Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Cellbit grew up with his siblings, Bagi, his sister, and their younger brother, Tubbo.

The place they lived in wasn’t crazy, Quesadilla island was a small remote place not very known by the people who didn’t live there. 

Ever since they were young their father had this dream of becoming a baker. Every morning they would have sweet fresh muffins for breakfast, and there would be cookies in a jar every week. It was his biggest passion even if it caused their kitchen to constantly be messy.

Their parents sat together when he did, singing songs together and talking as if they had a lifetime of stories to tell each other, it’s what made their relationship so special.

It was especially in the eyes of their children.

Cellbit wasn’t a baker, unlike his siblings. They liked to help around the kitchen when they were asked. Bagi liked helping stir, and Tubbo liked helping decorate.

Cellbit on the other hand liked to do puzzles while they all did their thing in the kitchen. He tried to help but everytime he did it always ended poorly, trays of cookies would fall, muffin tins spilled, bowls of batter toppled. No one said he had bad luck, but he knew he sorta did. Plus he couldn’t help with anything, especially not when everything was being done already. 

He still got to listen to them sing and talk.

He admired their parents, the way they adored each other was heartwarming, and it was almost as if their love was radiating off of them. 

It made his standard for love high, the bar rising high enough that it could probably be found above the clouds. 

Because of their house constantly smelling like fresh baked goods there were always people around asking for some, and his family happily gave each person their treats. 

Their porch was always crowded with people from around town asking, or ordering, for muffins, cakes, bread, etc. 

With the crowd came other children, many of them were scared of Cellbit, his cold blue eyes scaring them all away, except one. One who wore a messily knitted together beanie, but who seemed like the stars themselves.

He was Cellbit’s only friend.

Quackity, which was his name, was always around, always asking Cellbit’s siblings where he was, always there to hang out when his siblings were too busy with helping. 

And it wasn’t like Cellbit hated baking because of all of the misfortune he caused, he loved it, it brought people together, it brought his family together. 

Baking was their thing.

Was.

One day, on a cloudy afternoon, the sun hid away from the world, leaving the outside gloomy and cold. Leaving every home in darkness. 

Except they had warmth, and they had each other.

All while Cellbit and his siblings were sitting on their couch and told the unfortunate news of why their father wouldn’t be returning from the hospital. 

“He’s dead.” Their mother had said to them, voice shaky, eyes puffy and red. Her usual fluffy, soft brown hair was oily and messy. 

She hadn’t slept in weeks, too scared for her husband to get a wink of sleep. Now she wouldn’t have to worry.

Not with the news she just told them. 

Cellbit remembers the audible shattering of all of their hearts when she broke the news to them, he remembers the soft “what do you mean?” “Dead?” It felt unreal, it felt like there was something missing.

Like one of his puzzles had lost a piece that felt directly in the middle and made the puzzle whole. 

Their father was that piece.

Bagi cried, rushing into their mom’s arms, sobbing into her shoulder as their mom tried to comfort her by petting her hair and shushing her sobs. Tubbo on the other hand sat there, hands fiddling with each other, he was still young, he didn’t understand the concept of death, it had barely entered his head and yet here he was hyper focusing on his lap and his tiny fingers. 

Cellbit scooted over to him, he looked like he was gonna cry, eyes glossy and wet, seeing family sadness had an effect on him like that. He pulled Tubbo into a hug.

He didn’t wanna interrupt his mother and sister, they looked like they needed each other, they needed their space. 

Tubbo hugged him back, chin laying on his brother’s shoulder as he softly sniffled. 

Wordlessly they all sat there, the sky dark, the trees and their leaves blowing in a gust of wind, all while Cellbit listened to all of his family mourn, all while he couldn’t bring himself to get so vulnerable in front of them.

He held Tubbo tightly, just like how his father would’ve when the young boy would’ve fallen and scraped his knee, and he tried his best to strong for them.

He would try and never stop trying.

Now it’s been years since then, Bagi worked as many jobs as she could while simultaneously having a makeshift bakery inside their home, because she wanted to save to get herself a building for the bakery.

It was her father’s dream and now it was hers. 

Cellbit tried to help, but he had a job working as an investigator and that took up more of his time than he would’ve liked. 

Still he enjoyed his work.

Right now though he was sat in a booth of a diner Bagi worked part time at. Across from him was Tubbo, a pair of goggles over his eyes as he fiddled with whatever miniature train he was fixing up in his hands. He bit his lower lip as he focused, eyes narrowed from what Cellbit could tell from where he was at.

He leaned on his palm, watching his brother work, the train he had was red and the front was detailed with a design that hasn’t been seen since the 1900's, at least that what it looked like to Cellbit, trains was Tubbo’s thing.

Their sister was working, going table to table taking orders and running them to the chef so they could get cooked.

When she finally arrived at their table the bun her hair was up in was messy, and strands were coming down into the front of her face. Annoyed she blew the strands away, a pen in hand with a notepad in the other.

“Order or the Boss will start questioning me.” She asked, the sound of exhaustion in her voice. Her foot tapped impatiently as Cellbit picked up the menu and looked at it, clicking his tongue as he tried his best to go as slow as possible.

Tubbo on the other hand, being as fast as possible ordered his usual burger and fries with a Soda. 

Bagi wrote it down and by the time she was done adding the notes to not add tomatoes on it, Cellbit was folding his menu and grinned at her. 

“I’ll get what he’s having, but put bacon on mine.” He tells her. Her eyes roll, as she writes the same things down and just as she’s about to leave he stops her. “Wait wait- Can we also get some mozzarella sticks?” 

Bagi glared at him, “we don’t have mozzarella sticks.” 

“C’mon! What kind of diner is this?” He sighed, earning a nudge in his shoulder as she shushed him.

“Você.” Her tone was warning him, as if she were saying to say be quiet .

He chuckles, settling back into leaning on his hand, waving her away. “Go do your job, since you’re soooo worried about your boss..” 

Cellbit knew working this job was important to her, especially when she had been trying to save for all of her life, but he liked teasing her about hating her job once she was out of the building. 

He also already knew that they didn’t have mozzarella sticks because he tried to get some once while she wasn’t working and they told him the same thing. 

  The only reason why he was there was because he wasn’t meant to start working yet and Tubbo had asked him to go to lunch with him while he had the time before he had to meet up with more of his nerdy friends.

Except Cellbit wouldn’t dare say that out loud.

Him and his sister both had bright blue eyes, Tubbo? A mixture of blue and green. Which made them not as horrifying to look into like Bagi and him but in their family they had this glare they all shared, and it made people not dare mess with them when they expressed it.

Tubbo was sat up, no longer focused on his train as he stared at his brother. 

He looked annoyed.

“What?” He raised an eyebrow at him. 

Sighing the brunette sets his train down, gently placing it down alongside the pair of tweezers he had. 

“You can’t keep pestering her when she’s working” He said, leaning over the table with his arms now folded over themselves. “We won’t get that family discount anymore if you piss her off enough..” 

Because of course he only cares about saving money. It doesn’t look like it when he spends half of his allowance on supplies for his little trains. 

Cellbit shrugged, “She knows I’m just joking with her.”

Tubbo half smiled at him, it immediately falling as his eyes shifted down to the train sat in front of him looking partially done, as if Cellbit could tell though. He settled into the booth seat, sighing heavily.

They sat there silently, looking at the train together as if it were the most interesting thing in the room. Not even the music the diner was playing was any good. 

Cellbit just wanted his food and to leave. Tubbo and him didn’t have enough in common to sit there together for lunch, they needed a third person to bounce off of and right now she was busy working.

The silence was almost annoying, sending a ringing through Cellbit’s ears as he couldn’t help but wanna listen in on other people’s conversations in different booths and tables.

That was until the bell to the diner rang and they both sat up to see who entered.

As if something was answering his silent prayers for someone to make this less quiet, Quackity showed up and as usual had his beanie on his head.

He was one of those rich kids who hung around the poorer parts of their town, he brought Cellbit everywhere with him when he could. They had so many sleepovers in Quackity’s mansion together it was impossible to even tell who actually lived there. 

They were childhood best friends of sorts, besides the huge difference between their lifestyles. 

Like right now Cellbit decided to put on a white tank top on, with baggy cargo pants and a green trench coat over top of it. While Quackity wore a cream button up with a pair of maroon pants keeping it tucked, and gold earrings. 

He was fancy when he liked to be and right now he looked jittery and antsy as he looked around the diner.

Once his eyes landed on Cellbit in his booth he jumped and walked over faster than he had ever in the years that they’ve been friends. It worried Cellbit slightly but before he could ask he was being pulled up the shirt.

“CELLBIT YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE WHO'S COMING TO QUESADILLA TOWN!” He shouted, shaking him around with both hands gripping his pour tank.

The blonde groaned, pushing him away trying to settle back into his seat while Tubbo laughed at him. “What do you mean? Who’s coming?” 

He genuinely had no idea what he was talking about, no one ever came to their town, and especially not with time around when the rain was heavy and caused everything to be humid and moist.

Quackity gasped dramatically before digging into his pocket and unfolding a piece of paper. He handed it to Cellbit, who raised a brow at it trying to figure out what exactly he was looking at. 

It was an article cut from the new paper (who even read those anymore), and in the article was a photo of a man with a fancy brooch on and an even fancier suit. His hair was messy and held up by a headband. The smile on his face was unlike anything  Cellbit had seen before and he didn’t know how to feel about it.

As he started reading what was said underneath the photo the title said “ favela princes coming to Quesadilla town. ” 

He could feel his eyes widen and mouth fall open in disbelief. princes! ? In quesadilla town?? Who in the right mind would send Royalty to a small town like this?

He could see Quackity in the corner of his eyes practically bouncing up and down on his feet as he watched him read. 

Tubbo was still sitting where he was before, looking confused as Cellbit handed Quackity back the paper. 

“I.. A prince?” He muttered.

Quackity nodded quickly, “No! Two princes! And my mom says we can have a big ball as a welcome for them at our house!”

Cellbit wants to laugh at him for calling his mansion a house , but he can forgive him for just wanting to be a normal person, but he slowly nods.

“That's cool..” He said with a smile.

Quackity hums, looking at him expectantly and Cellbit takes the hint as he scoots over and lets his friend slide in beside him.

“I was thinking it could be a costume party!” He said, setting the cut out piece of paper on their table, Tubbo glancing at it still kinda lost. Quackity doesn’t notice this though too absorbed in his rant. 

“Ooo do you think he’ll dance with me? I should dress like a prince too! Cellbit we should match!” He grinned, teeth white and shiny and if it were possible the light could’ve reflected off of them and blinded Cellbit easily. 

“Uh no thanks Q. I dunno if I have time tonight.” He said with a shake of his head.

Frowning Quackity made his eyes go big and round, like a puppy begging for another treat, but Cellbit stood his ground.

“I can’t! I have to do something for work tonight, and I can’t keep procrastinating.” He explained. 

“Aw man..” Quackity pouted as he turned away from Cellbit. 

A bell rang, except it wasn’t the doors, and they all looked up again. Cellbit’s stomach growling in its hunger, he tried not to look too embarrassed as his two tablemates looked at him, Tubbo giggling from behind the hand he hid his grin under.  

He was just really hungry, it’s hard to keep up with a proper eating schedule when you work all night long. 

They sat there giggling at him until Bagi showed up again with a tray in her hands as she greeted Quackity happily and set down their plates of food.

Just like they asked, Tubbo had everything but tomatoes and Cellbit had the same with Bacon. Except there was an extra plate with Beignets on it.

Bagi set it down between the three of them, a little cup of honey on the side. 

“I felt bad that we didn’t have mozzarella sticks..” She said, “because someone apparently likes them, so I got the chef to make you guys something sweeter. Enjoy!” She smiled leaving as the bell rang again.

Cellbit hummed, the sweetness of the powdered sugar filling his senses, but before he can even grab the first one Quackity is groaning with satisfaction once the flavor settles in his mouth.

He chews slowly, and while he does Cellbit takes his own and drizzles the honey on it. Tubbo does the same, but not before taking a big bite of his burger.

They sit silently, all eating their meals, well sort of.. Quackity is stealing fries off of both their plates but the brothers don’t complain or shoo him off.

It takes until Bagi is back asking if they want anything else for Quackity to jump up hurriedly.

“Bagi! I need a huge favor from you!” He says, looking at her with his same puppy dog eyes he tried to pull with Cellbit earlier, except Bagi falls for it.

“What is it?” 

Smile growing bigger Quackity pulled out his wallet, far thicker than anyone’s at the tables, “Could you bring a couple dozen of these beignets to my party tonight? I think the princes would looooove them!” 

Bagi pauses, a look of confusion on her face, before she stutters over her words. “I-I dunno? That’d be a lot of money and a lot of work?” 

Her mouth fell open as Quackity hummed and pulled out a couple of hundred dollars from his wallet, standing up and putting the money into her hands carelessly.

For a guy who liked being subtle he sure did spend big.

Bagi looked at the money in her hands, flipping through the bills hurriedly, her eyes going glossy as she looked up at Quackity then to her brothers.

“This is..” She pauses, swallowing thickly, “This is thousands dollars- This is- A lot of money .. Are you sure?”

Quackity nodded, “Make as many as you can with that and use the rest on whatever you want. I really don’t need this much money.” He shrugged as if handing someone thousands of dollars wasn’t that big of a deal. 

To say Tubbo and Cellbit weren’t looking at the two with just as surprised faces as Bagi would be an understatement.

Cellbit could tell Bagi was really trying to hold back tears as Quackity smiled and patted her back gently. 

Bagi sniffled, wiping her eyes of her tears, “Guys do you know what this means?”

Tubbo shook his head slowly, Cellbit following shortly because he didn’t know either. 

Their sister sighs, “It means I can finally afford that shop for the bakery..” she smiles wetly, money crumbling in her shaking fists. 

His heart started to beat heavily in his chest, because was that true? Has she really reached her goal? After years of picking up dimes and Pennies off the ground, and pocketing dollars from her paychecks over the years to save, had she really reached her goal?

She hugs Quackity, something she hadn’t done since they were probably 8, and he hugs her to. 

Cellbit watches, not knowing how to react or what else to do. They were gonna make their father’s dream come true.. 

“Are you sure?” He says hesitantly, sliding out of his spot in the booth and standing in front of her. 

He was nowhere an a canny amount taller than her but he certainly felt like it when he stood up and heads were turned in their direction. 

Bagi nods, “This combined with the money we’ve all saved..” She swallows, eyes glossy with tears, “I can afford the bakery” 

The smile on her face was so sweet and happy Cellbit couldn’t help but smile back. He couldn’t even remember the last time he saw Bagi smile like that before. 

