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The Bada-Bing tower was an experience Nate never wanted to go through ever again. Even with the battles being as simple as they were, getting up to the right floor took them three and a half hours. It didn’t help that Buck wanted to search every nook and cranny of every room for treasure regardless of if the room looked the same as the last one or not. At that point Nate was ready to throw Shogunyan at The Ghoulfather's face and call it a day, because seriously, who has that kind of time? (Nate adamantly refused to mention the Next Harmeowny floor; he knew that it would end in Hailey bugging him to admit that he enjoyed the dancing.)
The only good thing to come out of that entire ordeal, aside from saving the world of course, was the singular treasure map Buck had found in the corner of the very first floor they’d come out on. It was the treasure map that sparked Buck’s desire to search high and low for any other treasure in the tower, so Nate didn’t have high opinions of it. Regardless of how and where they found it, it was now the centerpiece of their up and coming adventure.
Nate stood in front of the raft, which was tied to the small dock Buck had built into their side of the riverbank. He had his backpack slung over his shoulder, and he kept nervously checking the time as if his connection to the spirit world would suddenly turn into an actual watch. His left hand was shoved into the pocket of his jeans, fiddling with the keyring he’d hastily shoved in it that morning as he’d left the house. The cool metal was a welcome feeling underneath his fingertips, and it helped stave off his nerves as the time went on. Realistically, they were supposed to have met here ten minutes ago; but Nate had learned that Buck was either unreasonably early or far too late to ever be considered fashionable. Today, it seemed that it was leaning closer towards Buck being half an hour late.
Nate’s finger traced along the edge of a Yo-Kai medal; the only one he had on him at the moment. He would have left it at home, but Whisper was adamant in making sure he had access to at least one of his Yo-Kai friends to call on in case they met any kind of trouble; which was a given considering that he would be with Buck. Nate had agreed to Whisper’s terms on one condition, that he would get to choose which medal he brought; which was why he was now nervously running his thumb over the edge of Jibanyan’s medal. (Whisper had looked so betrayed when he realized which medal Nate had chosen. He’d complained for a good thirty or so seconds before eventually admitting that Jibanyan would do a better job than he would have protecting Nate, especially considering that Nate had chosen his S form.)
The boy broke out of his stupor when the sounds of rapid footsteps reached his ears. His head snapped up, eyes immediately catching sight of Buck, who was running towards him in a way that could only be described as reckless. As per usual, he wasn’t wearing his suspenders properly, and his sunglasses were just barely clinging to his head. His hair was sticking up in every direction, a wide smile plastered on his face, not even faltering when he just barely managed to avoid tripping over a rock. Nate let the feeling of warmth that came with Buck’s entrance soothe his frenzied nerves. He took a deep breath, not bothering to fight back the butterflies that had suddenly decided to nest in his ribcage. His heartbeat stuttered slightly as he watched Buck’s enthusiastic waving, letting out a small chuckle when the ginger came to an abrupt stop in front of him, almost crashing into the brunette.
“G’mornin’!” Buck greeted a little breathlessly, his skin turning gold in the sunlight. Nate smiled back at him.
“Morning!” He said, watching with unveiled amusement as Buck nearly doubled over to catch his lost breath.
“Where’s your marshmallow alien fella? And that lil’ red cat?” He asked, pointing out the lack of intrusive Yo-Kai. Nate’s hand left his pocket, coming up to rub at his neck in a nervous gesture.
“I, uh, left them at home today,” he responded a little stiffly, “I was hoping that this adventure would just be a me and you thing…” He trailed off towards the end, suddenly feeling a little bit self-conscious about his life decisions. The sunbeam of a smile Buck gave him in reply was enough to make Nate feel silly about ever considering feeling self conscious about his life decisions.
Buck said “Whatever ya want!” as easily as breathing, agreeing to Nate instantly. The brunette exhaled, briefly turning to look at the raft. It had grown a lot since it had first been built, with Buck adding new extensions as they went along. Currently, it was a mini pirate ship; complete with a tiny and barely standing crow’s nest. Nate was constantly worried that one day it would break under their weight, but so far it hadn’t. (He was extra panicked when Buck forced himself up into the crowded space one day despite Nate already being there; he’d heard one too many creaks for his liking.)
