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The sun was setting on Island Quesadilla, announcing another afternoon on that mysterious place. The sunlight shining across the mountains and buildings had a warm shade of orange, the very same one painting the sky in a spectacle of warm colors, welcoming the cooler black and blue night sky approaching.
Even after a long warm day of intense sun and very few clouds above people's heads, the current weather was pleasing, almost refreshing compared to the earlier heat. Along with the afternoon, a fresh, welcoming breeze with the slight salty smell from the ocean started spreading across the island. Even those who lived far, far away from the ocean could feel the seabreeze whistling the trees, bringing chills to their bodies.
Such weather inspired peace and calm after a lot of sweat and hard work on those lands to expand and shape the territory as something that felt like "home". But the people from Island Quesadilla had even more to dedicate their bodies and minds to other than the manual work, given that the biggest task they had in their hands, one that many had already failed and perhaps the hardest one to fulfill, was basically being eggs' parents.
Taking care of small, innocent eggs, who could walk but not communicate in any way other than writing on small signs, as young as little kids who did not know the cruelty from the outside world. That was the task that all of them would dedicate their hearts and minds to, even those who were not officially parents to any of those egg shaped creatures. The eggs were children that many of them never had, and after all the innocence and love they got from those little creatures, they were fully devoted to raising and teaching them about all the knowledge life had to offer.
And in that very evening, feeling the last remains of sunlight coming across their tiny houses hitting their fragile shells, an egg had learned a lesson he would not forget anytime soon.
That a man crazy in love could look like a huge fool.
Do not get him wrong, Richarlyson had five dads by now, six if he were to count with the 1% of paternity that Quackity acquired after an unfortunate incident, but as he did not see him that often, he did not particularly think of him as one. All of them gave Richarlyson all the love they got ever since the moment he was born on that dark adoption center, and had already taught him many things about the world he lived in, making him much stronger and more confident, even though he was born much later than the other eggs that came to this world together and had so many skills already.
His fathers did not always have the time to take care of his well being, after all, building a favela from the scratch was not an easy task, even with five people dedicating themselves to it. Besides, there was something more concerning to focus at the moment instead of the buildings, as from what Richas' heard from his conversations with his fathers and the other villagers, there was a huge mystery going on, something too big for him or even for any of the adults to understand. However, that mystery was enough for Cellbit to dedicate his body and soul to solve, staying locked for hours at his office.
However, even with so much drama surrounding those new misfits on the island, all those men would always try to find some time to spend with their new son. One of the most dedicated to taking care of him was dad Forever, which, even though Richarlyson did not intend to give anyone more credit on his personal ranking, had already acquired a special place on his little egg-shaped heart.
The blond with braided hair wearing Akatsuki shorts was the one to spend the most time with Richarlyson, taking care of his childlike needs, asking for his help on elaborate construction projects and teaching him how to successfully steal something. The man was almost an idol for the egg wearing a yellow shirt, someone who would listen to him, give him advice on the right thing to do, protect him from all harm and who was always beside Richarlyson when Bobby was picking up on him.
A hero.
But at the moment, while the child with a white, smooth shell watched from the bed his father pacing around the house, with his gold colored hair loose on his shoulders, while searching for a hairbrush and casually singing a song about his uncontrollable love for Philza with all the passion from his heart and all the air on his lungs, well, he did not particularly look like a hero.
But who was he to judge, after all?
Forever kept up with his search, completely unaware of his son's curious and slightly judgemental eyes, who were watching him ever since he arrived at home with great stupor at noon, distracting the little boy from his paintings. He seemed tired after a long day of mining in search of more resources, but suddenly got a boost of energy and frenetic happiness upon realizing Phill was around. That was a chance that could not be lost after so many days without meeting him face to face, no, he simply had to be well prepared to meet the love of his life and make a good impression.
It was a matter of fact that his chances were not the best. Ever since he realized his flirting was much more than a simple joke between new friends, the other man was turning him down in the most polite way he could whenever Forever would try to approach him, and not even the threat of locking him up on a prison to make the man love him seemed to have much effect on the older man. And with the increasingly soon return of the supposed platonic husband who he was so loyal to, Forever was getting more desperate and worse, more clueless.
But he was not a man to give up without putting up a good fight. After all, he had dried an ocean with sponges for a guardian farm, he destroyed mountains with his own hands bearing nothing other than the most simple tools and had built all kinds of different machines with little more than his own brain. This could not possibly be that different from stealing the heart of a man who was older than him, who took care of two eggs and was very much married, right?
He keeps searching for his hairbrush, trying to send all of those delirious thoughts away by shaking his head, making his long hair spread even more across his face and shoulders, like a soft and gold blanket. He had nothing to gain with all of that meaningless anxiety, even though his heart was already racing on his chest. All he needed to do was to keep trying, at some point Philza would change his mind, he had to…
Because that was all he had at the moment…
But it would be Impossible to meet with the man with a messy hair like this, that would certainly not make a good impression on his future husband. Forever let his hair down from his tradicional braid, which was a complete chaos of unorganized strands after all that work at the mines, but right after letting his hair down, when he went to grab his brush at the chest he used to keep it, he realized it was not on its usual spot. And in that moment, the search for that item was his biggest priority.
The problem was that he was searching for it for some minutes already and could not find it anywhere, even after searching in all of the chests and places from that little room, and his time was passing by like a clock going berserk. So, he finally decided to ask for his only son's help, who was still watching all of his comotion quietly and calmly from the bedside, swinging his unproportional legs around.
— Richarlyson, my son! — Forever calls, turning around to stare at the egg, his voice growing louder in love for his child who had grown so much in so little time — Have you seen my hairbrush around son?