He was certain it was before their father’s passing..

Bagi pulls him into a bear hug after freeing Quackity, nearly bouncing off of the walls as she laughs happily. Cellbit hugs her back, huffing when another person piles onto them. Once he sees it’s Tubbo he puts an arm around him too.

He never cried, at least not in front of his family, he would get frustrated enough for tears to form, but nothing like how his siblings were now.

Bagi was fanning her face with the money, which was a very funny visual to see, and Tubbo was smiling with tears falling down his cheeks. 

All of this happening while Quackity watches with an unsure expression on his face.

Cellbit calls him out first, “What’s wrong?” 

There’s this turning feeling in his chest as his words leave his mouth. Quackity’s unsure face falls and he shakes his head. “Don’t worry! I’m just thinking about how we’ll go about this..” 

Bagi pulls away from her brothers and looks up at the ravenette. “What do you mean?”

Quackity hummed, tapping a finger on his chin as he thought, “Well manning a big stall of food might be a lot of work for just one person, you’ll need help..” He glances at Cellbit and Tubbo, the younger boy shaking his head vigorously.

“I can’t help! I- I gotta go see someone tonight.” He looked around awkwardly, trying to see if anyone was listening to them. Face slightly more red than before. 

“Well I can’t either. My boss has me on a tight schedule this month, so I gotta work tonight.” Cellbit explained, turning away from Tubbo and to his sister and Quackity.

Tubbo looked up to his brother after hearing he couldn’t make it either, his eyes having a look of desperation. As he anxiously bit at his bottom lip.

Cellbit narrowed his eyes at him, watching as Tubbo did the same back, both of them glaring at the other intensely.

It’s a staring contest, whoever blinks first loses, it’s a silent mutual agreement and from the looks of things Tubbo couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer from how much they twitched and glossed up.

It takes another ten seconds for him to finally blink but before Cellbit can even celebrate his victory he is being grabbed by the shoulders, Tubbo gripping him desperately. 

“No! Cellbit PLEASE.” He pouts, shaking his brothers back and forth, “I have to be free tonight! Fred invited me out to get dinner. I can not miss this for the world!!” 

Cellbit rolls his eyes, because of course it has something to do with Fred. Everything had something to do with Fred. 

Tubbo had dyed his hair, making the undersides a yellowish blonde a couple of months ago, why? Because Fred came into his life.

Fred was this tall and lean man, he had albinism so his hair was stark white, and his eyes were the palest shade of blue gray known to man. 

Tubbo first described him as “Bear-like.” Because his lean appearance didn’t match up with the happy energetic personality he had, even if he was a bit shy at first when he met Bagi and Cellbit for the first time.

Cellbit had told him to calm down and it worked but the poor boy was still stiff in the shoulders.

Nowadays Tubbo was always with him, and if Cellbit hadn’t agreed to lunch it would’ve been Fred here instead. (Or maybe that was why he was here instead to begin with, Fred was busy for lunch.)

His sweet little brother and his dumb ‘not’ boyfriend having plans is the only reason he sighed defeatedly. 

“Fine.” 

Tubbo cheered, throwing his hands up into the air before smiling widely. “Yes! Thank you thank you thank you!!” 

Cellbit rolls his eyes at him, even though he’s annoyed he still smiles at him. Glad he could be so happy about being able to still see Fred. 

Bagi laughs at their brother, covering her smile as she does so. Then she looks at Cellbit and her smile softens to something fond.

“Are you sure you can help tonight? I can always find someone else to help.” She says.

He nods back, “No it’s fine. I’ll help you tonight.” He gives her a reassuring hug.

Because he was truly happy that they could make a family dream come true.

This meant the world to Bagi, and if it meant the world to her it meant the world to him and Tubbo too.

She hugs him back, squeezing his shoulders tightly, her smile now so wide it looks like it hurts once they pull apart.

Then there was Quackity again.

“Alright! I need you guys to dress up. It’s a costume party after all. I say go for something royal? I’m gonna dress up like a prince!” He grins, posing dumbly by putting his hands under his chin and leaning slightly forward.

It was an obvious choice. Being the richest person in town and somehow convincing the prince to come to your party, it made sense for him to at least match.

Bagi hummed, nodding as she looked back to the counter when a bell rings and there’s shouting for her. She turns back to hand Cellbit the cash.

“We’ll discuss our outfits later. I gotta finish my shift!” She waves as she rushes away. 

She got back in her groove in the matter of seconds, taking plates of her tray and handing people their meals. Refilling cups when they’re almost empty, and helping little kids by passing them napkins. 

One in particular was messy with syrup and cream from the pancakes they had eaten.

Bagi always had a soft spot for little kids like that. She knew how to treat them well.

Cellbit rolls his shoulders as he looks back to the others in the group. Tubbo is picking up his train and gently tucking it into his bag and then he’s cleaning up his trash from their lunch.

Seeing him do it made him realize he should as well. So he does. He picks up the basket his food was in, taking his burger out and eating the leftovers of it before following Tubbo and throwing the rest out.

They leave together with Quackity following close behind.

Tubbo stops, looks at Cellbit then waves him goodbye as he walks the opposite way from him. 

“You’re a good brother, y’know?” Quackity says to him.

Cellbit sighs, tucking his hands into his pockets. “I do my best.”

The raven haired man chuckles. “I wish I had siblings.” 

“I don’t recommend it, they're both annoying” Cellbit says teasingly. 

It’s a joke. He knows Quackity knows that, but he still punches him in the arm before also putting his hand into his pockets, except his back ones, and he turns the direction Cellbit wasn’t gonna go.

“I’ll see you later, Cellbo.”

“Adios.” He says to him.

“Adios!!” Quackity says from over his shoulder.

Roier sat in a car, the town flying by the window as the driver drove past everything that looked remotely fun. 

Beside him was his brother, Doied. They matched outfits, button ups and skinny jeans, even though Roier much preferred shorts.

Doied wore glasses, and he sat with his legs crossed and a book in his hands.

They were identical twins, besides the fact they styled their hair differently from one another. Roier had wavy hair and Doied had curly hair that fell over his face while Roier kept his out of his face by holding his bangs with the headband on his forehead.

He tapped his feet impatiently, shoes making a noise on the cars floor, as he had his arms crossed over his body.

He just wanted to explore the town, how was he meant to do that when he couldn’t even convince his snobby brother that exploring would be fun?

Doied liked the royal life because he was quiet and he was always left in the corner behind Roier, who was always in the spotlight of things.

Because he was loud, and enthusiastic! He brought a party everywhere he walked, and he always had things to do and buy because he knew he could afford it.

In other words he was a brat.

Their fathers said so when they announced sending them on this trip, and even his own brother agreed.

They were total opposites.

While Roier had maids wake him up, Doied got himself up and ready for the day.

While Roier had his breakfast served to him, Doied help serve his family.

It wasn’t like he was forced to.

He just always did it all.

It was something Roier always teased him for.

In the car still tapping his feet, Doied sighs and clears his throat. “Could you stop that?”

Roier turns to him. “Stop what?”

His brother glares at him through his glasses. “The tapping Roier. Stop the tapping.”

The brothers stare at each other and Roier stops. He sighs heavily, groaning as he stops crossing his arms and leans into his brother’s side. “Why can’t we stop! I’m so boooorreeedd !!” 

The whine he lets out causes Doied to push him away. Rough enough for their driver to peak up at them from the mirror.

“We have to get to the place we’re staying tonight before the party.” Doied says, “Y’know the one we were invited to in hopes you could marry into that rich family?” 

Roier rolls his eyes, looking back out the window. “But I don’t want to get married..” He mumbled.

His brother scoffs, “Well you have to! You can’t keep being a brat for the rest of your life.”

“Yeah yeah.. whatever.” Roier pouts leaning his head onto the door, eyes watching people laughing and kids running around.

One has a blue headband, like him, and he wore blue overalls and held his brother’s hand, or at least Roier assumed that was his brother.

His brother looked younger than him by a couple of years, he wore a red striped shirt, with a matching headband in red, and he wore glasses.

In his tiny hand he held an inhaler. In his older brother’s hand was a bag, assumingly full of snacks.

Roier wishes he could be that young again, back when Doied wasn’t so stuck up and quiet, back when they were freshly adopted in their home by the kings.

He leans in his chair, sliding out of it slightly.

“I miss Leo.” He grumbled, pouting.

Leo was their sibling, their dad’s adopted her a couple of years ago and he was probably the best thing to happen to any of them. They were kind, and sassy in a funny way, and she had a good sense of humor like their dad, Foolish. 

Doied scoffs again though, clearly annoyed with him already. He didn’t have to come on this trip, he could’ve stayed home.

But he said he would because he didn’t expect Roier to actually do what he was meant to do. 

Meet Quackity, the richest lady’s son in all of Quesadilla town, and get married to him so he could finally start living for himself..

Roier didn’t like the idea of marrying someone, especially not someone he just met or has yet to even meet. 

The car stops for a red light and he takes that time to look out the window again. This time he sees a big crowd and music coming from it, his eyes widen and his heart skips a beat or two, and he can’t help but wanna go dance with everyone that was already over there.

He glances at his brother then to the crowd and then to the driver..

He puts his hand on the handle to the door, unlocking it swiftly as he shifts to push it open. 

“What the hell are you doing, pendejo?” Doied calls him out just as he opens the door, the sound from the crowd filling the car immediately.

Their driver even looks back confused.

Roier grins, “I’m gonna go party!” He exclaims, pushing the door open fully to slide out. Slamming the door closed as he rushed across the street.

There was mariachi playing music, trumpets, violins, guitar, and all of them were singing in harmony as ladies with gorgeous dresses danced to their music. 

Roier smiled as a little kid accidentally ran into him and quickly apologized to chase her friend again. 

Her hair was brown and she wore sunglasses with sunflowers decorating her clothing. The boy she was after wore a red hat and a yellow shirt with green accents. 

He had a prosthetic leg, causing him to limp but he was still way ahead of the girl.

Roier smiled fondly at them before turning to the crowd to watch the mariachi’s performance. 

People are all dancing, and Roier decides he wants to join in. There’s people picking a partner and he slides into the crowd, quickly locking hands with a girl.

She smiles at him in greeting, her light brown hair brushed flat on her head, as she quickly spins and takes steps with Roier to the beat of the music.

She wore a lavender shirt with shorts. She looked like the sweetest lady he had ever met but before he could say anything to her they switched partners and suddenly he’s holding hands with a guy in box shaped glasses.

“Woah! Hey hot stuff.” He says with a grin, letting Roier spin him. His hair is getting messier than before. His green eyes match his shirt. Which was covered in a green silly string.

Roier laughs, passing him onto the next person.

The next person is a short girl with pink and purple hair, her eyes are brown but they look almost red, her skin was a fair tan, and she wore a long black dress.

“¡Hola guapo!” She says, her voice higher than he expected from anyone but it's sweet. “I’ve never seen you around here before? Are you new to town?” 

Roier shrugs, “You could say that.” He laughs and she laughs as well.

He passes her off to the next person and immediately misses her when Doied’s clumsy ass is tripping over his feet. 

“Hola brother..” He says.

He didn’t expect him to follow him out. He entirely thought he’d get the ride back to their hotel alone.

“I can not believe you .” Doied almost hissed, “Our poor driver is waiting for us! Stop this nonsense!” He tries to pull him to a stop but instead he ends up actually tripping and falling on his ass when Roier lets go of his hand.

His fall causes the dancers to stop, and that sweet lady, with the lavender shirt, from before shows up.

“Woah are you ok?” She asks, offering him a hand to help him stand up. 

Doied pinches the bridge of his nose, accepting her help as he stands up. Glaring at his brother.

“Roier, we are leaving!” He takes his hand, dragging him away and pushing past the crowds.

Everyone watches silently, the music stops and Roier can’t help but feel a little bit embarrassed of his brother. 

They start walking down the sidewalk, their driver's car at the end of the street. 

He doesn’t wanna be trapped in that car again, he’d rather continue the fun he was having for literally two minutes. 

He stops walking, causing Doied to stop as well. “Man, why can’t you just have fun for once?”

His brother looks at him, eyes narrowed and the sun making his glasses glistening. It’s almost hard to even look at him because it’s shining the sun into Roier’s eyes. 

“Your definition of fun, ” He starts, putting quotes up when he says fun, “Is reckless partying and dancing with strangers! Someone could mug you, Pendejo!” 

Doied flicks him in the forehead making Roier wince. 

“As your older brother I have to keep you in check. I can’t let you run off all on your own. What if you got kidnapped? That would’ve been my fault because I wasn’t with you!”

Roier rolls his eyes, and practically snarls when Doied calls himself his older brother. They were minutes a part, and even then they didn’t even know if that was true or not. 

They hardly had any memories from their childhood past the ages of 8 and 9. Most of them consisted of them wondering where their mother went and then ending up in their town’s orphanage until the kings showed up and picked them out of the bunch that was still there. 

Doied called himself older because apparently he was more ‘mature’. 

No one even thought to question it because they couldn’t. They had no records up until being adopted into the royal family. 

Roier shakes his head to clear his thoughts. 

“Stop calling yourself older! And also you don’t have to worry about that stuff!” Roier says to him. “You’re being over dramatic, no one would dare kidnap me because they know the consequences.” 

Doied frowns, brows furrowing together. 

“Gods you’re an idiot..” He mumbled. 

They stand their glaring for a moment. Their eyes locked onto the other. If they weren’t brothers Roier would’ve punched him by now. 

He sighs defeatedly, “I don’t get it!” 

His brother raises a brow at him, as if to ask what he meant.

“Why do I have to get married but you don’t have to? If you’re so mature then why not make you marry!” He says.  

Doied shrugs. “Maybe it’s because they know I can be more mature about it.” 

He can feel the twitch of his eyebrows when he says that. Because it still didn’t make sense.

He wants to run off again and hide away in some bar, maybe see if this town had a club he could sneak in because he knew Doied would never enter one of those buildings.

“Let’s just get back to the car.” He grabs his wrist and goes to start dragging him but just before they could even start moving someone appears.

“Well bonjour! Enchanté.” A man says to them with a wide smile on his face. From head to toe he is dressed in this dark emerald green that’s almost mesmerizing. 

He covers his face with a green mask, or maybe that’s just his face..? Roier couldn’t tell, but he was approaching and it intrigued him.

“I see you boys are having some problems?” He says, his accent is heavy and it explains why he greeted them in French.

