was entirely wrong about everything he said. After all, in retrospect, she shouldn’t have taken part in lying to Zianna at all in the first place. There was no point to it.

And sure, she did just want to make Zianna happy and help her friends, but that didn’t actually end up meaning anything. There were still those few seconds before she explained the actual situation where Zianna seemed devastated. Something that probably could have been prevented if they’d been honest from the start.

Aphmau really should’ve fought back against Dante’s suggestion of lying to Zianna the way that they did.

She only wanted to help and make people happy, but it didn’t work out.

Which isn’t all that different from what happened at the mall with Garroth and Laurance…

So… she’s not sure if maybe Zenix had a point when he criticized what she did with Garroth and Laurance.

She doesn’t want to think that it was wrong. After all, what’s wrong with trying to fix things where stuff between friends ends up awkward? (Ignoring that it all blew up really badly)

“Ugh… I really need my friends here.”

Suddenly, Celestia perked up and jumped off Aphmau’s lap. The small dog then began to run out of the room and down the stairs.

Oh! That must mean one of her friends arrived!

She followed her dog to the first floor of the house and just as she was about to open the door, the bell rang.

She quickly opened it and right outside were both Aaron and Zane.

“Oh, you both came together, great!”

“We just happened to run into each other as we were getting here.”

Before Aphmau could respond, Celestia ran out between her legs and started jumping up against Aaron to get his attention. The tall man responded by leaning down and petting the puppy.

“Hey little girl. How are ya? Feeling nice and energetic? That’s great.” Celestia barked happily at the attention she was receiving from Aaron.

Zane was side-eyeing Aaron a little bit.

Yeah, Aphmau could admit that it was a bit weird sometimes to see a guy as large and generally stoic as Aaron be so earnest and sweet around small animals. But more importantly…

“I swear, she loves you more than she loves me.”

“I’m sure that’s not true. Come on Celestia, go give some love to your mommy.” Despite Aaron’s attempts, Celestia continued to give all her attention to him. Like always.

“As… important as this is. Aphmau, why’d you call us over? It sounded like it was something important.”

Right. She needed to ask them their opinion on the… situation.

“Come on in, I’ll explain in my room.”

The two men stepped in and Aphmau closed the door after picking up Celestia.

As she led them up, Aphmau started to explain why she called them over.

“The thing is–”

“I didn’t know you invited guests over,” Katelyn interrupted from atop the stairs.

Neither Aaron nor Zane said anything to greet Katelyn, so Aphmau was trusting their politeness and assuming they waved at her.

“I needed some advice so I asked them to come so they could help me with something. I… I think I might’ve messed up and I needed people who wouldn’t sugarcoat things. Actually… Katelyn, I think I could use your help too. Mind hearing me out a bit?”

Katelyn shrugged, “Sure, I’m free for a little bit. What’d you do?”

“Let’s go to my room so we can sit down and I can explain everything.”

The four arrived back at her room and sat down on the floor. Aaron was sitting across from her, and Zane and Katelyn were across from each other.

As soon as Aphmau sat and let Celestia out of her arms, the puppy went and curled up on Aaron’s lap. Little traitor.

“So, what’d you need our advice for?” Katelyn asked.

“You remember the group date thing we did at the mall, right?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Well… I wasn’t entirely honest about my reasons for inviting so many people.”

“Is this about that favor you asked me to do for you?” Zane asked.

Aphmau nodded hesitantly.

“What favor?” Katelyn asked. She looked completely confused at that. She was the only one, given out of the people in the room, Katleyn was the only one who wasn’t aware of Aphmau’s… other goals during the date.

“I might have… sort of… maybe… asked some of our friends to pair up in ways that would make Garroth and Laurance end up together.” Her voice got weaker as the sentence went on.

Aaron looked up from where he was petting Celestia. “Wait a minute, I thought you just wanted a buffer between you and Garroth so he wouldn’t try getting together with you.”

“That was a little bit of it. But I was mostly trying to make sure that Garroth and Laurance would end up paired together for the day.”

“Why’d you do that?” Katelyn asked.

“Well, you know how when we did Romeo and Juliet things went wrong at the end?”

“Yes,” Katelyn said tersely with her fist clenched.