The egg jumped out of the bed, his Brazil t-shirt swinging on his tiny egg-shaped body with the sudden movement. A dark blue sign quickly appeared in his hands as he anxiously wrote down what was going through his mind to try and help his father, watching him pace around the room in a trance of passion, which he did not find any opportunity to express. Once he was done writing, he took a step to the side so the blonde man could approach and read his message.
"I HAVE NOT SEEN IT DAD, BUT HAVE YOU SEARCHED INSIDE THAT BACKPACK YOU KEEP UNDER YOUR BED?"
— Hum… to be honest, I have not used it in a while, so I don't know if it will be there — he replied, bringing one of his hands to his chin and rubbing it on a thoughtful expression, a pout forming on his lips — But it's worth the try…
Richarlyson nodded a few times, thinking that was a good Idea.
Forever had an old, dark brown backpack made of leather, small and worn off, it was his old companion of all times and one of the few items he had in hand when he arrived at the Island, which allowed him not to be that lost in the new place. But when he got a new backpack with much more space for all of his tools, the old item ended up being abandoned and kept under one of the beds at the favela so the other fathers would not find out about it or try to take his most personal stuff. The only one who knew about his backpack was his son, who had seen it a few times, but did not really know its content.
The blonde approached the bed and the egg took a few steps back to give room for his father to lift it on the side with both his arms and with one of his bare foot push the old backpack out of its dusty corner. It seemed untouched since the last time it was used, which was honestly so long ago that Forever could barely recall. This had only raised his suspicions that his hairbrush would not be there, but who knows if he would not find another one to replace it, at this point he did not even care, all he wanted was to brush the long hair covering his eyes and annoyingly tickling his nose.
Forever put his bed back into place and threw the backpack on top of the scarlet blankets of his messy bed, making it almost disappear between that vibrant, lively red mess. There was no more time to waste, so he quickly pulled the iron buckle that kept it locked with a "click" and opened the biggest compartment putting both his hands inside the dark object and frantically searching between old nuggets, glasses of unfinished potions and some old pickaxes made of stone, but there was not a thing that reminded him of a hairbrush.
The man let out a sigh of annoyance upon realizing it really did not seem to be there, and there was no replacement at sight. Despite his small hopes of being a bit more lucky this time, it seemed that was not the day the gods of luck would bless him. When he was about to take his hands off the backpack to start asking his other favela colleagues about his missing hairbrush, he felt a weird texture between all of those hard objects, something weirdly soft, but that seemed very filled, something like…
Like a velvet bag.
All the air inside his lungs suddenly left them, his eyes widening in an almost comical way and his heart almost jumping out of his throat with the way it started beating with all the will it had, trying to pump as much blood as possible for his brain to process the information his tact could barely believe it was feeling.
He had forgotten about It.
How could he forget about It?
Completely forgetting about his hair still down, of his dead and missing hairbrush and even Philza, Forever grabbed the bag with both his hands and pulled it out of the backpack with a lot of strength, making the item fall down to the flor with a loud noise and some of the nuggets fly around the wooden floor, hiding underneath the furniture where they would be forgotten for eternity. But that did not seem important to the blonde, who now stared at the black velvet bag on his hands as if he had met the host himself face to face, completely out of air and paralyzed with his discovery.
Richarlyson stared at the brazilian man, startled by the sudden explosion, the bag on his hands not explaining much to him about all of that and the distant, paralyzed look of the man who was usually so energetic and confident, making him worried. After grabbing some of the nuggets he could find before they faded forever into the darkness of the room, the egg quickly grabbed one of his signs and wrote a message, slightly touching his father with his head to get his attention.
"DAD, WHAT HAPPENED?"
Upon reading the message, the older man got out of his stupor, frenetically waving his head, which made some of his golden locks end up covering his face once again, but soon going away with a huge sigh from his lips, partially going back to their original place. Forever looked at his son, giving the egg a calm smile, one that brought with it a hidden sadness of someone who went through a lot and kept it all to himself. He put one of his golden locks behind his ear, grabbed his backpack from the floor and pushed it back to its hidden spot under the bed, sitting on it and putting the bag on his lap with all the care as if holding a really special treasure, what it indeed was.
— I just forgot I had this bag, I just… – the human of the room took a deep breath, opening and closing his golden eyes trying to bring oxygen to his lungs before proceeding – It's quite hard to explain, I don't wanna bother you with that.
A message was written at the speed of light by the egg who seemed really agitated with the answer he got from the older man. Now he was really worried with his dad's wellbeing, and even if he were to dislike what he is about to hear, he wanted answers for that situation so unusual for the little egg, as he would not be able to sleep at night knowing something was troubling his father. After all, you cannot judge a little boy for his childlike curiosity of discovering whatever goes against the normality of his daily life and, above everything else, his pure will to help his loved ones, specially someone who would go as far as Forever would to take care of him.
"YOU DO NOT BOTHER ME DAD! I WANNA HEAR ALL ABOUT IT, IF YOU'RE WILLING TO TELL ME!"
— You're a wonderful son Richarlyson — Another smile left his lips, this time not trying to hide the sadness and sorrow behind it, his golden eyes turning to the red terracotta wall, distant, as if they could see much further than the colorful, childish mind of the egg could ever reach — Alright then, I think you deserve to know about this part of daddy's life, about a part of me I had sort of forgotten even though I knew I couldn't.
The child approached the bed, rubbing his white, smooth body against the uncovered part of Forever's leg, trying to bring him some comfort, and feeling the fond smile surging on his face with such an innocent gesture. How lucky was he and the other guys to have such a gentle egg as their child? That would be another mystery in his life already so full of mysterious things, but in the end, it seems like the gods of luck smiled a bit more for him, giving him an unique opportunity, to be a father.