Doied’s hold on Roier’s wrist tightens but they don’t move.

“I guess?” Roier tells him. He can’t tell if he wants to leave because this man’s aura was nerve wracking. It sent shivers down his spine. “We’re just trying-” 

“Do you boys like magic?” The man asks, raising a hand and waving it around until something appears in his hand. In his hand an egg appeared, and just like before he waved his hand and the egg disappeared again. “Or maybe fortune telling?” 

He says as he makes a fortune cookie appear in his palm next. 

Roier’s eyes widen in awe, and he looks at his brother to the mysterious man.

“I’m definitely intrigued by it.” He tells him honestly, causing Doied to nudge him with his elbow. 

The man’s grin somehow gets bigger, “How about I give you boys a fortune telling before you scatter off?” 

The brother’s look at each other, Roier grins slyly, and Doied grimaces immediately. 

At home Cellbit sat in the living room, it had been a couple of hours and Bagi was home by now. 

She was playing music through an old CD player they had, and he was silently listening to it while she was in her room searching for something to wear together.

“Do you think I could wear something like this?” She peaks her head out of her room, showing her brother the shirt she grabbed.

It’s a dress that was green and flowy, it looked fancy enough for Cellbit to just shrug.

His sister pouted. “C’mon! You gotta give me your honest opinion, you've been shrugging for half of the dresses I’ve grabbed!”

“Well I'm not exactly a know it all about how to dress nicely!” He says, and she glares, eyes looking him up and down from the couch. He gawks before throwing a pillow at her. “Ei idiota!” 

She had a point though, he wore the same outfit in different colors all the time. He wore a white tank or black, with a jacket over top with cargo pants. 

Fashion wasn’t exactly his forte. 

There’s a soft laugh in the kitchen behind him, and suddenly he remembers their mom is home cleaning up. 

“You two.” She says fondly, “You fight like cats.” 

Cellbit laughs. She was right, their whole family were always compared to cats so it really didn’t surprise him that she’d make the comparison somehow.

He remembers when he was younger he would always find stray animals, especially cats, and he’d feed them.

One year he found a stray dog wandering the streets with Quackity.

It was just a puppy and it was hungry, so he picked it up and brought it back to Quackity’s mansion, where he helped clean and feed it.

His family kept the dog, she’s named Tallulah now. She’s a pretty retriever with dark fur.

Cellbit thinks he might see her later at the party depending on what Quackity decides.

Bagi pops out of her room again this time wearing the dress from before and she steps out fully to show it off.

“Give me your honest opinion.” She says, twirling around to show off the flow of it. 

Their mom hums, finishing drying the dish in her hand. “You look so pretty, sweetie.” She smiled, and Bagi smiled back.

Cellbit looks and he hums too. “Definitely wear that one, it makes you look regal.” He grins. 

Bahia puts her hands on her hips looking down at him. “It’s your turn now, c’mon let’s get you dressed!” She went around so she stood in front of him. Taking his hands and pulling him up then dragging him out of the living room to his room.

They enter and it’s slightly messy with papers all over his desk and a few things are on the floor. His laundry basket was almost full and his bed has yet to be made, but they both ignore it as Bagi goes to his closet.

Immediately she groans, seeing basically the same thing until she reaches the back where he has the fancier stuff for special occasions.

She pulls out a dark green dress shirt, it almost matches with her dress, and a pair of black pants. 

“Okay try this on and come out to show me and ma!” She hands the clothing to him, leaving the room and closing the door behind her. He can hear her footsteps walk away and he doesn’t move until he hears a chair pull out from the table and her talking to their mom about her job.

He takes his jacket off, throwing it off somewhere with no care before he takes off his tank and starts to put on the button up. He likes the color green, it’s pretty and like he said earlier it’s regal, but he also likes the colors blue and red. Something about the two gorgeous and enchanting to him.

He sighs as he finishes buttoning the shirt before he goes to take off his pants to put on the new pair he was given.

Once done Cellbit puts on a nicer pair of shoes before stepping out of his room. The door groans as he exits and starts to walk out.

Bagi is the first to look up when he enters back into the kitchen. Immediately she smiles and jumps up. 

“Oh hell yeah! Look at you!!” She cheers, lightly punching him as she takes in the simple outfit of his.

He tucks his hands into his pocket as he turns to their mom and she smiles at him just like she did Bagi.

“Aww.. you look like your father.” She says softly.

Cellbit feels a weird flip in his stomach when she says it. It wasn’t like saying he looked like his dad was a bad thing, not at all, it just made him remember that he was probably the closest thing she had to him that wasn’t all of them in general.

He resembled their dad more than Tubbo, and the only thing Bagi had from their dad was his crooked smile, and love for baking. 

Tubbo looked the most like their mom, with her round face shape and her fluffy hair.

Cellbit had their father’s jawline and his wavy hair and his nose and thick eyebrows, and the way he threw himself into his laugh. All of it was just taken from another and he couldn’t help but still mourn him. 

He frowns but quickly stops to smile, “Thanks ma.” 

He turns back to Bagi who was putting on shoes from where she stood. 

Then he remembers something important.

“Bagi?” He starts, gaining her attention. She looks up at him humming for him to continue. “Isn’t this a costume party? We can’t just show up in fancy outfits..” He says.

She nods, finishing putting her next shoe on as she goes into the kitchen and around their mom, who was now sweeping, to a cabinet where they kept fabrics like towels and aprons. And she grabs them. She walks back to Cellbit with two of them in hand and hands one to him while she unfolds her own.

“We’re going as bakers!” She grins as she finishes tying the thread around her neck. 

Her apron covered her whole body while he didn’t. He tied it around his waist and struggled to even do that for a moment.

“Really? Isn’t that kinda boring though?” 

Bagi rolls her eyes and scoffs. “What did you wanna dress up as Spider-Man or something?” She says jokingly but Cellbit glances at her with a blank expression and she gasps. “You asshole!”

He laughs, shaking his head as she goes to punch him in the arm. “Não não- I’m joking!” 

“You better be!” She laughs, stepping away and towards the front door. “We gotta get going! We have to sign off on that building before it gets too late!” She says as she opens the door.

“See ya, mama!” She leaves and Cellbit follows her shortly after.

They walk together on the sidewalk, Bagi is almost skipping with how happy she is to be able to visit the building of her dreams.

As they turn the corner on a street they see it come into view. The building isn’t old by any means but it has a pretty almost rustic look to it. 

There’s a big window in the front and a pretty walk way up into it.

Outside of it stood two men. One had long black hair, and he wore a turtleneck, the other had pink and green hair with glasses, paired with a white shirt.

They were talking, the one with black hair holding a clipboard while the other stood with his hands in his pockets.

Cellbit and Bagi approached them, Bagi immediately rushing over to greet them.

“Olá! Meninos!” She says, standing in front of them still practically vibrating. Cellbit stands beside her wordlessly.

“Olá! You must be Bagi?” The one with black hair greets her. “I’m Pac.” He offers her his hand.

She shakes it eagerly, and turns to the next man who was already holding his hand out to her. “And I’m Mike.” He also shakes her hand.

Pac turns to Cellbit also offering to shake his hand and still silently he does. Then Mike does the same.

“It’s very nice to meet you.” She says, “I’ve been looking at this building for years !” 

Pac hums, “Sim sim.. You told us you had the payment for it?” He looks up as her as he lifts up some of the papers on his board.

“Yeah! I have all of it.” She nods.

Mike looks to his friend and Pac looks back. “Alright..” He says slowly, “I mean.. You do know this building is in dire need of fixing, it’s been in the market for so long for that reason.” He explains.

Bagi still just nods, “Mhm!”

“I guess if you can get us the money in the next week you’re free to own the building..” He tells her and Bagi looks like she might just explode. “And seeing as you two are so dressed up.. I assume you're heading for that party?”

Cellbit nods, “We’re helping with food. We know Quackity personally.” 

The two men both nod, “Awesome! Do you think you could be able to meet up with us during it to talk more about this miss?” 

“Of course! I wouldn’t mind at all.” She says, smiling still as she looks up in awe at the building.

Mike takes the board from Pac. Both of them looked at the first sheet before sliding it out.

“Take this and feel free to message us at any time throughout the week.” They hand it to her and she takes it reading it over. “We’ll see you later!” They say their goodbyes quickly and Cellbit watches them go into the distance while Bagi holds the paper in her shaking hands as she looks up at the building.

The blue paint is chirping slightly, and the windows are dusting beyond belief. A few of the building steps look rotten, but she looks at it as if it were a fairytale kingdom.

She turns to her brother. “Let's go inside!” She takes his hand and Cellbit follows her up the creaky steps. 

Bagi pushes the door open, it groaning as she steps inside and carefully holds it open for Cellbit as well.

The inside is empty, there’s a few spider webs and there is dust almost everywhere. But if it was clean and if the sun hit the window just right, the building was nice.  

Cellbit turns to his sister, whose stepping further into the building. “We’re almost there.” She says to him. He hums in agreement.

“I can just imagine it!” She says, looking around, “A big display of sweet in the window! And- And a window by the cashier where you can look in and see all we have to offer!” 

She points in every direction, saying all of her plans out to him.

“Oh Cellbo..” She goes back to him to hand him the paper Pac and Mike gave her. “This is papa’s dream come true.” 

Cellbit holds the sheet and reads the numbers and emails then he reads what they do. Their business is called Tazercraft, it is cheesy but he guesses he can’t judge too hard.

Bagi was right. Their dad’s dream was days away from being a reality. 

On a different side of town, Roier enters the driver's car alone.

Chapter Text

They arrived at Quackity’s before too many guests could show up, Cellbit helped set up a few tables outside and Bagi started to put Beignets on fancy cake displays that Quackity provided for the night.

Bagi had paid the chef at her part time to help bake all of them and she was glad she agreed.

After setting up and helping a few others help set up for the night, Quackity finally showed up in a fancy suit, entirely dressed head to toe like a prince.

Cellbit laughed at him as he walked up to their setup.

“Do I look nice?” Quackity asked with a shit eating grin. He already knew he looked good, he just had an ego to feed.

Cellbit opens his mouth to say no, just to piss him off, but his sister jumps in. “Of course! You look just like a prince!” 

“Gracias, Bagi.” He says, glaring at Cellbit.

Who snickers as he watches him walk away again to go greet the guest he had invited.

First to show up were a few locals that Cellbit had seen around a bit. Two men with box shaped glasses with their arms locked together where they were dressed up as Peter pan and tinkerbell.

Then another group came in all dressed up in a farmers get up. Overalls, gloves, hay hats. They looked cute.

Bagi perks up when she sees the Tazercraft folk walk in, this time dressed in apocalyptic outfits. Pac was wearing a black tank top with a hoodie wrapped around his waist while Mike wore a torn shirt and shorts. Both of them with makeup to make them look dirty. 

“They look cool.” Cellbit comments, Bagi nods in agreement.

“Do you think we look boring?” She asks, looking down at her apron. 

Cellbit looks at her then to himself before shaking his head. “Não. We look great! We didn’t have to go all out like these rich guys.” He tells her, patting her on the back.

She still looks a little disheartened as the next guests show up in masquerade masks, and feather blooming. 

“Don’t worry, Bagi. We don’t have to look good to have fun.” He reassures her with a calm leveled voice, and she nods affirmingly. 

A few people come up to their table, taking Beignets and covering them in powdered sugar and honey.

Running around were little kids all dressed in fun costumes, and Tallulah is barking as people offer her snacks from the snack bar. 

All while Quackity stands off in the corner with Cellbit nervously fidgeting with his hands.

“What’s wrong now?” He asks as he serves a little girl with red and blue cheeks. 

His friend sighs, “The princes haven’t arrived.. I’m worried they won’t actually show up..” He says folding his arms across his chest. 

They stand their in silence, the music is loud and people are talking and some are dancing. People are holding elegant cups full of a red liquid, Cellbit assumes it’s wine, and others are hanging around tables and a few are exploring the area.

Quackity’s house had this beautiful garden back here, full of roses and bushes shaped into spheres. There were hedges and trees growing back here and a few have since Cellbit first met him.

Cellbit wiped his hands on his apron, getting sugar off of his palms before they could get sticky. “Calma Quackity. Royalty aren’t stupid enough to not show up to a big event like this. And even if they don't, they weren’t worth it anyway!” He tells him and he really hopes it’s assuring. 

Quackity sighs, “I don’t know.. I was really hoping they would come! They said they would..” 

Cellbit turns to his sister, Bagi is already looking at him with a small frown. Her gaze goes to Quackity and she softly speaks to him. “I’m sure they’ll show up! I heard Prince Roier is very lively, he parties a lot, I don’t see why he would miss out.”

Her brother nods, turning back to his friend. “See the likelihood they won’t show up is slim, Q. If anything they’ll just be fashionably late.” 

Quackity sighs again going to speak before one of his many butlers in the distance announces an arrival with a loud trumpet.

All of their heads whip around to the entrance of the garden. Stepping in, with a red suit on with a purple tie, is one of the prince’s. 

“Prince Roier of Favela!” 

Cellbit takes a moment to look at him.

He has wavy hair, a crown is on his head with a purple jewel in the middle of it, it compliments his tie. And he is probably the prettiest boy he’s ever seen.

He glances at Quackity who looks jaw dropped at the prince. He turns to the table and grabs some napkins that they had set out and he starts to wipe his face.

“Is my makeup smudged?” He asks as he looks up at the siblings.

Cellbit shakes his head, but Bagi hums before walking up to him and fixing his hair by brushing it with her hands. 

“You have to stop wearing that beanie all the time, it’s making your hair flat.” She tells him before adjusting a brooch he had on. She pats him on the chest once she’s done. “Alright! Go get em tiger!” 

She shoves him forward and he nearly trips as he walks towards the prince who was waving at the other party guest.

Cellbit and Bagi watch silently as they meet in the middle and Roier bows to the other. Quackity greets him back with a bow of his own before getting offered a hand to dance by the prince.

He takes it and slowly they start to waltz.

It’s elegant and trained. Almost as if they were meant to be doing it together, it made everyone mesmerized as they emptied the floor to give the two of them space to move.

Cellbit sighs. Even though he should be worried about his work he’s left undone for the night he can’t help but feel glad that he ended up coming. Bagi hums the music softly beside him and for a moment he thinks he couldn’t have done anything without his sister.

They were twins, and they spent a majority of their childhood being close. Not as close as they were with their other friend respectively, but close enough that they both depended on the other a lot when in need.

Nowadays they were always busy, it was times like this that made it easy to actually be close like that again.