He brought his attention back to the boy in front of him when Buck pulled out the map; a fancy thing, complete with crinkled edges and water stains. Nate couldn’t tell you where the map was located if he tried. All they knew was that it was somewhere along the riverbank; ‘ the ’ riverbank being a loose term considering that they didn’t even know which river it was. It was detailed in all the wrong ways; there was a particularly well drawn rock on the bottom right, but all discernable traits were scribbled down. There was no X on the parchment, nor was there a circle; instead, there was a heart. One might consider all these signs to be reasons not to go searching for the treasure on the other end, but one bright smile from Buck was all that it took to convince Nate. You’re so gone for him, some part of his brain whispered. Shut up, whispered every other part, embarrassed.
“Did you figure out where the map leads?” Nate asked to distract himself from his thoughts. Buck shook his head.
“Nah,” he said, “but s’all part of the fun!” He passed the map over to the brunette. “Now, I don’t wanna see you summonin’ your alien fellas for pointers, ‘kay? Ruins the thrill of it all!” He brushed past Nate, all but jumping onto their raft, the small vessel rocking vigorously at the force. Nate turned to join him, stepping onto the boat a little more carefully.
“I wasn’t planning to,” he said, “this is the only medal I brought anyway.” He fished out Jibanyan’s medal, holding it up for Buck to see. “For emergencies,” he said as a brief explanation. The ginger nodded his head in approval, his hands already working to untie the raft from the dock.
“So, how are we planning to find this place anyway?” Nate asked, peering at the indiscernible shapes on the map again. Buck shrugged.
“We’ll figure it out as we go,” he replied. Nate felt a little skeptical, but reminded himself that any adventure would be a fun one as long as Buck was with him. He was violently knocked out of his thoughts by a tremor beneath his feet; with a quick glance he verified that it was just the raft moving forward, no longer being tethered by the rope. He rolled the map up and tucked it underneath his arm, and began to climb up the ladder to the crow’s nest. He figured that if he could see the place from anywhere, he would have a better chance with a higher vantage point.
Many things had gone wrong in the span of an hour. Normally, Nate took control of the steering while Buck kept a lookout in the crow’s nest; today seemed to be an exception in which the roles were reversed. Now, Buck was perfectly capable of maneuvering the raft; he was actually better than Nate himself. (It had something to do with physics Buck understood but couldn’t explain; he just knew exactly how much to put into every row to get the ship to turn the way he wanted it to.) Despite this fact, nothing had prepared the ginger for the sudden appearance of a kappa, who looked just as startled as they were to be caught lounging in the middle of the river. In a panic, the Yo-Kai had sent a blast of powerful water straight at them, which had caused the entire raft to jolt, throwing them wildly off course.
Normally, Buck would have been able to get things under control in a matter of a few seconds; again, it had something to do with physics. But unfortunately for him, the blast from the Kappa had made him drop the oar, leaving him without anything to steer with. What was more pressing anyway was the state Nate was currently in; desperately trying not to be violently thrown out of the crow’s nest. His fingers were white with the effort, his head full of prayers to Lord Enma (and Zazel if he was listening) that the splintering wood would hold long enough for him to get down from the height. So far, it seemed to be doing an alright job; until the river picked up speed and everything started spinning. Vaguely, Nate could make out the sounds of someone screaming; though he couldn’t really tell if that was Buck or himself.
The only thing he could do was grip the railing tighter, if possible, and wait until the terrible sensation stopped. He squeezed his eyes shut.
They ended up shipwrecked on the riverbank (or, more accurately, raftwrecked) with no idea where they were. They were both disoriented due to the spinning, and hadn’t managed to track their movements through the river as they went. They’d both sailed down the currents excessively, but neither of them could even take a guess as to where they were. Here, the trees were massive and grew all the way up to the sides of the river, with steep slopes surrounding the waterway; Nate wondered how they ever managed to end up out of the water in the first place. The grass was long and filled with various kinds of bugs, the dirt beneath their feet muddy.