His bruised fingers clenched against the soft velvet, the little fur from the bag almost tickling his skin as he searched for the courage he needed to start talking about what never once left his mouth. Nobody knew about that bag and what it kept, no one at all, not even…himself. That was an old secret of his, his dirty little secret full of memories, something that people would perhaps not be able to understand and would find meaningless, but that for a long while, mattered more to him than his breath itself. They would not understand how much it's content mattered to him, they never did, but….
That was his son right there, his creation ever since his first day on earth, looking at him with eyes full of expectations and such care that only a child could have.
If somebody could understand, it would be him.
Before he could realize, the words started leaving his mouth, and as they took their path on his tongue, they seemed so certain that Miguel simply kept going:
– I guess I already mentioned briefly about Brunim, didn't I? — that was the first sentence he could form.
A sign was quickly written. How did that little egg learn how to write so fast? Few days had passed since he left the adoption center, acquiring a name and seeing the sunlight for the very first time. Another one of the mysteries of life.
"YES, IT'S THAT PERSON WHO LOOKED LIKE UNCLE PHIL, RIGHT?"
As quickly as the first sign was written, another one was put beside the first and before the blonde could answer the first question, another sentence had already appeared.
"UNCLE PHIL SAID HE WAS YOUR LOVE FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE."
—Well, the answer is yes for both — he replied, resting one of his hands on the mattress and feeling it sink into his palm, giving him some sort of support to reality — He… he looked a lot like Philza indeed, and he was…
There was a much bigger pause than the usual..
— He is the love of my life.
Before the egg could ask the thousands of questions going through his head with the revelation, Forever continued:
— In this bag, I decided to keep all the things that marked important moments between the two of us, things I did not want to forget. — the small lime green ribbon tying the bag up was carefully pulled by the young man with his other hand, undoing the knot as if afraid that the object would forever fade away if it's content was revealed to the public – I had always taken it with me in my old backpack, so I would never forget what was really important, but ever since we came to this Island, I simply...stopped looking at it… — another long pause — ..It seems in the end that I did forget what was important.
His eyes once again turned to the wall, staring straight to a small brown dot that stained the pale red of terracotta, as if this tiny flaw held all the answers in the world. Richarlyson knew very well that in fact, his mind was flying far away in that moment, maybe somewhere much more distant than the Island where he was born and raised. The young man seemed momentarily covered by a thought of guilt that made him dive so deep into his own mind, making even his eyes as golden as nuggets lose a bit of their shine. That was a different expression, one the child had never witnessed in such a happy face, always full of crazy ideias, and it was certainly not a pleasing expression.
The egg had to do something in order to try to cheer his dear father up, and as he was also really curious about the itens laying on his lap and the stories behind them, he decided to kill two birds with a single stone. He pulled from his bag another one of his blue signs, his best companions when he needed to express himself, put it in the ground, this time right in front of his father, where the words started to appear at an amazing speed for someone so young. Once his speech was done, he lightly headbutted his father's leg once again, who then left the haze of his thoughts and looked at Richas', who took a step to the side and bended his little broken knee a few times, trying to get attention for his sign with great enthusiasm.
"CAN YOU TELL ME MORE ABOUT THOSE THINGS? NOW I'M CURIOUS!"
Forever lost his trail of thought upon reading that, a sudden yet very welcoming turn back to the real world. Like a glimpse of magic, his eyes came back to their usual shine and a small smile appeared on his lips, something so simple, that could yet show so much love that it could barely fit inside his chest. Indeed, that egg was much more than he had ever deserved in his life, and that sweet, childish curiosity about his past was a gift he would gladly accept at the moment.
— Well, I can't see why not! — He replied with honesty, pulling the edges of the bag in order to open it completely, the hidden objects inside of it seeing the light of day after so long — It will teach you a lot about how love works, and I guess it would be nice for me as well…
Hesitantly, his right hand was blindly put inside the bag, and the first object that was touched by the bruised hands from using the pickaxes for hours straight was something small and slightly cold, that created a big contrast with the body heat from his skin. Upon holding and pressing the little object between his fingers, it made a short "click" sound, which awakened something in Forever's memory, who in that very moment remembered quite well what It was. Soon the smile upon Forever's face had widened and lightened up, something so cheerful and full of love that seemed so different from the sad and guilty eyes from before. He remembered very well about that.
Carefully taking away his hands from it, the blonde approached it from the egg's eyesight, who also crawled closer to take a look, really focused on the older man's movements in great expectation and curiosity about what was in front of him. When the fingers of his hands moved, opening space for him to see, a small hair clip appeared in front of his wide, curious eyes. Simple, small and decorated exclusively by some black plastic, the accessory seemed very ordinary, and also worn out by whoever wore it, if the several spots on the plastic were to tell him something.
The object left the egg a bit confused, and if he had an eyebrow on his not particularly expressive face, it would have raised high in that moment to clearly show It. Well, it's not like he could really judge, after all, he was no more than a child and an egg with a broken leg, so romance was not particularly his speciality, specially when he had much more interesting things to do with his free time such as painting, exploring dungeons and shooting around. But, what was that tiny object supposed to mean, exactly? It seemed important to his father, who stared at the item with the very same fondness he had when he was looking at Richarlyson himself or even Philza, so it must be important.
The first sign was taken away then put back again into the ground, ready to be written once again, and time was not wasted on reflecting upon what should be said. The brazilian egg was not the kind to spare words or let his questions go unanswered, and as the blonde himself had offered to tell the story behind those objects, the opportunity should be enjoyed to the fullest.
"WHAT IS THIS?"
— Well… — Forever scratched the back of his head with his free hand, feeling the golden strands still down get stuck between his fingers. He suddenly seemed embarrassed with Richas' mostly rhetorical question, but the man knew very well what he wanted to be asked about. — This hair clip was something that Brunim gave me when we kissed for the first time.
Not even ten seconds had passed before Richarlyson left his reply to the older man's foot, without giving his father any opportunity to keep going.
"OHHH! SO DADDY HAS KISSED BEFORE!"