Bagi looks up at her brother and her smile is on her face. The same one she had when Quackity gave her all of that money.

“That looks like a lot of fun” She says to him.

He shrugs, “If you liked to almost step on people’s feet then yeah. Fun!” 

She laughs softly, covering her mouth with her hand to muffle it. 

Quackity and the prince continued to dance together still just as elegantly as before the music guiding each step they took together.

Everyone is just silently watching them until Bagi looks around and spots those Tazercraft guys again.

One of them is calling her over by waving his hand, and silently she approaches.

“Where are you going?” Cellbit calls out to her in a whisper and she looks at him from over her shoulder.

“Those guys that own the building are asking to talk, you can handle the bar for a little bit can’t you?” 

He sighs, looking away to confirm that he definitely can. He stands there with his arms crossed and silently wishing no big crowds show up in the time his sister is gone.

The dance is still going on and with how lonely Cellbit is now he thinks it might just go on for an eternity.

Being alone gives him time to get lost in his head though so he guesses it can’t be too bad?

He taps his fingers along his bicep, thinking about that investigation he still has yet to get done. Something about some magic man causing all sorts of issues around now.

It’s trippy as shit, and it’s worrying the townspeople. 

So he has to get in this case as soon as humanly possible. Cellbit’s been working on it since his boss first offered him the case. He had a month to figure everything out before they brought the whole team in to actually find him.

He just hopes he can find everything they’d all need to know before the end of the month. 

At least he isn’t cooped up in his room right now. He can actually enjoy life for how it is, if only for a night.

Kinda makes him feel like a princess. Cinderella specifically. After tonight he’ll be in his room again wondering how late it is or if he’s even eaten in the last couple of hours. 

Unhealthy habits are how he lives his day to day. Bagi’s gotten mad at him for it before, and he’s sure once he gets home to start working again she’ll be just as mad as she usually is when she finds him at his desk with a cold cup of coffee beside him while he puzzles together ways of finding his guy. 

He hears some commotion but it doesn’t stop the two dancers from moving and Cellbit looks up to see what’s going on.

He can see his sister in the distance at that guys table, and she looks pissed. It’s almost worse than the same rage she gets when she finds her brother basically dead in his room. 

He raises a brow at her when she turns to point at their stand of food. 

The two men try to say something but she snaps at them again. Like a feral animal she’s practically hissing at them.

She stood up straight with this nasty look on her face as she started to walk back towards Cellbit, the two men getting up and going after her saying things to her but she continued. 

She stood beside him again, breathing heavily as she crossed her arms like her brother.

“What happened?” He asks, worried because she’s not the type to lash out in public like this.

She looks up at him, her face slightly red with anger. “They said they didn’t think they could sell the building to me!” 

“What??” 

His heart sank to the bottom of his chest, it feels like it’s being gripped for a moment or maybe shattered all over again. It feels like losing his dad and he can’t help but glare at Pac and Mike when they finally catch up.

They both turn to them and they glare.

“We’re sorry but someone gave us a different offer and you know business!” One of them explained.

Bagi scoffed, uncrossing her arms. “You can’t do that! You said the building was mine!” 

Her voice was wobbly, like she might just cry and Cellbit wouldn’t put it against her. She’s spent all her life trying to make this dream a reality. He wants to yell too, but yelling never ended well, and they were still at a party where Quackity is finally finishing his dance with the prince.

They look like they’re talking now and Cellbit has to make sure this argument is unnoticed by them so they don’t ruin the mood his friend is in.

He turns to them all.

“What do you mean someone gave you a better offer?” He asks them calmly, or as calmly as he can, “What can we do to keep the building?” 

Pac and Mike sigh before shrugging simultaneously. “That’s not much other than offering more money.”

Bagi groans, “How could this happen! No one has ever wanted this building before!” 

Cellbit puts a hand on her shoulder, “Calm down Bagi. I’m sure there’s been a misunderstanding, maybe they don’t want our building!” He looks to Tazercraft in hopes that his words could possibly be true but they shake their heads.

“No one mistakes our buildings. They want the little blue house on the corner.” 

He sharply inhales, his brows knitting together. It almost makes his head hurt how much he’s narrowing his eyes at these guys.

“I don’t understand.. how is this business when you basically promised us this!” He says to them still trying to keep his voice low, “What happened to first comes first served? We came first!”

Pac shrugs, “We’re sorry but that’s not how we do things.”

It’s like a snap of fingers when Cellbit lunges forward and grabs him by the shirt. 

They stare at each other, Bagi backing up slightly bumping into the table making things shake but not fall, Mike beside them is trying to intervene.

“Hey! Calm down man!” He says grabbing one of Cellbits arms that was holding his coworker. 

Cellbit pushes him away. A little shocked by his actions to begin with, but still so pissed off.

It wasn’t normal for him to lash out, he wasn’t used to being mad but he was used to putting all of his energy into his work. So maybe that explained why he was so angry that it felt like steam might come out his ears. 

Pac looked at him with wide round eyes, and a nervous smile on his face. “Hey look I’m sorry man! We’ll see what we can do but I don’t know if it’ll be much-”

Bagi steps forward again, “Cellbo let him go! You don’t wanna make a scene.” She said to him, looking around nervously.

He listens to her, only because she’s right, and he glares at the other men while Mike makes sure Pac is ok. 

“You two are crazy!” Mike exclaims. Pac puts a hand on his shoulder but Mike pushes it off. “Who in their right mind attacks someone because they aren’t getting what they want! You’re insane!”

Cellbit looks at him, all of the calm from Bagi getting washed away like sand as he lifts his fist into the air and suddenly he’s punching Mike in the face.

His glasses fall off and he curls in on himself as he cradles his cheek. Bagi gasps and Pac stares wide eyed like an idiot while all of it goes down.

They stand in silence before Mike stops groaning in pain to almost leap at Cellbit causing them to fall into the Beignets table, making dishes clatter and cake displays shake and tumble, Bagi yells something that Cellbit can’t understand now that his back is on the ground and that Mike guy is looking down at him with anger but the slightly twinge of worry as Pac shows up again and yells something at him as well.

The mess is noticed by everyone, the guest all gasping like some telenovela was playing on their TV’s.

Cellbit is still on the ground, all of that working and slouching at his desk basically catching up to him in that moment. He can feel the table underneath him, he probably broke the poor thing because it’s been sitting around for god knows how long, and he can feel the powdered sugar and the honey and all of the other things they had for the dessert set up all over him.

He’s a mess and he knows it.

So instead of accepting Bagi’s help he lays there. Too embarrassed to speak, too embarrassed to open his eyes because when he already tried all he could see where the worried expression on bystanders faces and the upset look his sister had. 

Plus his vision was ever so slightly blurry from hitting his head.

He might have a concussion..

It isn’t until he hears a familiar voice that he actually tries to open his eyes again.

Quackity is over top of him, his fancy suit still intact but his face screams of worry.

“Cellbit?” He says, “Are you alright? C'mon man gets up, let’s get you something clean to wear..” 

He doesn’t sound upset, his expression matched his tone. Quackity never really got upset at people he was close with, sure they had fights, and he was definitely the one who got petty, but he isn’t a snobby rich kid like people think he is.

Cellbit accepts his help, letting his friend lift him up from the ground as he groans in back pain. Bagi is immediately next to him, worry all over her face but annoyance in her tone.

“Oi! Você idiota!” She says, usually she would hit him playfully but she doesn’t, maybe because her brother looks like he might pass out, “I can’t believe you!” 

Quackity shushes her as he guides him away from the crowds, he waves at everyone as if to say to continue their partying, and he gets a butler to help clean up the mess that was made.

He doesn’t say much else while he helps Cellbit up the stairs into his home and they walk through familiar halls and stairways to a room that they practically grew up in together.

Quackity sits him down onto his bed, not caring if he gets them messy as he rushes around looking for something clean for him to wear now that his current outfit is messy. 

“Gosh man.. Are you ok?” He asks after a while of wandering around his room. 

Cellbit shakes his head, putting a hand to his head now that he is starting to get a headache. 

“Jeez.. What happened back there?” He asks next, and he has every right to be asking. It’s his party after all.

The blonde sighs, “Those assholes are the guys that own the building Bagi was looking forward to buying with the money you gave her.” He says. 

Quackity hums, opening a drawer and grabbing a pair of slacks.

“But apparently someone offered more money than her and they said they were giving it to them instead.” 

His friend gasps, “What? Is that even allowed?” 

Cellbit shrugs, “I have no idea! I don’t work for that type of stuff, I investigate people to see if they’re being freaks or something.” 

Quackity goes quiet, focusing on grabbing clothing. 

The room falls silent after that, not much is said while Quackity finally chooses an outfit for Cellbit to change into and it’s still quiet while Cellbit changes into it.

Quackity is sitting at his vanity, a brush in his hand as he fixes his hair because it had gotten frizzy since dancing earlier.

“The prince is handsome..” he says finally, Cellbit hums in acknowledgment, “He’s very nice too! I asked about his brother, Doied, and he told me that he wasn't at all that much into parties.”

He makes another noise of acknowledgment as he fixes the shirt he was given. It’s matching with Quackity but instead of it being the cream shade he was wearing, Cellbit had green.

He didn’t even know Quackity owned anything that wasn’t red or that same shade of cream..

He’s adjusting the cuffs when his friend speaks again.

“I’m excited to get to know him!” He can tell Quackity is smiling from just the way his voice sounds.

Cellbit’s glad that at least he’s happy and having fun.

After finishing getting his outfit put together he steps out from behind the room divider. 

He sighs, not really liking the way the pants feel, or how anything feels for that matter, but he can’t do much now.

“Ok.. How do I look?” He says it timidly, because he isn’t quite used to being dressed so fancily.

Quackity perks up and turns around to look at him. His dark eyes widen and his smile somehow grows. “Oh my god! Look at you!” He stands up walking over to him but not before grabbing one of his fake crowns from his vanity. “You look just like a prince!”

He puts the crown on top of Cellbit’s head, smiling still as he steps back to take in his appearance.

“Really?”

“Mhm! You look like a dream boat!” He teases by playfully patting the side of his face.

Quackity turns back around grabbing his comb and then he’s forcing Cellbit into a chair and lovingly brushing his hair.

“When was the last time you cut your hair?” He asks, seeing as his hair was getting longer than he normally would let it get.

Cellbit shrugs, maybe a month if he was honest, but he’d rather pretend to not know.

“I like this length, it makes it easy to tie your hair up.” Quackity says this just as he grabs a rubber band and starts to pull some of his hair back to make it a half up and half down do. 

He makes a sound of satisfaction once he’s done, and before he can comment on it there’s a voice calling for him.

“Shit- I gotta go.” He looks down at his friend with a frown, “You’ll be ok if I leave you here right?”

Cellbit nods, “Of course, I know the way back out. Go have fun.” He gives him a reassuring smile before watching his friend nod and rush out of his room with the click of his bedroom door.

He turns back to the vanity, looking at himself in the mirror really taking in the new outfit he was given. He really did look like a prince, with the way Quackity styled his hair as well made the look go all together.

Cellbit leaned on his hand, still looking himself up and down. He knew he was good looking, he’s been told almost his entire life that he was handsome, right now though? 

He felt handsome.

Even with his unwashed hair and the gray hairs he was getting from stress, he felt good. He smiles softly to himself.

His head still hurts, and his back does too. 

He might even have a concussion but he doesn’t really think about that, because he just felt happy that he had Quackity there to actually pick him back up and not be mad at him for almost making a mess of everything. 

That’s what made him such a good friend.

He sits there for a couple of minutes, the door to Quackity’s fancy balcony slightly ajar allowing the soft music from the party to fill the room. The cool breeze gets in as well and it makes the room feel warm rather than hot and stuffy or freezing cold.

He sighs, he hopes Bagi is doing ok, after ruining their stuff he just hopes she ran off after cleaning up to dance.

He also hopes those Tazercraft guys got kicked out.. 

He looks up and out the balcony standing up and going outside with slow steps. 

His aching was starting to stop but he still felt it in the lower part of his back, and he was sure he might even bruise where Mike had punched him.

But he can handle it.

He stands on the balcony, leaning over the fancy fencing. There’s flowers in a pot growing, they’re the ones his mom bought for him awhile ago, they’re roses that are a pretty shade of red.

Almost as red as blood, they’re beautiful.

Cellbit taps his fingers on the balcony, looking up into the night sky. Stars are greeting him, twinkling and shining so brightly it’s mesmerizing. 

The moon is glowing softly and it’s calm.

He shuts his eyes, taking a deep breath allowing his muscles to relax after being so tense before, and for once he forgets about his stressful job, or how badly he didn’t actually wanna come, and he forgets the fact his brother is somewhere on a date with that boy with the bluest eyes imaginable.

He stands there, feeling handsome, feeling relaxed, feeling the cool breeze in his hair.

Then he hears it.

The sound of scampering, tiny little pitter patter from his left, and a squeak. 

His eyes open immediately, and his head turns to look in the direction the noise came from. Then his eyes land on it.

A rat stares back at him, black beady eyes, pink little hands holding onto the ground- or the balcony for himself.

They stare at each other, Cellbit’s heart is beating because for all he knew that darn thing had rabies or something.

It’s a staring contest before it makes a move. The rat stands on its hind legs, looking up at Cellbit as it tilts its head to the side curiously. 

Cellbit follows along, tilting his head as he raises an eyebrow at it.

The rat squeaks again, and Cellbit tries not to feel embarrassed for jumping at the noise. 

Then the rat stops standing to walk on its four paws, it goes towards Cellbit and he hesitates to move away when it touches his hand with its nose.

He can feel it sniff him, and he flinches before softly chuckling. 

The rat looks up at him, making another move to touch his hand with his tiny paws, tilting its head again.

“You’re just a curious guy huh?” Cellbit comments.

The rat silently stares.

“Maybe you’re someone’s lost pet.. it’s quite dangerous to be out here on your own.” He says to the rat, flipping his hand over to his palm, and with hesitation he lets the rat crawl up.

The rat crawls into his palm, sitting patiently as he holds it up.

 “You’re very calm for a rodent..” Cellbit says to it, staring down at the creature as it wipes its little paws on its face.

“It might be because I’m not actually a rat.” 

There’s a pause.

A very long pause.

So long that the moment it registers Cellbit is dropping the poor rat to the ground as he’s taking awkward steps backwards to get back inside, tripping over himself as he mumbles profanities in confusion.

The rat makes a noise as if it’s in pain, rightfully so Cellbit dropped it to the cold concrete ground, but he can’t feel any sympathy because it- “You talked!?” 