“After their kiss, I noticed that things between them got… awkward.” She still remembers that pressure she felt that day. Which she now knows was probably a result of Laurance’s internal magic. She still didn’t know how to handle that entire mess. Laurance looked so angry both times. If it wasn’t for his roommates snapping him out of that mood…

She doesn’t know if she was safe in those moments.

“So you what? Forced them to spend together hoping that it would fix things?” Zane asked after Aphmau spent a few moments too long without saying anything.

Right! She was still explaining what happened and why she needed advice. She had no time to dwell on the other things she’d learnt.

“Yeah, kinda. But it didn’t really go over well. The two found me alone while Aaron was at the restroom, and long story short I ended up telling them the truth. Garroth forgave me, but Laurence was… really angry at me.”

“I mean, yeah. That makes sense. I’d probably be pretty annoyed if someone I didn’t know that well butted into my personal business like that,” Katelyn remarked.

“Um, it went a bit beyond ‘annoyed’.” It felt something closer to homicidal. Not that she was gonna tell them that.

“And that’s why Sasha and Laurance left early? And why I saw you standing with Garroth and Lucinda when I came back?” Aaron guessed.

“Yeah, right about then.”

Aaron had that frown he had when he was thinking about something serious. “Hey, Aph, sorry if this is a weird question, but did you feel anything… weird right before they left?” She did, but that was because, according to Lucinda, she was particularly sensitive to magic and could feel that… thing that happened when Laurance got really angry. Maybe Aaron was also really sensitive to that stuff.

“What are you on about?” Zane asked in an annoyed tone.

As Aphmau was considering whether or not to come out and tell the truth, Aaron made the choice for her by saying, “Never mind. Sorry for derailing the conversation.”

“Anyways, Zane, remember when I was hanging out with you, Garroth, and your mom at the mall and we ran into some of Laurance’s roommates?”

“Yeah… and Zenix pulled you away to talk to you in private. Did he do something!? What’d he say to you, because you looked shaken up afterwards and if he did anything to hurt you, then I swear that–”

“Nonononono!” Aphmau was frantically waving her hands to clear the practically murderous look from Zane’s expression. “It does have to do with that conversation, but he didn’t do anything bad to me.”

“Well, what’d that guy do?” Katelyn asked. “Don’t leave us hanging.”

“It has to do with the stuff that happened at the mall with Garroth and Laurance. I guess Laurance told his roommates about it? Or he told Zenix at least. Because he pulled me away to confront me about it. And we had an– I don’t think argument is really the right word for it? We talked about it, and Zenix told me I shouldn’t have done what I did, and that it was wrong of me to do that because I’m not close to Laurance. It sort of left me wondering. Did I… did I mess up by trying to fix things between Laurance and Garroth? Was I being too pushy? Should I have just left them to sort it out by themselves?”

“...I think you might’ve been a little bit too forceful with your attempts to help,” Aaron admitted.

“Yeah, you definitely didn’t need to butt in there. Your intentions were great, but I’m not sure you thought this out the best,” Katelyn admitted.

So they agreed with Zenix then… she messed up in meddling with her friends like that.

“Now hold on just a second there. Sure, maybe things didn’t pan out the way Aphmau expected, but I don’t think Zenix’s point is fully right either.”

“Really?” Katelyn wrinkled her nose at Zane, “I would’ve thought that you of all people would’ve agreed with what Zenix said about letting people deal with their own stuff, with how you seemingly went out of your way to make people not want to be around you.”

“That was years ago now. Learn to move on,” Zane said flippantly.

“No! You were a jerk all throughout high school that messed with both Aphmau and my little brother. And I feel like the only reason you don’t still pull similar shit is because you know that now that we’re adults, it’d be embarrassing. Do you even regret the things you did back then?”

Ah, this is why she hadn’t invited Katelyn initially. Because something like this might happen.

“Katelyn, it’s fine–” Aphmau tried to reassure.

“Hell no! Has he even apologized for the things he did to mess with you specifically? Like when he started putting graffiti around town and tried to leave you with the blame. Or how about the many times he made you do his schoolwork for him. The garbage he used to put in people’s lockers? Including yours!”

Both she and Zane were wincing at the things that Katelyn was saying.