— Hey!! — Forever exclaimed, his expression quickly turning shocked by the audacity of the youngest to speak like that, but deep down he was holding back the laughter over the bad influence that he and the other fathers were clearly having over him — Of course I'm not! Who taught you those things?
Another sign, no more than a single word, bringing an undeniable truth.
"YOU"
— Oh, that's true! — This time, he could not hold back the laughter leaving his lips in an almost high pitched sigh. Well, perhaps between all the fathers, he had the worst influence over his son's childhood, but who could blame him? He was simply teaching him the main principles a brazilian man should have in his life — But anyway, proceeding with the story behind this hair clip, in case you still want to hear It….
"It was in a day where we hanged out together to fight an Enderdragon"
*********
— FOREVER, JUST ONE LEFT!! UP THERE!!
A high pitched, lowkey screechy voice shouted, it seemed to be much further than it should, being muffled by the angry roar of the Enderdragon, flying up high in a sky as dark as his scales, trying to hit the adventurers with his lilac beams. The sound of teleporting the surrounding endermans were doing between that mess was also not helping their ears to hear their surroundings. But even if low, the golden haired man could hear it just fine, and following what the phrase indicated, he quickly looked at the obsidian stones, realizing that in fact, most of the crystals who could be found at the top and maintained the vital force of the dragon were being destroyed.
The only survivor of that massacre could be found shining and spinning avidly at one of the highest pillars, still surrounded by the iron grid which protected him from external damage, but those would not be there for long if it depended on him. Looking at his long term friend and boyfriend of little more than a few days, he gave a quick nod that was soon reciprocated by the shorter man, who positioned himself for combat, a sign that did not need words for its meaning to be fully clear to both of them.
Without wasting any time, he took an arrow from inside his bag and pulled it against the bow, who shone in a strong violet light from the explosion spell that was casted into the weapon, giving it bigger chances of exploding the bars and the crystal without needing to climb on each pillar with a pickaxe, something too dangerous and troubling to risk. He aimed the flint tip of the arrow upwards, straight to the heart of the grid, pushing the bow's string as much as he could, fixing his aim and closing one of his eyes in order to get better accuracy for his shot. Forever was not the world's best archer, and had already spent a lot of arrows trying to destroy the other pillars, however, when Brunim told him he wanted to go to a trip at The End's lost world to get an Enderdragon egg, the young man barely hesitated to give support on this journey, leaving the toughest part for the lighter haired man, simply waiting for the right time to end the monster's life.
The first shot just barely hit the right side of the bars, the arrow flying between them with no more than a few inches of delay and fading away into the darkness of the Island to never be found again, just like many others who faded during the process. A frustrated sound left his lips, dry from all the cold, a sigh showing his disappointment by another mistake, since even with his lack of ability with a bow, he was usually better than that. However, he did not waste any more time with the momentary annoyance, he needed to put on a good show for his boyfriend and in order for it to happen he needed to keep trying, so he soon prepared the bow for the next shots.
The second and third arrows, unlike the first one, succeeded in meeting its target, one of them hitting the middle of the grid and the other hitting the upper left corner, and with the explosive spell they got from the bow itself, both exploded as soon as they came into contact with the iron bars. The quick explosions made a perfect sized hole into the barrier, which now lost its purpose leaving the crystal completely vulnerable against hits, where any sort of attack would be enough to completely destroy the object which, due to its sensibility to external touch and its high concentration of magic, was like a time bomb ready to explode.
Another shot. Just another strike straight into the grid's hole was enough for the crystal to burst into tiny pieces, shards in various tones of white and purple exploded into his eyesight, along with a huge amount of magic, which quickly faded into the cold air of that place in the middle of nowhere. The last line of defense was destroyed, the dragon now did not have any way to regenerate, and it's only choice was to quickly land at the center of the island, positioning itself slightly above the bedrock portal which was their only exit from that dimension. It's wings kept slowly beating, but there was no sign of resisting or that he was going to leave anytime soon, being completely defenseless.
Now was the time.
— DESTROY IT! GO BRUNIM! — He shouted with all the air he could gather into his lungs in a little less than two seconds, which was a lot coming from somebody who tended to chat and shout most of the time. He quickly turned his head to see the small, slim figure of his boyfriend not hesitating to go against the motionless dragon with all the strength he got, his enchanted diamond sword in hand and a clever shine on his blue eyes, which at the moment, seemed more radiant than the sharp blade of his own weapon.
He was beautiful.
No more than a few quick and direct hits from his sword were enough, since, even with the huge level of difficulty of the task of beating that dragon, the couple was able to make a lot of strong hits on the creature, which not even the crystals were able to recover in time to avoid inevitable damage. They had prepared for days nonstop for said journey, going through all the steps in synchronized, almost perfect union, gathering all the materials necessary to craft their weapons, collecting huge amounts of experience to enchant the equipment and preparing high level potions of health and strength with all their might.
It did not take long until Brunim was holding with his sweaty hands a big egg, as pitch black as void, with little purple dots all across its sides, who shone as much as the deep eyes of the now beaten dragon. The egg shaped object was as heavy as an obsidian block and awkwardly big, barely fitting on the skinny arms of the young man holding it tightly, however, the intimidating aura of said object and the meaning it held made all the work of carrying it back to the base be worth it.
Both of the young men were a complete mess, being unable to come back untouched from battle even after so much time of preparing for it. Their sweaty, bruised hands from their heavy and uncomfortable weapons, lots of bloody red wounds covering their bodies, their clothes all ripped up. However, they had such happy and satisfied smiles on their faces that those small details seemed to not matter at all. In the end, they made it, and that was the most important thing.