The rat sits up from its fall and looks at Cellbit, who is still struggling to get inside because he’s too focused on staring in horror at the rodent at his feet. 

It glares at him and he swallows dryly. 

“Of course I talk!” It says, its voice raspy but in the middle between his own and Tubbo’s. 

“How!?” Cellbit finally gets inside as the rat quickly follows after him and as he stumbles to close the door behind him the rodent slips in. He yelps as he steps away again.

What kind of rat fucking talks?? He thinks to himself as the rat climbs up the vanity with much struggle. 

“Well first of all!” It holds a little pink paw up, “Not a rat! I am Favela’s prince, Roier!” 

It bows just like Quackity and the prince had and- “Roier?” Cellbit shakes his head, “No way. I don’t believe you, I saw him downstairs dancing with my best friend!”

The rat nods, “yeah! Because my body was stolen now if you excuse me I need to get down there and get it back!” It goes to jump off the vanity but Cellbit picks it up before it can run off into the manison’s big halls.

“Nope! No way am I letting you down there like..” he jesters to the rodent.

It glares at him again. “What? You're scared now that you know I’m the prince?”

Cellbit shakes his head again, “No. I’m mostly scared of that fact you fucking talk, and the guest will certainly be scared too because you’re a rat. And I’m keeping you here because how am I supposed to believe you when you say you’re Prince Roier.” 

The rat, or Roier, looks up at him, beady eyes narrowing as if annoyed and his ears fall back. 

“Well I don’t know what to tell ya man!” It shrugs, the action sends a shiver down Cellbit’s spine because he never thought he’d see a rodent move so humanoid. “Yo soy Prince Roier.” 

They glare at one another, and it takes approximately two minutes before Cellbit sighs in defeat, “Ok. Let’s say you are the prince. Why aren’t you in your body?”

Roier looks at him and sits down, “this magic man. Me and my brother went to see him and suddenly- boom. Rat.”

“Magic man?” He questions.

“Yeah, Magic man!” The rat nods, “He said he’d read our fortunes and he did! But then he said something to my brother and I.. hmm.” 

He looks away form Cellbit, which is probably the first time his beady little eyes have stopped staring at him this entire interaction, and he looks confused.

“I don’t know what they did, but they’re probably looking for me.. And I need help.” He looks up again, and Cellbit can tell that he looks worried. He almost has a frown on his face which is weird since he doesn’t think Rodents are usually so expressive.

He sighs again, “Well how am I meant to help? I’m not a magician like he was.” 

Roier hums, standing and walking on his hind legs around Quackity’s vanity.

He taps his little chin as he looks around, head turning in different directions before he gasps softly, ears perking up, as he points.

“There! That book! Do you see it?” He says, looking at Cellbit as he points at one of Quackity’s bookshelves.  

Cellbit looks towards the shelf and he nods, “Which one?”

Roier follows him by climbing onto hanging shelves that had figurines on it. “El rana princess” he says to him.

He grabs the book off the shelf, and looks at its cover. The design is old and the binding looks like it might fall apart soon, but he flips it open and stares at its first page.

Roier meets him by climbing the shelf and looking over to see the book. “Si si!” He cheers jumping onto the book, “Bring us back over there, to the vanity! We have to read this.”

Cellbit follows his guide, confused by the fact he’s talking to a literal rat.

He sets the book down and he watches wordlessly as Roier flips the book's pages and he stops once he’s landed on a page with a princess holding a frog in her hands. 

“Maybe this will save me.” He says, mostly to himself but Cellbit snickers anyway.

“You think a kiss could turn you back into a human?”

Roier turns his head up to him, nodding, “Well yea! I’m a prince after all this has to be the way!”

Cellbit laughs again, putting a fist to his mouth to stop himself, and Roier glared at him again.

“Sorry sorry. Good luck finding someone to do that for you.” He says, pulling the vanity chair out and taking a seat in it. 

Roier blinks at him, silence falling over them as they stare again. 

Cellbit keeps doing that tonight, staring and everything getting quiet.

He wishes it was earlier again when it wasn’t this.

“I’ve got you don’t I?” Roier says.

His eyes widen and he tries not to laugh again, “Me? I would never kiss a rat!”

“Not even a rat who’s also a prince?” He bats his beady eyes at him and Cellbit scoffs. 

“Not even a rat that’s a prince.” He states firmly.

Roier groans, laying down in defeat on his stomach. Paws on his face as he whines.

Cellbit rolls his eyes, “Acting like that won’t get you any closer to figuring out how to turn back to human. Idiot.”

Roier whines more, rolling onto his back, “But if we don’t try then how will I know it won’t be the fix!” He turns his head to look at the blonde.

Cellbit leans his arm onto the vanity and puts his chin in his palm. “I don’t see how me kissing you will fix this.”

“Well you’re a prince aren’t you?” Roier says, rolling over again to sit up, then he tilts his head to the side.

It’s almost cute if it weren’t from a talking rat that might be one of the princes from Favela.

Cellbit chuckles, “Of course not! This is a costume party.”

“Right. And I decided to dress up as a rat!” Roier says to him, throwing his tiny paws into the air, “How am I meant to believe you when you’re dressed like that!”

“Because I just told you it’s a costume party!” Cellbit exclaims, gritting his teeth.

They glare at each other again, this time Roier sighs, turning back to the book.

“If she can kiss him to become human again then I must have to do the same thing!” He says, flipping the pages back and forth between her kissing him and him becoming a prince again.

Seeing the rat look so sadly down at the book makes Cellbit frown. If he really wasn’t the prince then he at least saved someone from being a rat forever.. right?

He watches as the pages get flipped between and it’s like watching a sad short film.

All it needs is rain to make it look accurate.

Sighing Cellbit sits up straight, causing Roier to flinch and look up at him with his beady eyes again.

They’re the same as before but he looks almost hopeful.

“Fine,” He starts. “I’ll kiss you to see if it’ll work.”

Roier smiles, or at least it looks like he smiles, and he stands on his hind legs. “Hell yeah! Pick me up!” 

Cellbit does as he’s told, putting a hand out for him to climb up and once he’s on his palm he brings him closer to his face.

“Ok.. just one kiss.” He tells him.

Roier nods, “Just one!” He holds up one of his tiny fingers and Cellbit refrains from laughing at him again.

He goes in and before he can actually kiss him he hesitates back. Roier looks at him and blinks mindlessly.

“Sorry- Just- oh my god I’m kissing a rat..” He says, brows furrowed and pressing together. It almost makes his headache come back.

Roier nods, “Well you said you’d do it so-”

“I know what I said!” Cellbit rolls his eyes, closing them this time so he doesn’t have to watch a rat go in to kiss him.

Before they kiss he can feel one of his tiny paws touch his face.

Then they kiss and something happens.. It feels tingly and it makes Cellbit’s head go fuzzy.

When he opens his eyes again he’s looking up at Roier rather than down and the rat has a very worried look on his face.

“What happened?” He says, not looking away from the other who almost looks like he’s cowering. “Why are you way up there and why am I all the way down-”

He looks down and finds himself in a pile of his own clothing, or rather he finds himself in the outfit Quackity had given him. 

 Cellbit looks around and down to himself.

His eyes widen when he sees brown fur. He lifts his hand that is now a paw, and he lifts the other that’s also a paw. 

He screams, sitting up fully before he’s tumbling backwards when he can’t fully stand up properly.

He looks around again seeing himself in a full body mirror that Quackity had.

“WHAT THE FUCK??”

Roier jumps down from the vanity and stands in front of him, “Ok- uh well uhm- You’re ok! You’re just.. uhh” 

Cellbit looks down at him and yells, “I’m a fucking cat!!” 

“I mean it’s not as bad as a rat!” He says as if to assure him but all it does is send him into a frenzy. Cellbit hisses and Roier squeaks in distress. “OK NEVER MIND!”

He turns around and runs away from him and Cellbit  chases after him, stumbling as he gets used to using four feet rather than his usual feet.  

They run out onto the balcony and Roier climbs the fence again just like he probably had when they first met, and he scampers across window seals. Cellbit followed as closely as he could by jumping up and following him across the windows. 

Then they reach the end and Roier risks jumping to a vine that was on the wall that led to the garden of rose Cellbit was seeing earlier.

Taking the risk Cellbit jumps after him, unlike Roier who caught himself before hitting the ground he misses, since he was much bigger than him, and he falls onto the ground, surprisingly fine.

“Right.. cats land on their feet.” He mumbles to himself as he watches Roier hang onto the vine.

“Just come down! It’s not like I know how to actually hurt you in this body!” He shouts at the rat.

Roier shakes his head, “Nuh uh! I’m not letting you learn how to kill with those teeth of yours either!”

Cellbit laughs, and he feels his tail sway back and forth. It’s an odd feeling but he ignores it to walk up to the wall. “Come on! Don’t you wanna change back?”

Roier looks down at him, ears down and his tail tangles around the vines. His tiny paws holding on for dear life. 

“You don’t even know how to turn me back! Besides you- you lied!” He shouts back.

Cellbit rolls his eyes, reaching a paw to bat at the vine he was on, “When did I lie?!” 

“You said you were a prince!” He says, the vine swaying slightly.

“No I didn’t!” He shouts back, “I told you it was a costume party! I told you twice! It’s not my fault you weren’t listening!”

Roier gasps when his paws slip and he tries not to fall. Cellbit notices this and still uses his own paws to hit the vine to knock him off.

“Just fall down! I’ll catch you!” He tells him, getting up on his hind legs and crawling half up the wall. 

The rat glares at him, “How can I trust you after your ass chased me!” 

“UHM- because I don’t think I wanna eat a fucking rat?!” 

He really doesn’t. Why in the world would he suddenly wanna eat that guy? He couldn’t even imagine wanting to eat a rat, let alone the one that’s still assumingly a prince of a kingdom.

Besides, killing him might mean staying in this form forever. 

“Roier c’mon man! I promise I won’t hurt you!”

They have a staring competition for a moment, there’s silence surrounding them other than the occasional chirp of a cricket and the soft music from the party still going on.

Roier looks at him then to the vine and he lets himself slide down more. Almost reaching the bottom before he stops, “You’ll stop chasing me right?”

Cellbit pauses and looks away, “uhh.. it really depends on if I’m still mad when you get down here.”

Roier sighs, sliding all the way down, and jumping onto Cellbit’s down and then down to the grass.

Before Cellbit can say anything to him though he’s running off again and they repeat earlier.

Except this time Roier is running in the direction of the party and Cellbit is trying to stop him from causing a ruckus.

He runs through a bush, passing right by the food bar and past Tallulah who perks up once she sees Roier go by, then she barks when Cellbit passes by as well, standing up and catching the attention of people around.

“A RAT!” Someone yells.

Cellbit looks up and then around from Roier and he sees people getting away from their vicinity.

He can see his sister beside a girl he’s never seen before but they have their arms locked together and he can only imagine what he’s missed out on.

He turns back to Roier who’s now being chased by Tallulah and he groans before running after the two of them.

Roier is saying some profanity that Cellbit can’t understand from how far he is from him, but he can also hear Tallulah muttering to herself.

“Lulah?” He says to her as he catches up.

She barks in surprise but turns to him, “Huh?” She’s still running but not paying attention to Roier anymore.

“Tallulah it’s me!” He says, now struggling to keep up with her, “It’s Cellbit!”

She halts, tripping over her paws as she yelps, “Cellbit!?” 

As she halts she bumps into a person who also falls and more people scream as the mess he didn’t wanna happen, happens.

He hisses as she gets pulled away by someone who isn’t very polite about it, and he turns to find Roier.

Cellbit runs across the dancing area, passing by people looking for Roier since him being a rat is their biggest concern, and eventually Cellbit finds him tucked away underneath a table.

He walks over, still adjusting to walking on four feet, and he sits beside him.

“Ok. No more running, we’re causing havoc out there.” Cellbit tells him, tail swatting at the ground.

He tilts his head to look down at Roier, who looks like he might just explode in a second from how much he was shaking.

“¿Estás bien?” He asks, and he just gets a turn of the head in acknowledgment.

They sit there together, people are searching for them but at least they’re dumb enough to not look under the food table.

Cellbit wonders for a second if anyone would dare check here. Quackity might, he always checked under things to find something that went missing. Bagi might if she wasn’t still busy with that girl he saw earlier.

He sighs, but it’s more of a heavy exhale out the nose, and he lays down on his side. It’s pretty comfortable, maybe he can get used to this for a while.

He doesn’t know how long he’ll be a cat for, or how long Roier might be a rat, but it’s worth getting used to it.. right?

He lays his head down, crossing his front paws over each other as he stares at the table cloth in front of them. It made their little area pink in lighting.

There were still people looking around for them but for the most part it seemed like everyone was settling down again and the music was starting up.

Cellbit doesn’t know how long they sat there together before Roier stopped sitting and stood up.

“I think we should get outta here..” Roier mutters, as he goes onto his feet again and goes towards the table cloth hiding them.

He lifts it, peeking out from underneath to look around, and once it seems clear he looks up and towards Cellbit who was slowly making his way over.

He also peaks his head out, looking around before his eyes land on Tallulah who's been tied up by the stairs that lead back inside the mansion. He frowns at the sight, she didn’t do anything wrong.. after he turns back he’ll make sure to give her so many hugs and pets.

He looks back to Roier who looks like he’s about to bolt, and just like he assumed he does, he runs towards the woods next to them and Cellbit follows.

They leap down into a clearing and both almost slip as mud is covering the ground.

Cellbit groans, shaking a paw in the air to get the mud off of it. “And here I was thinking it’ll be nice to be a cat for a while.” 

Roier laughs, still scampering ahead of him, his fur is covered in mud and he might just fall into the ground if he isn’t careful with where he was walking. 

The cat stops trying to clean himself to catch up with the other.

They walk together, through mud, and rubble. They were in the part of the woods where there's water all around them and if they weren’t careful both of them might just fall in.

Probably not drown, Roier maybe, but Cellbit thinks he could totally swim out of it. 

“Where are we going?” Cellbit asks after an ungodly amount of time. He couldn’t tell you how long, but it’s been long enough for the moon to look like it was about to set.

Roier shrugs, or at least tries to while he’s still walking on all of his paws. His tail is throwing mud up into Cellbit’s feet, and he would feel inclined to complain but he couldn’t, not when he was probably constantly almost stepping on the other.

“If I knew I wouldn’t still be around you..” He tells him. 

“Fair enough.” He nods.

They walk until they find a swamp, and Roier stops at the edge of it just where he might fall into water. 