As far as he could tell, Nate was mostly uninjured; but that might have just been the adrenaline numbing whatever wounds he did manage to get. The most he could see were the bruises and scrapes on his forearms from tumbling out of the crow’s nest; but even those were minimal and didn’t hurt much. He was lying on his back, gazing upwards at the slow-moving clouds, catching his breath and trying to get the world to stop spinning. His heart was hammering away in his chest in the most unpleasant of ways, and he could taste blood in his mouth; he knew that he’d accidentally bitten down on his lip sometime during the crash, causing it to split. Beside him, equally as dazed, was Buck. Nate glanced at him through the corner of his eye, trying to see if the other was hurt without moving too much. He could see some cuts on the boy’s cheek, but nothing too major.
“Well,” Buck said in an exhale, “coulda gone better.” Nate let the next bout of silence speak his agreement. He closed his eyes to focus on his breathing for a moment, hands tangling into the grass in an attempt to ground himself. Buck was right; today could have gone better. If there hadn’t been a kappa in the river, they would still have an undamaged raft, and they wouldn’t have any of their cuts and bruises. On the contrary, today could have gone a lot worse. It was a miracle that neither of them had broken any bones or gotten any major injuries; all they had was superficial. Nate let out a small involuntary chuckle, the kind laced with the mania of going through something nerve racking. A tight feeling in his chest unravelled a little.
His chuckle eventually evolved into a laugh, loud and clear and alive . Beside him, Buck wasted no time in joining in, his joyful cheers mixing with Nate’s. They were hurt and the raft was destroyed, but it didn’t matter anymore. It didn’t matter because they were both alive, they were together, and they felt alive. The fear from the experience had washed away with the current, leaving nothing but the excitement and the adrenaline of the trip. They could feel the blood pumping through their veins, adrenaline wearing off as their breathing came out in puffs of hysterical laughter. To an outsider they must have seemed deranged; but to the two of them, in their little world, today had been a great day.
Above them, sunlight filtered through the branches, dappling the leaves with gold. Birds sang their songs and squirrels foraged for nuts. They laughed until Nate’s ribs ached and Buck’s voice grew hoarse, their hands intertwined on the wet grass below them. Their clothes were covered in mud and the river water drying in their clothes was cold; but it didn’t matter because the warmth of their hands was all they needed. Eventually, their laughter died out, leaving them in comfortable silence, both of them recovering their breath.
“How are we getting back to BBQ?” Nate asked after the silence, beginning to feel the stinging sensation on his arms. He felt Buck shrug through their linked hands.
“I dunno,” he responded, “ya feel like carryin’ back the pieces of the raft?” Nate closed his eyes and shook his head. Buck chuckled. “Didn’t think so. M’not too keen on that idea either.” Nate’s unoccupied hand snuck into his pocket, finding the Yo-Kai medal.
“I could summon Jibanyan if you want?” He suggested. “He could get us some help in getting the raft back to the treehouse.” Buck shook his head.
“Nah,” he declined, “the raft s’in pieces,” Nate glanced at the wreck beside them. It was, in fact, in pieces. “We’ll jus’ rebuild er later.”
“So in a minute we get up and walk back to the treehouse?” Buck hummed in affirmation. And then the world completely stilled as they continued to lie there, hand in hand, enjoying a summer afternoon.
Twenty minutes later, they’d both had enough of sitting around and doing nothing. They’d both enjoyed it, holding hands just for the sake of holding hands, but eventually they grew restless.
“Alrighty then!” Exclaimed Buck suddenly, gently giving Nate a heart attack, “I say we start trekkin’ back to the base!” The ginger sprang up, accidentally jolting Nate through their linked hands. The brunette let out a small yelp as his body was partly yanked upwards, and Buck promptly fell over, not expecting the weight. His tumble ended with him partially on top of Nate, nose just inches above the other’s face. Surprisingly, their hands were still intertwined by the end of it. Buck immediately started laughing again, the hysteria from earlier coming back and hitting him full force. Nate groaned softly, an exasperated and small smile on his face. He lifted himself up, giving Buck a small peck on the corner of his mouth. It only made the other laugh more. He pressed another swift kiss to his cheek, and Buck quieted down a little, just enough to press their foreheads together.
They say that love often felt like butterflies. They say that it felt like warmth and acceptance, that it felt bigger than life and stronger than anything else. They say kisses felt like fireworks, that hugs became the embrace of campfires, soft and gentle and heartwarming. Romantic love, platonic love, familial love; all forms of love were to need and to be needed. To want and be wanted. Love should burn; not in a painful way, but in the way that lets you know that you care. That you are able to care. Love should burn in the way that tells you how human you are, that tells you how far you’re willing to go to truly live. It should not matter how many forms of love you can feel; any kind is enough.