— Well, that was easy! — Forever said, happy and full of confidence, as he ran one of his hands through his hair persistently, trying to fix one of the many blond strands of his bangs who had become loose during the battle, and who now decided their new spot would be right in front of his eyes. Truth be told, from the two of them, he was the messiest one, since even being the support of the fight, his frenetic and reckless style of battle would mess things up much more than the careful, strategical style from his boyfriend.
— Sure, it all seemed quite easy for you, after spending over a pack of arrows trying to hit those pillars! — Brunim let out with his typical mocking giggle, which made his voice even more screechy and louder than the usual, as if everything the other man had to tell him was the funniest thing he heard on that day. One of his brows arched until it faded between his light hair, a gesture that along with the smile covering his face, left his sarcasm even clearer than it already was.
The shortest one from the two of them knelt and carefully placed the egg on the strangely yellow floor full of holes from that island, making sure It was right in front of both of their feets so it would not suddenly leave their sights. Then, he got up and took off his stripped, white and green hat, slightly running his left hands between his hair as blond as sunshine, fixing them in a simple gesture and putting back his beloved hat, which now fit like a glove between his fixed strands. Even though his hair was also long, they were no more than shoulders length and quite straight, being much easier to be tamed than the voluminous dark blonde hair Forever had, still fighting to try and put it back into place.
–- Oh man, I am no archer!! You can't judge me, ok? — That was the best response he was able to come up with at the moment, shyly laughing a bit nervous from the other boy noticing during all the mess that he had lots of trouble to hit the first few crystals as he was still testing his aim. Brunim would surely not let that be forgotten anytime soon, unfortunately for him.
He ran his hands against his hair once again, tying his fingers between his thin golden locks almost aggressively and pulling them back into place beside his face, trying his best to keep them out of his sight. However, even with his best efforts, his bangs insisted on rioting and automatically going back to his eyes, slightly tickling him where the tips of his hair were. And that weirdly freezing breeze hitting them constantly, without going a specific way, was not helping their situation, starting to annoy them.
All that agitation caught Brunim's attention, who quickly seemed to notice his boyfriend's situation and could not help but let out a soft giggle full of tenderness for the adorable pout forming on Forever's lips for all the bother his messy hair was being. He could not help the thought of how defenseless and sweet the young man looked at the moment, despite his huge ability, strength and clear lack of innocence.
Quickly thinking of a way of freeing the other from his apparent suffering, he remembered possessing the perfect object to solve that situation right there. He put one of his hands on the left pocket of the long black tunic he always wore, taking from there a small hair clip he used to wear sometimes, when he was working on some project and needed to keep his head low staring at the table, therefore needing to take his long hair out of the way. That would be perfect to solve Forever's little hair problem.
— There, you're messing up your hair even more, let me help — Said Brunim calmly approaching Forever with the hair clip in hands, already preparing to put it on his boyfriend's hair. His move was so sudden and spontaneous that the idea of simply giving the hair clip so that Forever himself could put it on did not even cross his head at that moment.
The other man's golden eyes widened, suddenly surprised by the unexpected and somewhat shameless move from his boyfriend, who was usually so shy and reserved when it came to physical touch. Besides the eventual bother for the constant need of physical touch the shorter man had, as they were only dating for a few days, they did not cross that line besides some mild casual touches here and there, afraid of making things awkward between the two of them, who were already friends for so many years and were still getting used to their new relationship status. But, even if surprised, he did nothing to keep him from approaching, staying still like a statue, almost anticipating the touch from the other blonde which, deep down, was something always very much wanted by Forever, a physical touch enthusiast.
Once Brunim approached enough to be able to put the hair clip on Forever's bangs, their bodies were no more than a few centimeters apart, something that made the height difference between them even clearer, with the man with light blond hair being a few centimeters shorter than the one with darker hair. Besides, it could also be noticed how both men had their breath becoming more accelerated all of sudden, chests going up and down quickly through their clothes, including him, who only noticed how embarassing the sudden intimacy could be once it was too late to back down. Now he could not go back, he must complete his task.
The slightly harsh hands from the shorter man approached Forever's face quite hesitantly, his fingertips accidentally touching the skin of his cheek through the way, causing him to unconsciously shiver and for his cheeks to become strangely warm if compared to the cold of the desert dimension. His fingers softly touched the golden strands forming the hair from the man in front of him, delicately pushing away his rebellious bangs covering his beautiful gold eyes and bringing them to behind his ear, so he could them pin the accessory between his strands in a quick click, the black plastic from the ornament catching attention between all the yellow and finally taming his rebellious hair.
However, instead of stepping back after successfully completing his task, Brunim stayed exactly where he was, and Forever also did not show any sign of stepping away from his boyfriend. Seconds slowly passed like honey melting, with the two of them completely paralyzed, Brunim's hands still over Forever's hair and both their eyes fixed on each other, suddenly clouded by a sort of desire long kept hidden finally coming to surface. They seemed hypnotized by what was in front of them, as if their view was the most beautiful and important thing in the whole world, and in that moment, that was indeed what they felt.
To this day, nobody knows who was the braver one to break that paralyzed atmosphere and take the first step to approach their faces, but that was not important right now.
At the next second, they were both slowly approaching their faces, still not breaking the hypnotizing eye contact they shared, which by now, so focused and cloudy, had formed a bubble around the couple, making the outside world completely disappear. The emotion they felt in that instant, fed by such a strong bond from so many years of trust and repressed desires made sure the two men cared not about nothing else. It did not matter if they were literally in the end of the world, still with the adrenaline from a tough battle running through their veins and still surrounded by some slim creatures with violet colored eyes, who walked and teleported around without a care for the now finished chaos.
What mattered right now was that moment.
Unconsciously, Brunim's hands started to slowly go down into Forever's hair, his touch as light as a feather, coming through the tanned skin of his face until it finally set place in one of his blushing, lowkey warm cheeks, unable to avoid slightly caressing the place with his thumb. At the same time, the taller blonde did not stand still, moving one of his hands to the shorter man's skinny waist, applying light pressure over the skin on his hand, feeling on his palm the heat it held, besides the many layers of clothing Brunim was wearing.