Because the truth was that Zane hadn’t actually apologized for the things he did in high school. Not that she really needed or expected an apology! But it didn’t exactly help against Katelyn’s argument.

“Ok, let’s stop this here. Aphmau asked us to be here so we can give her advice. We shouldn’t derail things like this,” Aaron stepped in. When it was clear no one was gonna speak up without prompting, Aaron said, “Ok, Zane. What was the point you were trying to make?”

“What I was gonna say was that I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with what Aphmau did. Sure, maybe his points sound good because of how things ended up going, but Zenix is saying that with hindsight. If things had gone like Aphmau hoped, would he still be saying the same things?”

“Even if things had happened like that, his points about Aphmau not knowing Laurance well and butting in are still true,” Aaron pointed out.

“Yeah, but is that necessarily a bad thing?” Zane argued.

“Huh?” Three identical sounds of confusion left the mouths of the other three occupants of the room.

“Aphmau, you asked us if you were pushy, and my answer to that is yes. Sometimes you are pushy. I’m sure these two can agree with me there.” Katelyn and Aaron both nodded hesitantly, a bit of a grimace clear on Aaron’s face.

“I don’t get what the point is here, but thank you for the honesty.”

“The point is that you can be pushy sometimes, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing.”

“You’re not making a lot of sense you know,” Katelyn said in an annoyed tone.

Zane took a breath. “Look, I’m only going to say this once, so listen closely. I… I had fun at the arcade and I’m glad you invited me with the rest of the group.” Zane’s blush was bright enough that it peeked out from behind his mask. “I wouldn’t have gone if you hadn’t pushed me to go. And let me tell you, you were pushy, but in the end I’m happy I went. So yeah, you can definitely be pushy, but that’s not always a bad thing.”

“But it’s not always good, either,” Katelyn cut in. “The fact that it worked out with Zane doesn’t mean you should ignore what happened with Garroth and Laurance.”

“I’m not. I’m just saying that Aphmau shouldn’t be feeling down about how things went, and that there's nothing inherently wrong with what she did.”

“Fine. I agree that Aphmau wallowing in guilt won’t help things. But she still messed up with Garroth and Laurance. She asked us to give advice and coddling her like that doesn’t do anything productive!”

Both were getting more and more heated while Aaron sat in between them, shrinking in on himself slightly.

“And I am giving her my advice. I’m being a supportive friend and comforting her. And what you’re saying about Garroth and Laurance is being said in hindsight. When she actually did it, she had no way to know how things were going to end up. She shouldn’t be blamed for that.”

She was getting kinda tired of them speaking like she wasn’t even present.

“Ok, I think both of you made your points.”

Both Katelyn and Zane shut up, but now they were glaring at each other. Good, they could move on then.

“Aaron, do you have any advice to give?”

“Yeah, one-eye and me already gave our thoughts. You have any opinions on it?” Katelyn asked.

Aaron was silent for a bit, but Aphmau could tell he was mulling it over.

“I… I think you should’ve thought it out a little bit more,” he said after some deliberation.

“Huh?”

“Your plan didn’t seem like you put a lot of thought into it. I get you just wanted to help, and Zane’s right in saying there isn’t anything wrong with that.”

“Ha! See? He agrees with–”

“But,” Aaron stressed, “like Katelyn said, it doesn’t change that it went wrong. And… that probably could’ve been avoided if you came up with something that was less… intrusive?”

She should’ve thought about it more… Yeah, if nothing else, that was probably true.

“Thanks, all of you. I’ll think about what you all said.” Then she clapped her hands together and in a much more cheerful voice said, “Well! Since we’re done with all the serious stuff and we’re all already here, why don’t we just hang out for a bit?”

“Sheesh, talk about a mood shift,” Zane said amusedly. “Say, where’s your other roommate, that pink meif’wa?”

“Oh, Kawaii~Chan? She’s out buying some materials for a cosplay she’s making. There’s this Medieval Festival in a few weeks and Katelyn and I are going with her.”

Zane shot a look at Katelyn, “You’re going to a Medieval Festival? Didn’t strike me as the type.”

“Oh, like you’re one to talk.”

“Well, for your information, I've been to one of those before actually.”