Nate had never felt love like this before. Never in his life had he imagined love like this, feeling alive like this. He loved and he was loved; but not in this way. This way was just as soft, just as gentle, just as warm and fluttery as before, but this was romantic. This was not the familial kisses from his mom, nor was it the platonic hugs of his friends; this was something new, something different, and something amazing. He never thought himself capable of romantic love like this; and he had been okay with that. He didn’t need it to live, he didn’t feel it to feel alive, and he certainly didn’t need it to be happy. Meeting Buck Hazeltine had changed all that. It had started out as nothing but friendship; a close bond that made Nate feel more at home in BBQ.
It had started out as friendship, but as time dragged on and it grew deeper, Nate realized that his platonic love for Buck was changing to romantic love. It was unfamiliar territory, but it wasn’t unwelcome; so he let himself wade into the waters, and he learned to float. Being in love with Buck was never terrifying. He was never unsure of himself, was never scared that it was one sided, was never nervous of his feelings. Being in love was nothing like how it was depicted in the movies or the novels. Being in love was gentle and soft, not panicky and nerve racking.
They say that being in love often felt like butterflies.They say that it felt like warmth and acceptance, that it felt bigger than life and stronger than anything else. Kisses were fireworks and hugs were campfires. Nate would agree with these descriptions, but he’d also like to add a little more to them.
Being in love felt like an adventure. It felt like the birds that sang above their heads, it felt like the long grass and the mud beneath their shoes. It felt like the wind blowing through their hair, and the spray of river water on their faces. It felt like the thrill of the chase, it felt like euphoria and adrenaline, and it felt like the brightness of the sun. Being in love felt like watching the stars on late autumn nights and a warm hand in his own. Being in love felt like exploring the beach, it felt like the rain, it felt like the shooting stars and UFOs. Butterflies and fireworks were warm and fluttery, nestling and exploding in his ribcage, right next to his heart. His heart, which now eternally belonged to the messy boy from BBQ, the one whose laugh sounded like off-tune songs, the one whose smile bloomed flowers.
The boy from BBQ whose skin lit sparks, whose hair caught gold in the sunlight, whose eyes sparkled like treasure, who looked at him like he was the stars he adored so much. As if he’d hung them by hand, as if he single handedly caused them to shoot across the sky just for him to see. Nate was in love with Buck, and it felt like the extraordinary.
Nate pulled his hand out of Buck’s, smiling softly, and tapped him gently on the nose. Above him, Buck erupted into more contagious laughter.
“Try getting up now,” Nate said, teasing. The other quieted his giggles and sat up more carefully, this time managing not to fall over. Nate followed his lead, ignoring the ache in his legs as he stood up. He raised a hand to block the sunlight, taking a look around the area in detail for the first time since they ended up there. Then, he blinked. Hadn’t he seen that tree before? And that rock? He whirled around back towards the river, scouring the ground for the treasure map, which he, admittedly, forgot existed. When he couldn’t find it, he turned to Buck instead.
“Doesn’t this look like the place on the map?” He asked, trying to picture the piece of paper in his head. Buck glanced around, his eyes in a small squint. He blinked.
“Yeah,” he said, slowly nodding, “sure does! Ya reckon the treasure’s around here sum’where?” Nate, unable to control himself, smiled widely.
“It has to be, right?” He tried to remember the map, the crude drawings and the detailed ones, as long as the little heart that supposedly marked the spot.
“How ‘bout you look around here and I’ll look closer to the water?” Buck suggested, already taking steps back towards the river. Nate nodded, already bending down to observe the grass with a little more focus.
He reached down towards the grass, sifting through it for anything solid, his eyes scanning over the green for any colours that were out of place. He didn’t find anything for the first five minutes, raking through the grass on his hands and knees and mentally naming every single bug he came across. Grasshopper, he thought, watching one hop away with some degree of urgency. Bush cricket, he sifted through some more of the grass, insects' names coming to mind immediately after seeing them. Click beetle, drone beetle, flower scarab, evening cicada-Evening cicada? He paused upon seeing it, eyebrows furrowed. Evening cicadas are found on trees, not in grasses; and they’re only found in Springdale.