Soon their faces were just a few milimeters away, and the warm air from their breathing was mingling into the tiny space still keeping them apart, making everything around them even hotter than it already was, something that made the anticipation for what was about to happen become even higher. At that small instant, the sky blue from Brunim's eyes perfectly mixed with the gold from Forever's eyes, and if there was still any doubt remaining in their hearts, it all faded away, both of them knowing exactly what they wanted right here, right now.
Once their lips finally touched in such a gentle way, fireworks exploded on Forever's mind, who even after so many years daydreaming about that exact moment, could never have anticipated the perfection it was to have Brunim's mouth against his, as if that was where it belonged all along. His lips might have been lowkey dry from the cold wind, but they did not cease to be soft to kiss and so tempting to bite, the blonde with the braided hair trying to take another step and take those lips with all the passion he kept on his chest.
However, before he could properly think about what he wanted to do with the man in front of him, Brunim took the lead of the situation in an unexpected, but not at all unpleasant way. The shortest one, on an unexpected move, pulled away his mouth from the other man's and then suddenly put it back, taking small, almost harmless bites on Forever's bottom lip, caving his white teeth into the soft skin, something that made a strong fire light up inside of him with no permission. Once he opened his mouth to let out a soft sigh from the warm sensation those bites were causing on him, the shorter man did not waste any time and brought their lips together once again, on a second, much less innocent kiss than the first, but with the very same amount of passion.
Forever's lips were swollen and slightly red from all the bites, besides also possessing a weird spicy but also slightly sweet taste, almost sickening, but ever so addicting that right after tasting it for the first time, Brunim already wanted more and more of that. In search of more from the man in front of him, the shorter man took the opportunity he had in hands to deepen even more the kiss, running his tongue between the now halfway open lips of Forever, asking to go inside. He licked them softly, savoring the soft skin, before entering at once and grabbing the other's tongue with his own without even asking for permission, teasing him while also seeking more of that spicy sweetness, which he barely tasted and was already addicted to.
The hungry way that Brunim was leading that kiss like a man who spent several days in the desert with no source of water around, made the braided man widen his eyes. He could not help his surprise with the dominance the other was asserting over him, taking the lead of the situation and leaving the taller man weak on his knees with the sensation his tongue was making him feel, clearly knowing what he was doing and trying to get him on his knees. But, even though that was not exactly the way Forever fantasized about that moment, he did not hesitate in letting him take control, deep down savoring in an almost perverted way the aggressivity that the other was kissing him with and taking all he wanted from him with no hesitation.
He was not in control, but he was loving every second of it.
He could get used to this.
After several seconds stuck inside that little world belonging only to the two of them, where the only things that mattered were their lips and bodies fusing on each other as much as they could, the kiss unfortunately had to be interrupted, since the air, even if against their will, finally made itself needed and could no longer be ignored. Once they finally gathered the strength and courage to slowly pull away from each other, blushing and gasping for air because of the intensity of the previous moment, a thin thread of shiny saliva left their mouths, connecting them for little less than three seconds before parting ways and going down their chins, wetting their warm skin. Upon seeing that, they could not help but burst into loud, high pitched laughter, something that made them lose even more the breath they did not have left, but that was one of the least important things at the moment.
And on that day, on that lost, forsaken place, where the darkness ruled and the strangest creatures lived, loud laughter echoed through the dry, lifeless land, spreading through the main islands with an echo. It was fair to say that, on that day, "The End" was the stage for the beginning of something else, something so strong that it could surpass even the barrier between dimensions and change the track of many stories.
*********
— And that's what happened, in the end, Brunim ended up forgetting about the hair clip and I kept it to remember that day whenever I looked at it — Forever closed his case, letting out a fond sigh from that special memory he kept, but that he often forgot about, specially after landing on that strange Island, where matters such as time seemed increasingly more meaningless.
Richarlyson, who until noe was sitting on the wooden floor while avidly listening to the story with great curiosity, with his thin unproportional legs spread comfortably on the cold floor, then rushed to stand on a single jump and take one of his sign pals to give his opinion about the story he just heard. The sentence he had inside his head since halfway through the story did not take even ten seconds to be introduced to the real world, and what was written in white letters into the dark blue sign could not have come from anybody else, if not from that child who had at the same time the innocence of his age, but also the shameless behavior of his parents.
"THAT WAS REALLY GAY, BUT IT WAS ALSO CUTE"
— Well, I can't disagree with any of the things you said! It was indeed really gay, but it was also a really special moment for me. — Forever cheerfully said, letting out a loud laughter that made his eyes close, a gesture that, in a way, brought attention to the slight pink tone covering his cheeks, so slight that the small egg was not able to notice. He could not help but feel a little embarrassed even with the happiness from the memory of that day, where he found out he perhaps was not a guy was dominant as he thought he was. Indeed, we live and learn about ourselves everyday.
— Well… — The blonde quickly changed the subject, before his thoughts would take a more dangerous turn for that time of the day, after all, he needed to keep his son's innocence as intact as he could, as he was not ready to have "that conversation" with him — Do you want to see what else is inside the bag, Richas' ?
The answer came quick and held no hesitation, something that made Forever giggle, his chest bursting with love for his little child.
"YES DAD"
— Let's go then! Let's see what we got here — He replied, putting the hair clip to rest on the red matress of the bed, a little black dot between all that red, so he could then put back his hands into the bag with a brand new enthusiasm for the task, in search for yet another treasure to see the light of day and another life story ready to be told to his creation.