Cellbit stops as well, looking around for a way to avoid the water.

“There’s a way to get around all of this over there..” He points it out but nodding his head in that direction.

Roier looks and then nods, scampering in that direction. His little feet make sounds each time he takes a step.

It takes two minutes to get halfway before there’s a sound. A low groan, maybe snarl, and Cellbit stops in his tracks. His head whips around looking for the source and Roier stops, looking back at him in confusion.

“What’s wrong?” 

Cellbit lowers his head, “I think there’s someone watching us.” 

The rat’s ears perk up and he looks around, his beady eyes narrowing as he does. 

“We should get out of here.” He whispers, and the other nods, slowly turning back around trying to leave but then there’s a snapping sound and suddenly there’s a congregation of alligators around them.

Roier squeaks, fumbling backwards and scampering to hide underneath Cellbit.

One of the gators blinks at them, a low chuckle escaping it. “Who thought we’d find a pairing like this..” 

Cellbit hisses, ears pinning back and his body leaning back. His paws even open in claws, at least he knew he had some now.  

Another alligator laughs too, and he turns to face that one as well.

“A cat and a rat?” It says, “Aren’t you supposed to eat those little guys?”

He hisses again, he can feel Roier underneath him, cowering as he curls up into a little ball. 

Cellbit glares at all of them, trying to take in how many are there. At least four. 

“Why does it matter?” He says to them, earning low rumbles of snarls. One of them takes a step forward and his irises go thin as he hisses at it.

The one that moved closer stares at him, its scaly tail splashing the water behind it. “Do you know what part of the web you’re on? That guy's prey.” 

“And? What if I didn’t eat mice?”

“Rats.” Roier corrects, and Cellbit sighs.

“Rats. What if I don’t eat rats.”

The gators laugh at them, another stepping closer.

“I don’t see why not.” It says, voice low, “It’s meat isn’t it?”

Cellbit can feel his back hair stand up as his hisses get more irritated. Feeling the rumble of them was weird but there wasn’t much time to question his new form and how it works, not when they were in a life or death situation.

In a matter of seconds a gator pounced forward, snapping its mouth at them both, Cellbit jumped back and Roier quickly followed.

They started running, Roier being so small, and all the ground mud making it harder for him to keep up. 

Once Cellbit noticed he turned around to pick him up in his mouth. The rat swears under his breath as he is lifted off the ground by the nape of his neck. 

“Be careful pendejo! I’m fragile!” 

The cat scoffs, picking up the pace as gators try to swim in the water beside them to catch up. 

“You weren’t fragile earlier when you ran into that party!” He said, voice muffled with fur. 

They ran around trees, trying to keep their distance with the water beside them, but the alligators came up on the land. 

Cellbit didn’t expect how fast these things actually were until that point, and it honestly felt like he wouldn’t be making it out of this alive.

His paws felt sore, probably from walking and running for so long, and on top of that Roier was decently heavy so his mouth felt sore. Adjusting his grip was out the question he could hurt him, he can’t risk hurting his only companion.

He dashes on a turn, slipping into his side but he scrambles to get up again and he continues running.

“Jesus Christ man! We’re so dead!” He shouts, “We’re so dead!!” 

Cellbit can hear his heart beat in his ears, and he shakes his head. “No we aren’t!” 

He looks around spotting a tree trunk with a tiny hole where roots were meant to be but the ground had fallen and made a tiny hole.

“I’m getting us to safety!” He says, his shouts still muffled with Roier’s neck fur.

Cellbit dashes towards the hole, his entire body tense as he can feel the ever growing presents of the alligators behind him. But he wouldn’t allow himself to die so pitifully.   

He tosses Roier, who rolls for a moment before he notices the hole as well and he runs for it too.

While being ahead he falls inside of the trunk, and Cellbit sighs with relief just as he reaches the hole as well.

He fits his head inside, struggling to squeeze the rest of his body in.

“Take my hand!” Roier says, holding his little paws out to Cellbit, and not knowing what else to do he hands his paw to him.

The rat tugs, and Cellbit uses his hind legs to push himself in, and with a swift motion he pops inside landing on top of Roier with a huff.

Gators reach them, one of them snapping their mouths into the hole but it is too big to fit inside to reach them.

It turns its head, their eyeball being visible in the hole watching them with a thin pupil.

Roier shivers when it snarls and Cellbit curls in on himself to make the space bigger for the both of them.

When the gator’s eventually give up, promising that they’d get them next time, Cellbit settles, his back hairs flattening and his ears raise off his head. Roier is pressed against his stomach, the little hole being exactly that.

It’s little and less spacious than when it was just Roier inside but it was good enough.

With a heavy sigh Roier leans against him comfortably and he shuts his eyes.

“What the hell are you doing?” Cellbit asks, glaring at him.

The rat opens one eye and squints at him. “I’m going to sleep? What else am I meant to do?” 

“Uhh I dunno.. Figure out how to turn us back!?” He says, a low hiss escaping him.

Roier rolls his eyes, climbing onto his back to curl up on top of him. “Stop hissing man, it’s freaky.” He tells him with a yawn.

Cellbit also rolls his eyes, crossing his front paws and laying his head down. 

“Whatever..” He watches as the rodent shuts his eyes again and his breathing becomes slow and even.

Just before Cellbit follows his lead he wonders if they might be lucky and wake up human and back in their respective homes again.

Chapter Text

The next morning Cellbit was missing from under Roier when he awoke. Sitting up and running his paws over his face, and flattening his fur so it would stop standing up weird on his back, he glanced around the little hole they had squeezed into together. 

He’s surprised Cellbit even fit into it because of how small the space was. Though he’s glad he did. Watching someone get eaten by gators isn’t exactly something he’s wanna see anyway.

He inhales slowly, and exhales just as slowly to calm himself from the memories of the night before. He had two encounters with death last night and he’s surprised his little rat body handled it so well. 

If those alligators were any faster they would’ve been dead. Logically they should be dead, gator’s aren’t nessicarily slow creatures. He’s surprised Cellbit could keep running as fast as he did.

Speaking of last night Roier remembers he’s still covered in the mud from all that walking and running. 

He should probably find Cellbit and clean up somewhere.

Rubbing his eyes to wake himself more he crawls out of the hole, letting the sun heat up his body the moment the warmth hits him. He hums with satisfaction, realizing that he had no idea where Cellbit might even be at the moment.

He walks around the trunk they slept in, glancing around in hopes those alligators wouldn’t appear or some big predator, like a bird, might show up to snatch him away.

Roier really couldn’t imagine dying as a rat. He couldn’t even consider the possibility of dying while still in this form or how painful that might be to experience.

He hopes it’ll be a quick death, with no wait and no peircing pain, that is if he dies.

He also hopes he doesn’t.

Walking around he hears water splashing, and he tenses, his back furs going up as he slowly approaches, hoping to whatever god that it was just his companion and not a creature looking to eat him.

As he approaches he sees fur and a long tail with a white tuff at the end of it. It’s familiar so he perks up and lets himself stand on his hind legs to really get a good look at who was there.

He sighs with relief when it’s just Cellbit grumbling about the mud in his fur. It seems like he’s trying to wash the gunk out of his paws. Roier walks over to him, immediately dipping his paws into the water to do the same without making a sound, ultimately causing the cat to jump with surprise, but he doesn’t say a word to him. 

It’s been less than 24 hours and they’re already both very used to the whole animal thing already. Which is surprising to Roier since Cellbit seemed so upset by it when he first accidentally turned him.

He frowns to himself at the thought. He had high hopes of that kiss turning him back. Cellbit was a decently handsome dude, he was banking on him to be the thing he needed to fix this. 

He makes a noise of annoyance at the memory of how he ended up here to begin with. A feeling of betrayal bubbling in his stomach.

Cellbit notices this and looks down at him as he finishes shaking the dried up mud off of himself.

“Are you ok?” He asks, tilting his head down to leer at Roier.

The rat glances up at him but doesn’t make eye contact as he grabs his tail to start picking at the dried mud. “Nada..” He says.

The other man hums, not sounding very convinced but he changes the subject. “I think we should try to venture back to town.” 

Roier nods, still feeling his gaze on him as he finishes cleaning himself off.

“Ok.. And what's the game plan from there?” 

He can see Cellbit shrug from the corner of his eye, “I find my sister in hopes she can help m- Us. I hope she can help both of us..” He says with a bit of hesitation but Roier gets that.

He can’t imagine what it would be like to have been the one turned, by a complete stranger, into a cat. Cat’s are weird too, being a rat is at least nicer.

But both of them are both known for bathing themselves, so they’re a decent pair he supposed.

When he looks at Cellbit, he’s met with the other’s green blue eyes, originally more of a pearly blue, turned into a mixture of the two colors because of his feline form. Roier almost misses his original eyes and the gaze he had when they first met.

He looked kind.

He rolls his eyes at his own thoughts. Cellbit was almost anything but kind, they’re initial meeting was sweet because the guy had no idea that Roier was the rat, and he had no idea that he could talk. After the meeting and after the kiss he wasn’t that kind man he met on the balcony, but a predator that was angry, and hungry with rage. 

That’s Roier’s fault for talking so soon, or talking at all.

Now Cellbit seemed sheltered, and quiet. When he first saw him on the balcony Roier thought maybe he wasn’t having fun at the party, which was wild because he always had so much fun at parties like this.

Cellbit almost reminded him of his brother, Doied. Just thinking about him makes this anger bubble in his chest again. 

He shakes his head to clear his head.

“Are you sure she’ll even believe that it’s you?” Roier asks.

The feline nods, “Of course I know she’ll believe me.” 

There’s a pause as they look at each other. Cellbit’s pupils slim slightly and Roier narrows his eyes to match the change.

“She’s my twin, she’ll have to believe me.” He says to him.

Roier scoffs, looking away to gaze at the water in front of them. He can barely see the other side of this pond? Lake? Whatever it was. But the words Cellbit just spoke rubbed him in all the wrong ways.

His twin.. He had a twin just like him and Roier’s didn’t even know where he was right now, let alone cared.

Cellbit probably had a whole bunch of people searching for him. Especially if he knows that Quackity guy personally. He wouldn’t have found him in his house if he didn't know him like that.

“Let’s just go.” Cellbit says, standing up and hitting Roier’s head with his tail, almost knocking him off balance.

Roier glares at him for a moment, letting him get a good distance away before he scambers after him.

They eventually reached the end of the lake, the water slowly turning into a river, and they walked beside it as the sun reached the halfway point of the sky.

The ground was no longer slippery with mud but rather soft and crunchy under their feet.

Cellbit walked faster than him but Roier did his best to keep up. He was almost twice his size, rats aren’t that big of creatures even though humans make it seem like they’re absolutely giants. 

Cats on the other hand now seemed so huge. Roier was used to them being tiny furry creatures. Cellbit seemed bigger than a usual cat though, maybe the breed of cat he was was very specifically chosen for him. 

His fur was long, and it looked shiny, his ears had tufts at the end of them and his tail was fluffy. His whiskers were long and his fur pattern gave him eyebrows making him the tiniest bit more expressive.

Roier didn’t really know what he looked like, all he knew was his fur was a brownish gray but he had no idea if he had patterns or spots on his fur unlike Cellbit who has stripes and white on his chest.

There’s soft whistling of birds singing, and the sound of water flowing, and the crunch of their paws.  

Roier was bored.. So painfully bored. So bored he keeps trying to entertain himself by gazing at the scenery but nothing was cool enough to keep him interested.

Cellbit seemed fine, his tail was swaying calming and his pace was steady, Roier was struggling to keep up still with each step the other took. 

He was bored of repetitively thinking about the sky and the clouds and the water in the riverbank. 

He sighs, groaning slightly as he stops in his tracks to stretch his legs, or paws. 

Cellbit stops as well, looks at him from over his furry shoulder and he sighs. “What is it?”

Roier glares at him, beady eyes clearly annoyed with the other. 

“I’m not a mind reader..” He grumbles, looking away as he continues forward without another word.

Roier scoffs, running to catch up with him. “I’m not sure you've noticed that I’ve been struggling to keep up with your furry ass since we started walking!” 

He shouts it because he isn’t sure Cellbit could hear him well from where he was, but from the way the feline stops and stares down at him again, Roier knows he could hear him just fine.

“How am I supposed to help with that?” He asks.

Roier shrugs, approaching him slowly now that he was still. His gaze trails over to his back and the night before when he curled up on him to sleep as if he was a luxurious bed comes back to both of them.

Cellbit narrows his eyes and he looks tired, and annoyed all in one, but Roier still cheekily grins at him still implying what he was wanting from the other. 

“I am not letting you onto my back as if I’m some sort of horse.” He turns away.

The rodent frowns, getting in front of him to face him. “Please! It’s only until we make it into town!” He put his paws together as if to pray, and Cellbit laughed.

“We don’t even know how long that will even take!” He says, “I’m not letting you sit on my back while I do all the work to get us home! It’s your fault we’re here to begin with.”

Roier gasps, sounding dramatically offended even though what he said was true.

“You wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t kissed me soooo” He holds his paws out, as if passing the blame onto Cellbit. But the cat hisses at him and steps over his little body. 

“No please! I’ll do anything if you just pick me up! I can’t keep up with you!” He shouts scambering and pushing his paws to run as fast as he can. But he was still new to body just like Cellbit was new to his.

He didn’t know how to move properly even though it should be the easiest thing for him. 

Cellbit turns around entirely, his body facing the other as he leaned down to look the rodent right in the eyes.

“You owe me.” He said.

Roier throws his arms into the air with a smile on his face and he can see Cellbit grimace in regret before picking the rodent up with his teeth and helping him climb onto his back with some struggle.

Mostly Roier not knowing how to climb him now that he was at his full height, but once he was on his back he held his fur between his fingers. Being gentle enough for it not to hurt but so he doesn’t fall off somehow.

Then they were walking again, Cellbit moved faster now that he didn’t need to wait for Roier and it was fast enough that the wind that was lightly blowing onto them was nice and breezy.

It’s like driving in a car with the windows down, except there was no brother to tell him to stop being so rowdy.  

He cheers loudly as Cellbit jumps over a root coming from the dirt and they laugh as birds fly from the trees above them in shock from his yell.

They continue at a steady pace, and Roier relaxes against his back. Laying in his fur, letting the wind blow in his face. It feels just like the times he’d practice horse riding at home.

His father always had the fastest horses for his family and loyal guards brought to the kingdom. 

Roier sighs, he misses his dads. Mostly Leo, but he misses his family nonetheless.