“Really! I didn’t know that, you gotta show me some pictures if you have any!” She didn’t know Zane was interested in that kinda stuff.

“No.”

She shot him the best puppy dog eyes she could muster.

“...Fine. I’ll look through my phone and send you any pictures I find.”

Satisfied with that knowledge, Aphmau turned to Aaron, who was back to petting Celestia.

“You’ve never been to one Aaron, right?” The man shook his head. “Do you want to? I can send you the website with the date so you can buy tickets if you want.”

“...I’ll think about it.”

Great! Aphmau’s thoughts turned to her other friends and wondered if they’d like to go too. She can guess Travis would enjoy it, given he was free. But maybe his roommates would too. Oh, that’d be such a fun thing to do with her friends!

Chapter Text

Laurance was sitting on the couch of their living room with a book when the doorbell rang.

Laurance stood to open the door, but spotted Sasha on the stairs clearly about to flee up the stairs so she didn’t have to open it. He made eye contact with her. She made eye contact with him.

He was not going to give up on this one.

Finally, after a few seconds, Sasha heaved a large sigh, and walked down the stairs towards the door.

Laurance sat back down and picked his book back up.

He heard Sasha open the door, only for it to shut close almost immediately.

“Sasha, what was that?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

Even from the living room, Laurance could hear the insistent knocks.

“Sasha, seriously-”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Laurance sighed and closed his eyes to concentrate. He focused his senses onto perceiving the magic of whoever was standing outside. It’d only be useful if it belonged to someone he recognized, but he still wanted to check who it–

It was Aphmau. It was Aphmau who was standing on the other side of the door.

He now understood why Sasha had closed it so quickly.

Laurance let out a heavy sigh.

He wasn’t sure she’d let up if she didn’t get an actual response to whatever it is she wanted.

Laurance stood up, walked to the door, stepped past Sasha, and opened it.

Just as he was about to ask what Aphmau wanted, he got interrupted by the person in front of him. “I’m so sorry!”

Huh?

“Uh… Thank you?”

“Do you– do you forgive me?”

Laurance opened his mouth to respond but realized that he wasn’t actually sure that he did. After his fight with Zenix, he’s been thinking about what he felt towards Aphmau at the moment. Past the initial rush of anger and indignation that came from her butting into his issues as well as his… complicated feelings about Garroth.

And what he’s found is that while the anger is there, calmer than it was before, but still present, his feelings are more complex than that. He just still wasn’t fully sure in what way exactly.

“Could you explain what was going on in your mind when you made that plan?”

“Of course, but it isn’t really more complicated than what I said at the mall. I noticed that things were sort of weird between you and Garroth ever since the kiss. And I thought that if you were stuck together for a bit you’d end up talking it out.” Aphmau's eyes were looking down as she said it, clearly feeling some sort of shame about it.

Laurance was doing his best to ignore the part of himself that was enjoying seeing that shame.

To distract himself from that, Laurance asked about something that’s been bugging him since he learned about what Aphmau had done.

“That excuse you gave about it being a way to help Travis ask Katelyn out, was that just a lie to get me to come?”

Aphmau’s eyes widened and she scrambled to explain that part. “Nonono, that part was real! The original reason I set up the event was to help Travis. The things with you and Garroth was something I came up with afterwards. I was just sort of… trying to get two birds with one stone?” Her voice was shaky and unsure at the end.

Well, at least he knew she hadn’t lied about that. Which was… something.

“Why did you do it like that then?” Sasha asked.

“Huh?”

“If you just wanted to get Garroth and Laurance to resolve their issue, you could’ve just confronted one of them directly and told them you think they should talk it out. There was no need to do things the way you did,” she pointed out.

“Well, when KC kept bringing it up when Laurance came to my house that one time he looked really upset. So I thought that if I asked him directly, he’d get angry or something.”

Ok, Laurance couldn’t exactly say that Aphmau was wrong with that assumption. But still…

“Then why did you try getting involved at all if you wanted to avoid upsetting him?” Sasha asked.

“Well, I didn’t want to just let things continue like they were! I just thought it was my job as Garroth’s friend to try and help him out with that.”