After so many seconds blindly touching the bag, feeling nothing but the smooth texture of letters that composed the several messages exchanged by them through the years, but that would be too boring to show Richarlyson. Another object hit the side of his hand, catching his attention in a sudden way. Once he grabbed the unknown item in hands, still not looking inside the bag, realizing this one was sort of small, easily fitting into his palm, despite possessing a surface without any strong curve and had sort of a square shape, as if it was a tiny box. But, what made Forever's heart suddenly skip a bit was its texture, almost identical to the slightly velvet texture of the bag where it was kept, something that denounced the object was covered by that very same material.
It was a velvet box. And it was not necessary to be a genius such as Cellbit to know that boxes made of velvet were, 99% of the time, made for wedding rings.
A memory long lost and forcefully forgotten came to his mind with no permission, breaking all the mental walls he had unconsciously built to keep that memory away from the surface. It was something that, deep down, he knew had happened not long ago, but that seemed so distant and broken inside his mind, that it seemed as if years had passed since that moment.
A moment that had been so happy.
But remembering it, only brought him pain.
*********
— But, I did not come here just for the return of your love, Brunim — Forever started speaking nervously, his heart skipping beats with the way it was racing against his torax. He had mentally rehearsed that moment many times before meeting the young man, however, even all the training in the world would not be enough to prepare him to stare into those curious eyes, who had been his downfall, and say the right words. — I came here to ask for your hand in marriage, man.
The light blue eyes of the younger man, as beautiful as the sky on a sunny day, immediately shone like a flash of light with the unexpected question, but not at all unpleasant. His cheeks flushed in a strong, beautiful shade of red, which could be seen even between the darkness of the night surrounding the two of them.
He was so beautiful.
— Also, I brought you a gift — He continued, pointing to the pink colored motorcycle he had brought with him to the date, in which they also had just taken a ride to mark the return of their romance. Ironically, the pink shade of the vehycle perfectly matched the shirts the two men were wearing, the biggest symbol of love they had, which formed the world LOVE when they were side by side — but I kinda can't carry it on my arms due to my prosthetic.
A pause lasting just a mere second.
— I came here to give you this motorcycle and ask for your hand in marriage. — He finally finished, gulping and realizing he ended up repeating himself between the tension disturbing his heart. However, what truly mattered was that he was able to say what he wished, and now that the message has been sent, all that was left was finding out if Brunim would accept his proposal, if he would become his husband.
He did not know what he would do if Brunim did not accept it.
Five seconds of tense silence had passed, with the other man still in a state of shock about what he had just heard, eyes wide open, the scarlet flush still covering his cheeks as if he had gotten sunburn after a warm day of summer. Until he suddenly smiled ear to ear, showing his tiny white teeth, a mix of barely contained joy and sheer love being shown by that simple gesture.
— God, that was all I wanted! — he replied in a humorous tone, but one that did not at all hide how much he was truly happy in that unique moment — I'm finally going to have a motorcycle!
Forever knew very well where the other was going with that phrase, and could not help a joyful smile from leaving his lips, perfectly matching Brunim's, his chest finally settling down and being covered by a veil made of genuine happiness. Truth be told, he did not even need the blonde man to say yes or no to his proposal in a direct way, he knew him way too well to know all the indirect ways in which Brunim showed how he was feeling without any words, and in that moment, if there was something Forever was sure of, was that through the smile and the playful reaction from the other, his answer had already been given.
— And you're going to marry me as well, right? — He said as if rephreending him in a playful way, grabbing the chance he got. They have always been the kind of friends and then lovers who basically had their way in life through jokes and pranks, and that was not going to change now.
— Oh yeah, well, that's part of the contract! — Said the other man pretending to correct himself, as if that was a huge burden for him to carry, but one that he was willing to accept.
They laughed.
That moment was unique.
— So, can I start the preparations for our marriage? — Forever asked at the end of their laughter, staring at his soon to be husband with unmeasurable fondness, as if he had been the one to bring the moon and stars to the sky.
Brunim approached the blonde in a single step and left a loud kiss on his cheeks, making the area quickly become as red as Brunim's cheeks still were.
He had never felt this loved.
— Yes! — That was the answer he got.
*********
One.
Two.
Three shiny tears suddenly fell from his golden eyes, going down a irregular trail through his tanned cheeks and falling as tiny drops on his lap, wetting a bit of the dark velvet cloth which still laid on his hands, leaving tiny spots in that same place. His hand still rested inside the bag, firmly holding the box between his fingers in an almost painful way, but showing no sign of taking it away from there and finally see it with his very own eyes after so long, since, being quite honest with himself, he was not sure if he even wanted to see it.
Deep down, the blonde knew that if he were to see it in front of him, all the illusion he had created inside his mind about his supposedly true and unconditional love for Philza would break into pieces, and the harsh truth would make him succumb to ruins that could never be rebuilt. But he could not keep running from the truth for eternity, and just feeling the soft texture of that tiny object, which kept the fact that one day, all that Brunim and Forever lived had been real, was enough to shatter a little more a small part inside of him, which had been damaged since the moment he arrived in that forsaken place.
The truth was undeniable.
He had loved Brunim.
He still loved him. He still wanted to marry that boy who was his best friend, just like he declared on that night.
But, he did not know where the blonde was, what he was doing or jf he was even alive, losing all touch with his husband since the day he first set foot on that island, with little memory of how he had gotten there and above everything else, with no way out at sight.
And the pain of that uncertainty was enough fuel to make him lie to everyone, even to himself.
Deep down his stomach, he had always known Philza and Brunim were very different people, and that besides having small physical differences here and there, things which would not be noticed by the average person, they also had completely opposite personalities. Where Philza was a man with a very careful and mature air to him, always serious and dedicated to everything he did, and also caring to the people close to him, Brunim had a temper, a clever mouth and a quite obsessive passion for exploring, learning and conquering each tiny detail about everything he applied himself to.
They were not the same.