His eyebrows furrowed further when he realized that the bug couldn’t move; it was crawling, but it wasn’t going anywhere. It was moving in place, as if crushed by an invisible weight. Nate reached down and gently picked it up, careful not to rip its wings or damage its legs. He brought it up to his eyes, where he came to the swift conclusion that there wasn’t anything special about this particular cicada; it looked like any other cicada. Must be a Yo-Kai, he thought, placing it gently at his side. He dug his hands into the grass below where he’d found it, continuing his movements until his fingers caught on the texture of paper.
Feeling triumphant, he grasped the page and brought it out of the grass; this must have been the treasure at the end of the hunt. With a giddy smile, he unfolded the parchment, and was immediately struck with a sense of dread when he realized that he recognized the handwriting.
‘ Hope you had fun on your date!!’
So life in BBQ was chaotic. There were Yo-Kai, there were Yopple Bots, there were UFOs and of course there was Buck Hazeltine, who was one of two incarnations of chaos. Nate had fallen in love with him, which was actually pretty on brand for him; he seemed to naturally be attracted to things that were dangerous. The other incarnation of chaos was named Hailey Anne Thomas, and her handwriting was one of the most distinguishable things about her. It was a direct reflection of her being; silly, with spirals and unnecessary little loops, but also sophisticated in the way that told you that a child was trying to forge her mother’s signature. The letters were all on different levels and different sizes, and it was a wonder that anything she wrote was legible at all.
Reading that little note, ‘Hope you had fun on your date,’ Nate couldn’t help but notice the spirals and unnecessary little loops. He also couldn’t help but notice the drawing of a mushroom in the corner of the page. He rapidly came to two conclusions: A, that Hailey was responsible for the poorly drawn treasure map, and B, there was never any treasure in the first place. Somehow, she’d managed to predict their shipwreck and the exact spot they’d end up in after the fact, painting the picture that the treasure they were chasing after was those precious moments of love between them. And that was more embarrassing than the Next Harmeowny portion of the Bada-Bing Tower that Nate still refused to acknowledge ever happened.
“I got nothin’ over there,” announced Buck from behind him. “Did ‘ya find anythin’ over here?” Nate felt blood rush to his face, and he quickly shoved the note in his pocket and whirled around.
“Nope!” He squeaked, “nothing!” He ignored the skeptical look Buck was giving him.
“...Alright,” said the ginger, “if ‘ya say so. I guess there was no treasure here after all, huh?” Buck held his hand out to Nate, “c’mon then, let’s head back.” The brunette swallowed the embarrassment of the letter that was currently burning a hole in his pocket, and took it.
“Haha! That was a job well done!” Hailey exclaimed from her spot in a nearby tree. Immediately, Usapyon shushed her.
“It’s like ‘ya want us to get caught!” The Yo-Kai cuffed her on the back of her head. Hailey just giggled, lowering the binoculars she was using to spy on her friends.
“C’mon Usapyon! Live a little!!” She turned to Walkappa, who was perched nervously on the branch beside her. He kind of looked like he’d rather be anywhere but here, but Hailey paid that no mind. “You did great!” She praised, “that was a really big wave!! Really well aimed too!” Walkappa settled a little at her words, but still looked like he’d rather be anywhere else.
“Of course, this entire thing wouldn’t be possible without me!!!” She was once again cuffed in the head by Usapyon, but she continued to not care about that. Was planning a potentially traumatizing raft ride to get her best friends to share a moment together ethically ambiguous? Yes, but did she care? Not really!! It was another case solved by the Amazing Detective Agency (though she would never tell who exactly asked for this outcome, out of both respect and fear), and Hailey was just ready to start expecting an announcement from her best friends; who were very clearly boyfriends. Well, whenever they’re ready, she thought, her wild smile melting into something a little softer and a little calmer, I’m really happy for them. As she watched them balance over logs to cross the river, hand in hand, she couldn’t help but think of Katie. I should really take her out for a date soon, she thought, watching Nate and Buck disappear into the trees, somewhere in Sparkopolis…maybe we’d end it off with a picnic.