Not his brother though, just the thought makes his stomach twist uncomfortably, or maybe he’s hungry..

Cellbit slows down, paw coming to a halt as his ears pin back against his head in stress. Roier obviously notices and sits up again to look over his head.

He looks around confused, not knowing why they’ve stopped but he doesn’t have to ask because Cellbit tells him.

“There’s a bird over there..” He says, it’s quiet but it’s loud enough for Roier to know it’s meant for his ears only.

“Where?” Roier mumbles, climbing up his head a bit to see more, Cellbit makes a noise in protest but the rodent does it anyway.

“By the river bank, see.” He nods his head in the direction and quickly Roier’s eyes land on the bird in question. 

She has mostly gray feathers but some of them are a tealish blue. One of her wings looks injured and the other sits there uselessly as she stands next to the water. Roier frowns, not saying anything as Cellbit approaches slowly.

“Excuse me?” He says, leaning down to the level of the bird.

The bird jumps, flapping their wings in surprise as they notice Cellbit. Her eyes are wide and she almost looks scared until she glances up and see Roier’s little head peeking out from above the feline’s. 

“Oh sorry- I forgot I’m meant to be like.. a predator,” He says, the bird doesn’t understand what that’s meant to mean so he immediately regrets it, but he shakes his head as he notices the fearful look on the bird’s face. “Never mind! I wanted to ask if you’re ok? Your wing looks hurt, do you need some help?”

Roier nods for good measure. So she understands that they mean no harm at all and only wants to make sure she’s ok.

The bird looks between them both, sighing heavily before speaking up. “I injured my wing.. yeah.. I was waiting it out, but waiting isn’t doing anything..”  

Cellbit hums, sitting down causing Roier to slip and climb fully onto his head. He glares at him but the rodent can’t see it so it has no effect.

He puts a paw out in offering, he looks dumbly at her because he usually helped birds as a human, he doesn’t know what he could possibly do as a cat.. regardless he wants to try.

The bird brings her wing to him, and his paw gently touches it before she flinches back and the bird makes a noise of discomfort.

He doesn’t move, letting her relax before actually properly looking at the injury.

Her feathers are messy and the bone looks crooked. Waiting it out could help but it looks like it’s been used even while it’s supposed to be healing.

“Have you been trying to fly?” He asks.

The bird nods, “It’s the only way for me to travel, I have to.” 

Cellbit shakes his head, “No you need to find a place to stay and rest. Moving it won’t let the process of ‘waiting it out’ work.” He tells them honestly, and he can feel the small paws of Roier climbing off of his head to the ground where he walks around to get a closer look at the bird.

“You also need preening.” The rodent points out. Cellbit nods, he doesn’t think he’d ever agree with him again after this.

The bird takes her wing back and she sighs defeatedly. “I have nowhere to go, and no one to help me with that..” 

Roier shakes his head, “My dad has a bird! I know a little bit about preening!” He says, stepping closer, but the bird steps back.

“Your dad has a bird?” She asks, sounding and looking confused.

They all pause and Cellbit hits Roier in the head, and they glare at each other for a beat before he turns back to the bird. “Yeah! We were human once.” He tells her.

“Human?” 

Roier hums, “Yeah! I was a prince and..” he trails off as he looks up at Cellbit.

He doesn’t know anything about Cellbit, he only knows that he’s friends with Quackity and that he’s a huge liar! (Regardless of it being a costume party. Who even dresses that fancily for a costume party!?)

“I used to be a detective. Or investigator, whatever you wanna call it.” Cellbit explains with a shrug.

Roier looks up at him shaking his head, “First of all, Used to be? You make it sound like we’re not gonna get turned back..” He grumbled, “Second of all that’s actually pretty fucking cool.”

The bird stays silent, looking between the two of them curiously as they talk to one another.

“I didn’t mean it like that. I am a detective.” He tells her, “Better?” 

Roier nods happily, turning back to the bird. Making a weird face before smiling softly. “Do you have a name?” 

It’s silent for a beat, and as if there were gears turning and a bell that needed to ring, the bird nodded.

“Jaiden!” She beams, buffing up her chest as she proudly smiles up at them.

Jaiden. Now that Cellbit really thought about it, it made sense. The blue feathers, and the tuffs coming off of her head. The checkered pattern of her wings.

She was a bluejay. 

Roier smiles, “Awesome! I’m Roier. It is very good to meet you.”

He holds out his paw as if offering to shake her hand, but when she doesn’t move to follow his lead he sighs, “You’re meant to shake it, it’s like a greeting we do as humans.” He tells her.

“Oh!” She laughs, “My bad!” Jaiden moves to balance her weight on her wings and body before lifting her foot and shaking Roier’s paw with her talons.

Afterwards Roier looks up at Cellbit who has been watching the encounter quietly.

“You think we can take her with us? Maybe when we turn back to humans we can get her some help.” He asks, tilting his head curiously.

The feline’s pupils move weirdly, going thin then going round as he nods. “I don’t see why not.”

When they both look back at Jaiden she’s smiling wider than she was earlier.

Cellbit walked with the two smaller creatures on his back, not at all forced by Roier to carry them both.

He wouldn’t have continued holding Roier if it weren’t for the fact the two of them suddenly became best friends in a blink of an eye and were already teaming up to fight against him. 

So he walked slowly as the two of them talked about Roier’s life.

“My little sister is the best! She’s the toughest but sassiest girl I know!” He says happily. 

They’ve been going back and forth on stories for the last thirty minutes, Cellbit couldn’t even remember half the things they said to each other, other than the funny stories he heard from Roier about all of the parties he’s been to in his life.

Jaiden told a few about her family and her little brother. Ari sounded nice.

“So how did you two end up like this?” Jaiden asks after laughing over something Roier said.

Cellbit tries to not laugh awkwardly, because explaining to a literal bird that you kissed a guy who was already a rat to become what he was now was really really embarrassing.

Roier hums, and from the sounds of it he has a smug grin on his face. “Well..”

Cellbit purposely trips over his feet causing both of his passengers to yell in surprise and he quickly turns to check on them.

“Oops! Sorry.” He smiles.

He gets a glare from the Rodent and the bluejay looks between them with a nervous look on her face.

“Is that a heavy topic.. or?” She asks softly.

Roier shakes his head immediately because it’s true, but Cellbit rather lock himself in his bedroom for an eternity then let anyone know he kissed a rat.

“He’s just being a big baby!” He says to Jaiden reassuringly, “I ended up here because my parents wanted me to find some independence. They also wanted me to try marrying into some family down here but I don’t really wanna do that..” 

He trails off, and even though Cellbit can’t see him it feels like his eyes are not burning holes into his skull.

“Anyways! So me and my brother were going to see some magic man and he told us our fortunes and then.. well.” He gestures to his rodent body and Jaiden nods in understanding.

“Interesting.. So why is he..?” 

Cellbit can tell she’s talking about him and with a heavy sigh he mumbles, “That’s not important.” There’s a pause and he can feel his heart beat quickly in his chest before he speaks again, “What is important is finding some way to turn back into humans.”

There’s more silence, and it’s different from the awkward pauses they had earlier and it’s almost calming.

Then Jaiden gasps and Cellbit halts immediately because the noise startled him.

“What was that for!?” He says as he looks over his shoulder at her.

Flapping her uninjured wing she looks at him, “I think I know a way to turn you two back to normal!” 

“You do?” They say in unison, except Roier sounds more excited then surprised like Cellbit was.

Jaiden nods, “I do!”

“His name is BBH.” She tells them, “He’s a witch. At least that’s what I heard from other forest animals.” She shrugs, wincing when her wing aches.

Roier raises an eyebrow, “So you’re saying this guy has magic?” 

Jaiden nods, “Mhm! He could probably turn you back to normal and heal my wing!” She tells them happily.

Sitting up, Roier points at her, “What if there’s a way to make you into a human? Wouldn’t that be so cool!?” 

“Me?” She says, and the rodent nods, “I.. I dunno.” She smiles shyly.

“Being a human seems complicated, being a bird is kind of easy.. Besides I dunno where I would live if he somehow did turn me into a human.” She says to him.

She had a point. Cellbit couldn’t necessarily take her in, their house was barely enough space for him and his family. He’s lucky to even have his own room. 

Roier could probably take her in if they somehow did convince the witch to turn her, but it just seemed wrong to the feline.

“You never know! I could take you back to Favela, you could be my lady in waiting!” He tells her.

“Really? You’d do that for me?” She sounds like she’s smiling and Cellbit can’t help but smile too.

She reminds him of Bagi, and for a moment he wonders how his family is holding up with him gone.

They all sat at a table, Bagi with her hands wringing together nervously as Quackity stood in front of all of them.

“We need to make a search party and find him.” He says, slamming his hands into the table, “There’s no way he’s just out there hanging out! He’s been kidnapped or something!”

Bagi looks up at him frowning, and her brows are knitted together, “Maybe he got caught up in work? Who knows his work place is just outside of town..” 

She says it to reassure herself. She hardly even believed it, Cellbit would never ditch them without making it known, especially if he was going for work reasons. 

“He wouldn’t just leave Bagi! You know he wouldn’t!” Quackity says, scoffing at her. Bagi sinks into herself, her frown becoming bigger. “He’s my best friend! I doubt he’d just leave so suddenly!”

They’ve all been saying the same things for the past half a day. No one knew where Cellbit was. The one thing they have is the costume Quackity let him wear last night during the party and the book he left on the vanity.

But how can a fairytale help them at all?

Her young brother scoffs, folding his arms across his chest as he pouts in the chair beside her.

“Don’t talk to my sister like that, asshole!” He says, glaring at Quackity. 

Tubbo was the one to notice the absence of their brother. Because usually when Tubbo woke up Cellbit was making himself coffee because he was always the first one up after staying up far too late than he should’ve. 

He pointed it out to Bagi when she woke up and they both went to his room in search of the brother but he wasn’t even in his bed.

For a moment Bagi tried to suggest maybe he decided to stay with Quackity, but when they called to check they were told he wasn’t there.

That’s why they were at their house with Quackity swearing under his breath.

“We can’t just sit here like sitting ducks! We gotta do something!” Tubbo says with determination, sitting up again and emphasizing his words with his hands.

Bagi looks at him and her frown softens, “So what do you suggest we do Tubs?” 

He pauses, looking at his sister, the determined look on his face faltering before he stands up and runs off to room. Quackity watches silently but Bagi sighs. 

When he runs back into the room he has a small box in his hands. He sets it down between the three of them and opens it to reveal miniature figures.

“We make a search party.” He says, “Fred and I will ask around for help and you and Quackity can get a few of Cellbit’s other friends to help us and-” 

“Cellbit’s other friends?” Quackity laughs, “Tubbo your brother is a wallflower! He works too much to party, he’s too quiet to even get noticed by chicks or guys for that matter!” 

Bagi nods, “He has a point.. I’m not sure if he even knows more than just us and his coworkers..”

Tubbo sighs, setting out all the little figures he has. “Then you ask them! I’m sure a few of them would be willing to help us.”

After discussing further they all split up to find the people they needed to help with this.

Tubbo went with Fred and Bagi let Quackity drive her to the other side of town to find these so called co-workers for her brother’s.

It took approximately thirty minutes before they stopped in front of a building with newspapers outside and on its windows. Bagi remembers Cellbit telling her that it's the station he works for.

Something about it being hidden from the public eye so they wouldn’t be noticed as easily.

She walks in with Quackity behind her and the bell that rings above them makes her jump slightly and when they look up to look around they see a lady at a desk with one of the newspapers they had outside in her hands.

Her nails are painted red, and she looks middle aged but she’s very pretty. 

Bagi shyly smiles as she approaches the desk she’s behind and once the lady notices her she sinks into her shoulders. 

“Hello?” The lady asks, raising an eyebrow at her.

“Hi..” She greets, “I was wondering if you know my brother?” 

The lady hums, folding her paper as she crosses her legs and opens a tab in the computer in front of her. There’s silence as the three of them all look at each other silently. 

The lady rolls her eyes, “His name?” 

“Oh- Right!” Bagi laughs awkwardly, “Cellbit?” She tells her.

“Cellbit..” the lady repeats, typing something into the computer, the speakers making a pinging sound before she bites her lip. Her eyes shine an odd shade of blue when she reads something on the screen. “You know Cellbit?” She asks, almost sounding conflicted.

Bagi nods slowly, “Like I said he’s my brother..”

The lady hums, “I know him. But I haven’t seen him since last week.”

“Oh.. Well I was mostly hoping you could help us find him?” Bagi says.

“Find him?” She raises a brow at her, her eyes narrowing slightly.

Bagi nods and Quackity does the same. Except he doesn’t let her respond.

“Last night at my party,” He started gaining the desk ladies' attention, “He went missing. No one has seen him since last night.” 

“Interesting..” She hums, looking back at her computer than down to the phone in front of her. “Give me a moment I need to call someone.”

She picks up the phone and puts it between her ear and shoulder, her nails making a tapping noise as she clicks numbers. 

They all sit in silence as it rings, it’s almost deafening and Bagi can’t help but feel like she’s about to get swallowed by the ground.

She doesn’t normally get anxious like this over family, sure she gets emotional but she never had to worry about their whereabouts because they were always just a call away.

Cellbit not answering was one of the main reasons why she feels so worried for him. He never ignores calls unless it’s someone he genuinely doesn’t wanna talk to. Otherwise he answers her.

 The probability that he could be dead somewhere with his phone dead too is what’s currently eating her alive.

The phone stops ringing and the Lady turns away from them.

“Good evening.” She says, “I called because we kind of got an issue.”

There’s a deep voice in the other side, muffled by her holding the phone to ear, but Bagi can assume he’s asking what the issue was.

“Cellbit’s gone missing.” She tells the man.

“Cellbit?” Bagi hears the man repeat to her.

“Mhm..” 

There’s no noise for a few seconds before the man is speaking again and the lady is telling him to come as soon as possible.

Her brother seems important to them. Probably because they needed him for whatever case they had him on, but still.

It made her heart swell with pride. 

It takes ten minutes for the front door behind Bagi and Quackity to burst open with the bell jingling in surprise of the impact.

A man walks in, sunglasses on his face, his black hair tied into a man bun. His appearance was intimidating, but the moment he sees Bagi his tense shoulder falls and he slips a coat onto his body as he approaches them.

“Hola,” He says, his voice just as deep as it was in the phone, “You must be Cellbo’s sister.”

Bagi nods, “I am.. I need help finding him.” She tells him, and she can tell Quackity is looking at her instead of the man.