The best parts about Brunim, all his personality traits and funny ways, which made the braided man fall to his feet, were nowhere to be found on Phill.
And that was one of the things that Forever tried to ignore at all costs.
Because Philza was all he had at the moment, the only thing left that was remotely similar to Brunim.
And without the love of that man, he would have nothing lef-
Several soft hits on his knee took him out of his constant and increasingly dangerous thoughts, a more than welcome distraction from that dangerous hole where he was almost sinking, perhaps towards something with no return. Once he looked down seeking the source of the hits, he realized his tiny egg was responsible for that, hitting the smooth shell of his head against Miguel's bone several times to catch his attention at all costs, seeming really worried and agitated. Once the egg finally got what he wanted, he stopped hitting him and started taking several jumps towards the sign he had just written, drawing as much attention as possible to the message.
"ARE YOU OKAY DAD????? YOU'RE CRYING!!!"
If the amount of question and exclamation marks were not enough to show the amount of his worry for his father, the frenetic jumps he was taking around the blonde, agitated enough to crumple his Brazil shirt, were also quite the effective indication of that feeling. During all the time he had lived with the brazilian men, Richarlyson had never once seen Forever shed a single tear, and at the moment, his expression was completely apathetic and miserable, as someone who was hitting rock bottom and trying to cling to crumbles, leaving him desperate.
Seeing the worry he had caused on the little egg, which on his opinion, should not worry about anything other than protecting himself and doing homework, made Forever feel a little guilty. He quickly dried the tears that fell down with the back of his hand, while the other put away the box into the bag once again, closing it quickly by pulling the ribbon, making a small knot..
— It's no big deal Richas', don't worry — He replied in a soft tone, bringing a small reassuring smile to his face, which was partially true and partially fake. — I think we've had enough stories for a single day, that is all.
The older man took a deep breath, bringing into his chest as much oxygen as he could in an attempt to keep his mind in place, then got up, the springs in the old mattress complaining about the sudden movement. He grabbed his old backpack and put the bag inside of it, so he could then close it with a loud click of its iron buckle and put it back under his bed, where it would probably be forgotten into the dust until the next time it was of use.
— Come on Richas', we gotta go to Philza's house before he leaves! — He declared, quickly changing the subject, in an attempt to make the egg forget what he had just seen. — I will let my hair down so we don't waste any more time, I'm sure you can't wait to play with Tallulah and Chayanne!
Upon hearing the name of his dear friends, Richarlyson started jumping around with barely contained happiness, the energy suddenly taking control of his body and making the previous subject fade into his childish mind, which was now fully focused in ideias of which games he could play with the other eggs today.
— You can go before daddy, okay? I'm just going to grab something first. — Forever told Richarlyson, who quickly obeyed and went straight to the favela's waystone, his little legs running at full speed in a burst of childish energy which always surprised the blonde, no matter how many times he had seen it.
Once the door closed behind the egg with a loud bump and Forever finally found himself alone into the small room of his house, a tired, slightly sad sigh left his lips. One of his hands automatically went to his messy bangs, playing with the edge of his golden locks nervously.
He was thinking too much, and had to take all of that away from his head.
Suddenly, he started shaking his head many times, trying to send all of those unsettling thoughts away from his brain, a move that made his blonde hair swing around in a colorful windstorm. Once he finally stopped, he felt slightly dizzy from the sudden movement, however, his mind seemed more empty than it was before, and that was enough for now.
If he were to keep thinking about the undeniable truth that the two blonde men were not the same person and that conquering Philza's heart was another desperate attempt to trick his heart full of fear, he would become even crazier than Cellbit. No. The illusion was healthier for him, even though it was a shameless lie, and if he were to keep lying to himself, maybe someday, his play pretend could become reality.
What Forever needed was to stay focused on what mattered at the moment, and what mattered right now was conquering Philza's heart at all costs and having him for himself, even if building a prison was needed.
With a mind full of a brand new and kind of sickening determination, the man wearing Akatsuki shorts turned to the door made of light wood, finally prepared to leave after so many dramatic moments, and he had to hurry, after all his future sugar daddy was waiting for him and being late would not be forgiven around here. However, once he took his first step towards the exit, in the same second he was hit by a little idea as if a lightning struck his head, something so small that could be easily overlooked, but…
Forever turned back, going towards the still messy bed at the corner of the room and searching between the blankets something specific he was sure he had put in there, but that was so small that it ended up fading in the middle of all of those scarlet waves. After a few minutes of minucius searching, he finally found, close to his pillow, a small black hair clip, which the blonde had forgotten to put back into the bag during his insane daydreams to simply hide it as soon as possible.
Without having to think anymore, he decided to approach the object to his messy hair, organizing the little strands and pinning the accessory on his bangs, leaving it as neat as Brunim had made it in the day he gave him not just the hair clip, but many other things.
After tying up his hair, the worn out black plastic of the item drawing attention in an almost unique way between all the gold color of his hair, he gave another smile full of hidden meanings, which perhaps not even Forever himself knew, and finally left his home. Once he passed by the door, the sun had already disappeared for a while, going to rest for his next act, and the sky above the favela was painted in a magnetic shade of dark blue, full of tiny white shiny stars who went as far as his eyes could see.
With the hair clip proudly pinned to his hair, Forever kept going through the red terracotta houses, his shoes hitting against the stone floor in a rhythmic sound, and in less than two minutes of quietly walking, the area where his and the other boys' waystone was had reached his sight. As he touched the smooth stone full of runes, feeling himself be slowly teleported to where he wanted to go, his mind refused to think on what his little rebellious act could mean. However, deep down, his heart knew really well what wearing that hair clip meant.
That it mattered not how many lies he were to tell, and it mattered not how many times he would deny it to himself.
Just like Philza's heart did not belong to him, Forever's heart was not entirely his own, either.