That was the most infuriating— no, that wouldn’t get him anywhere. It was annoying that she was so self-righteous about it. But getting angry and blowing up wouldn’t get him anywhere.

Laurance took a deep breath and asked, “Then why not just talk to him alone and encourage him to do something himself? I’m pretty sure that he’d do most things you ask with that crush of–”

Shit! He hadn't meant to expose Garroth’s feelings like that. He was pretty sure that Garroth hadn’t outright told Aphmau and he’d gone and revealed it in his place. Fuck, Garroth would be pissed if he found out. And how wouldn’t he? Laurance was sure that whenever Aphmau and Garroth next saw each other she’d tell him she knows and that it was Laurance’s fault.

Ignorant of Laurance’s internal panic, Aphmau winced. “So you figured it out? I guess it makes sense, Garroth is kinda obvious, isn’t he?”

What.

“So you know about how Garroth feels about you?” Sasha asked.

Aphmau nodded. “Yeah. Like I said, he’s pretty obvious about it. I’ve learned to mostly ignore it when we hang out though.”

“So just to confirm… You know how Garroth feels about you and have just been– what, ignoring it?”

Aphmau nodded with a grimace on her face.

That brought… yeah that brought some really not great memories of Laurance’s past. Yeah, that anger was quickly rising back up and he knew fully well how badly things would end up if it got worse and he let it out.

He was sort of fighting for dear life not to let it show too much.

“So, were you just using me as a scapegoat so you didn’t have to be around the guy who likes you during Valentine’s Day?”

Aphmau’s eyes widened dramatically, “No, absolutely not. I promise that wasn’t why I invited you. I won’t… I won’t lie and say that it wasn’t a benefit, but I promise it’s not what I was thinking when I first came up with the idea.”

Laurance dragged his hand down his face and sighed, “Fine, I’ll believe you on that front. But I think you should confront him about that.”

“But– I don’t want to have to let him down like that! He’s my friend, and he’ll be so sad.”

“And your alternative is to what? Just let things lie in limbo?” Sasha asked.

“Well, what else can I do? I don’t want to make my friends unhappy,” Aphmau replied sadly.

Shit. Laurence couldn’t stay mad at this no matter how hard he wanted.

“Just trust me. Coming from someone who was stuck pining for someone who knew about my feelings but didn’t end up reciprocating, Garroth will be happier in the long run if you just rip the band-aid off sooner rather than later.”

“But…”

“And it isn’t particularly fair to you either. You shouldn’t have to deal with the burden of acting like you don't know Garroth’s feelings whenever you hang out. I really do think it’s gonna be easier for everyone if everything’s out in the open as soon as possible.”

Huh. That… felt good. That was a weight off his chest he didn’t even know was there originally.

Aphmau had a look of deep contemplation on her face.

“I’ll– I’ll think about talking to him him. It would be nice to just tell him I know once and for all. Thanks. Well, I should head back soon. I promised I’d help Katelyn with her costume for a Medieval Festival we’re going to in a few weeks.”

“Medieval Festival?” Sasha asked.

Laurence was curious too. He doesn’t think he’s ever heard of one of those.

“Yeah, a Medieval Festival. You know, those events that are themed after olden times with a bit of a more fantastical flair? They’re mostly just an excuse to nerd out about history and mythology and dress up. They’re a ton of fun.”

Huh, focused on history. It was kinda funny sometimes to see how accurate (or more often than not inaccurate) things like that ended up being from the perspective of someone who lived through those things.

“Hey, you still have my phone number for the play stuff, right? Could you send me the information about it?”

Aphmau’s eyes lit up and she nodded excitedly. “Of course!” Then, with a cheerful wave, the short woman left and went down the street back to her own house.

Laurance shut the door and turned to Sasha, who was staring at him with a calculating look.

“You were honestly a bit calmer than I expected you to be.

“Ouch Sasha, that hurts. Truly.” He playfully shoved her a little but to show he was joking.

“Yeah yeah. But seriously, you alright?”

Laurance took a moment to think. That bit of anger was still there but…

“Yeah, I think I just don’t want to hold a grudge about something like that. I’ve already seen how badly that can end up going for me. I’d rather be done staying that angry about stuff that doesn’t really matter all that much.”