“So I heard,” the man said back, “Maximus.” He puts his hand out and Bagi calmly accepts it. Shaking it as he continues, “He’s my co-worker, and probably the only one I can tolerate here.” He explains.

Bagi lets go of his hand, tucking hers into her back pocket. “That’s.. good?” She smiles, but she isn’t sure if that’s what this moment needs right now. 

Maximus nods, a hand going into pocket, taking out a small notepad and pen and he looks back at her. “Tell me about his last whereabouts.” 

Jaiden was guiding the way to this supposed witch, and by now the sun was halfway into the sky and his paws were aching with each step he took.

Luckily Roier went back to walking beside him rather than riding along on Cellbit back, but other than that the conversation didn’t steer away from witch talk.

“I heard BBH is pretty scary,” she says, “I’ve never met him, but I’ve met a few of his visitors and they say he’s very mysterious. Apparently he talks highly of some.. Diamond?” 

If she had fingers Roier was sure she would be tapping her chin, but she doesn’t so she instead hums softly in wonder.

“Do you really think he’ll use his magic to turn me into a human?” She asks, leaning over Cellbit’s back and looking for Roier to answer. 

He shrugs, “From all the stories you’ve told it sounds like he can do anything.”

Cellbit rolls his eyes, knowing the others couldn’t see him. It wasn’t like he didn’t believe in magic, but from all the stories Jaiden told it sounded like he was some weird veterinarian in the woods. 

Stories from helping birds like Jaiden, go taking in reptiles, and magically finding a creature's way home.

It all just sounded like someone just helping animals in need, but he wouldn’t burst the bubble of the bird and rodent.

“I just hope he can help us, Cellbo.” Said Roier.

It takes a few seconds but it settles in and Cellbit freezes, Roier still going before he notices his absence.

“Uhh.. Are you ok, man?” He asked.

Cellbit glares at him, pupils turning into slits as he steps forward and leans into Roier's face. “Do not call me that.” He spits, pulling back and walking away.

Jaiden turns to look back at the rat they were leaving behind, who is frozen in place as the gears in his head catch up to Cellbit’s irritation. 

When he realizes they’re gone he turns quickly to catch back up with them.

“What the hell is your problem?” He asks, running to keep pace with the feline, who scoffs at him.

“You don’t know me to be calling me by any nickname.” He tells him, not looking at him once as he talks. 

Roier rolls his eyes, looking at Jaiden as he makes a gesture indicating the other man was crazy. She chuckles softly, covering her face with her uninjured wing.

“It’s just a name.” Roier comments after a minute or two. Cellbit makes a noise of annoyance, not quite a hiss but it’s enough that Roier’s ears flinch at the sound. 

“Just a name.. It’s the nickname my sister gave me,” He says, glancing at the other from the corner of his eye. “And I would appreciate it if you didn’t use it. Since again, we are not close enough for you to.”

There’s a beat of silence as they continue the walk, and it’s almost broken by Roier, who goes to speak, but Jaiden shushes him. 

They continue on their walk until they’re now at a new pond filled with lily pads and there’s flowers blooming from some of them. 

The sky is turning orange and once they find a place to sit down Cellbit sighs with relief, immediately curling up to rest. His tail curving around him like a shield.

Roier snickers, and Jaiden nudges him with her good wing before running off to find something to eat.

Cellbit sits up slightly at the mention of food and the two men stare at each other as they realize they’ve gone all day without a proper meal.

  “What are we meant to eat?” Roier asks, looking at him from across the little spot they have.

The cat shrugs, “I have no idea.” 

They can hear Jaiden off somewhere mumbling about worms or bugs, something that birds usually eat. While Cellbit turns his head around to see if there’s something easy to eat without being gross like a literal animal.

Roier doesn’t do anything, he sits down and messes with his pink tail as they sit silently. 

Cellbit’s stomach growls and he groans as he moves to pull his legs in and his body turns into more of a box shape than the usual lay down. 

The rat laughs, the movement having caught his attention. He immediately gets glared at.

“What is it?” Cellbit nearly growls, and Roier puts his hands up in defense.

“you’re loafed, man!” He tells him, still grinning.

He looks at himself and rolls his eyes when he realizes the other was right. He stretches his body out more and lays his head down onto his legs, deciding to just ignore the annoying rodent.

It takes almost five minutes before he sits up when his stomach growls again. 

He feels dizzy, much like he would be if he was human and would go days without properly eating meals. 

Except now his appetite felt like starvation from how small he was now. He didn’t know how long cats could go without eating and he didn’t wanna find out.

He sits up and decides he’ll actually looks for food rather than glance around for an easy way out. 

Roier is using a tiny pebble as a pillow as he lays down when Cellbit turns to find him.

His stomach growls again, and he can feel his claws slowly coming out of his paws. His mouth waters but he shakes his head.

That’s a person. He reminds himself. Eating him is illegal. 

But his stomach still growls, and his body crouches down getting ready for something. His brain feels fuzzy and this vibration erupts in his throat as he stares at Roier still laying against his pillow.

Something in him is begging for food, it’s starved and thirsty. Right in front of him in a whole meal that can hold him off for hours. His mouth opens instinctively, and the vibration comes out as a hiss.

This catches Roier attention, and he looks at the feline glaring at him. His ears perk up, and they stare at each other. Both frozen in place, but a look of fear is on the rodent’s face as his brain puts two and two together.

Instinct kicks in and he squeaks pathetically as he gets into his paws moving slowly to try to make Cellbit not move. 

His tiny heart is pounding in his chest, he thinks he might have a heart attack from it, but his number one worry if whether or not his cat companion was about to pounce and eat him.

His pupils are blown, no longer slim in aggression but wide in need.

They’re hungry. Cellbit is hungry, but instead of just holding on a little longer he looks like he’s about to go savage. He looks scary, and if Roier was human he would’ve just brushed it off and walked away.

Not this time though. Walking away meant he would get caught and his poor throat would be bitten into like he was a juice box.

The growl coming from Cellbit sent shivers down his spine, and Roier wondered for a moment if he was ever a cat because he looked horrifying. 

There’s a snap of a stick and Jaiden’s unknowing voice before Cellbit is coming forward at Roier.

He yells and runs off, hoping his tiny paws can carry him far away enough that Cellbit gets some sense knocked into him before he eats him.

Roier runs, going through the tall grass he saw Jaiden go into for her dinner hoping to god that Cellbit would get stuck or he'd run into a tree.

He goes around, every noise around him feeling amplified as he’s listening intently to Cellbit’s paws running behind him.

It sounds so close Roier thinks for a moment he’ll never get to see his sister again. The thought makes him push harder but it doesn’t stop the want to cry. 

Could rats even cry? Now was not a good time to find out.

He runs out of the tall grass, and around a tree where he presses his back closely to it breathing heavily as he listens to Cellbit stop running and freeze. His growling has stopped too, or maybe it’s quieter so Roier couldn’t hear it anymore. 

He can hear the others footsteps as he walks slowly in search, and Roier covers his mouth from making any noise. Still huffing and gasping for air. He can hear his heart beat in his ears, wondering if Cellbit couldn’t hear it from how hard it was trying to escape from his chests.

It goes quiet, other than the soft rustling of grass from their other friend, who has yet to notice the predicament they’re in.

Roier can no longer hear Cellbit and he stops covering his mouth to look around silently. Maybe he gave up? Maybe he stopped being feral?

When he walks around the tree slightly, the pond comes into view.

 He steps out from behind the tree and he breathes a sigh of relief, his heart pounding slowly finally as he runs his paws over his face.

It’s calm for a moment, as he brushes his fur down, but then there’s a huff. And then there’s the sound of paws hitting the ground faster than Roier thought could be possible and suddenly he’s turning around in horror as he’s pounced on. 

A paw pinning him into the dirt as he wiggles around to escape. Cellbit is over top of him, claws sinking into the ground as he leans down on Roier with his teeth showing.

They’re sharp and his canines look like they’re ready to kill.

Roier turns his head away so he doesn’t have to stare into the mouth of the thing about to eat him. His heart is pounding again and he can feel the dirt getting into his fur. His body goes limp as he accepts the fact that this guy is about to eat him.

This might count as cannibalism.. Is what he thinks before there’s a caw and something hitting Cellbit in the face, causing him to fumble and stumble away from Roier.

His eyes widen in surprise as he stares at a crow standing in front of him. Wings spread as he caws at the feline in front of both of them.

Cellbit hisses in pain from the attack and he shakes his head, pupils going back to their normal size, as he looks back at them both, ears down sadly as the crow glares at him.

“What the hell man!” He shouts.

His brain is still coming down from the high he was on, he can barely remember what he was doing before now. The last thing he remembers is feeling hungry. 

The crow looks at Roier, completely ignoring Cellbit. “You ok, Mate?”

He sort of has an accent but Roier doesn’t question it further as he nods, putting a paw to his chest to check on his poor heart still trying to come down from that adrenaline rush.

The crow fully turns to face the rat and he helps him sit up again.

“Thanks man..” Roier says, looking at him with a smile on his face. 

Then he looks at Cellbit who looks beyond lost as he stares at them both. His ears airplaned and his tail is limp beside him as he sits there dumbly.

Roier goes to approach him but the crow stops him with his wing. “What are you doing?” He asks.

“He’s my friend.” Roier says simply, even though the word leaves a sour taste in his mouth. 

The crow looks skeptical but lets him go.

Roier goes up to the other slowly, “Cellbit?” 

The cat looks at him, a frown on his face, “What happened?” He looks terrified, avoiding eye contact with the rodent.

He shrugs, “No clue, you went feral man. Like instinct kicked in.” He tells him.

“Are you ok?” Cellbit asks, voice soft, and unlike the way his voice normally was, or maybe it’s the fact all of that growling had made his vocal cords sore. 

Roier nods, “Thanks to that crow yeah..” He looks at the bird behind him, his staring and looks conflicted as they talk. “If it weren’t for him you would’ve ripped my throat out or something..” 

Cellbit looks like he’s about to pass out when Roier tells him that. “God.. I’m sorry..” 

The face Cellbit makes as he apologizes reminds Roier of Leonarda when she says sorry to him for messing with his stuff.

His eyes are round, and his pupils are blown but not in the way they were before, his features are softer than before, his ears are down showing the vulnerability of it. 

Roier frowns, patting him on the arm, causing his gaze to fall onto him finally. “It’s ok man! I’m fine aren’t I?” 

“I guess..” Cellbit murmured, “I could’ve eaten you though.. That would’ve been more fucked up than a usual cat eating a normal rat.”

He had a point. It would’ve been cannibalism if he had eaten Roier, even if right at this moment they weren’t human. 

It would’ve been disgusting regardless.

He didn’t wanna think about how that would’ve felt if he was Cellbit and he had actually eaten Roier. 

He just pets him, rubbing his paw to calm him, not sure if it’ll do much since his tiny paws couldn’t do anything.

The crow was still watching them intently and he squawked to get their attention. They both turn to look at him.  

He steps closer to them, wings flapping before they fold close to his body. “I don’t understand. He tried to eat you, why are you forgiving him?”

Roier sighs, “Because it isn’t his fault-”

The crow laughs, “It isn’t? From the looks of things it seemed like you were about to die before he could even get you into his mouth!” 

Cellbit sinks in on himself. Bowing his head down far enough that if you didn’t double take you’d think he was a sad dog.

Roier starts to feel angry, because this guy had no idea what was going on. He’s surprised he didn’t even try to kill Roier himself. 

“It’s not his fault!” He repeats and before the crow can respond with the same shit Roier shushes him, “I’m gonna sound crazy but we used to be human.”

The crow closes his mouth immediately, ears looking bewildered as he stares at them.

“Human?” He gawks. 

Roier nods, and Cellbit does too.

“You’re joking?” The crow laughs but when they don’t laugh too he stops. “You’re.. You’re serious?!” 

“I know it sounds crazy but it’s true!” Roier said, “Some magic man turned me into a rodent and then I accidentally turned Cellbit into a cat!”

The crow breathily laughs, taking a step back to let it all out before he turns back to them. 

“We haven’t eaten all day, that’s why he tried to eat me.” He says lastly. Hearing a sad groan from the feline behind him. 

“That is crazy!” He says. Roier goes to speak but he puts a wing in his face. “But. I believe you.” 

He sighs with relief, “Good. Because we need help finding this forest witch.”

The crow perks up, “Forest witch?”

The tall grass rustles a bit before Jaiden is walking out of it with a worm in her beak. “Hey guys!” She greets, still unknowing of the events from earlier. 

They all turn to look at her, and she stops at the exit she made for herself in the grass awkwardly.

“Who’s that?” Jaiden and the crow ask.

Roier looks between them and gestures to Jaiden, “That’s Jai, she’s our friend!”

She waves at him with her good wing after finishing off her worm.

“Is she meant to be human too?” He asks, still staring at Jaiden.

Roier shakes his head, “She’s just a bird, but we wanna see if BBH can turn her into a human too.” He explains to the other, who chuckles softly.

“Turn her into a human?” The crow smiles before it falters, “You’ll have to be lucky if he’s willing to do that for you.”

Cellbit perks up, or at least his ears do, “You know him?” He’s excited even though he doesn’t think the witch could help them at all.

The crow nods, “You could say that.”

“Awesome! So you can definitely help us get to his place, right?” Roier asks happily, tail wagging a bit.

“Oh definitely.” The crow hums, “Though you’re going the wrong way..” he trails off.

“We are?” Cellbit says, glancing at Jaiden who is walking slowly up to them.

“Yeah BBH is in the opposite direction… Don’t worry I know a shortcut.” He explains.

Jaiden stands beside Roier and quietly apologizes, “Sorry, my sense of direction is fucked.” 

The rodent pulls her into his side, “Nah don’t worry girl! You’ve been great nonetheless.” Jaiden laughs, hugging his side too with her wing.

Cellbit looks at them then back to the crow. “So..” he looks at him expectantly. He was nameless still, he had no idea how to address the other.

The crow looks up at him, still a little tense after almost witnessing him eat Roier but he sighs regardless. “Phil. You all can call me Phil.”

He bows as if he were in front of royalty, and technically he is. But Roier doesn’t seem to care as he talks to Jaiden as they walk back to the little camp they’ve made.

“I’m Cellbit. It’s nice to meet you, Phil. ”

“You too, mate.”

Chapter Text

It was weird accepting so many people into their little group is the first thing Cellbit thought once they all sat together in a little circle.

Phil was scary, or the tiniest bit intimidating, or maybe Cellbit only thought that because he had to literally attack him to stop him from eating someone.

Someone being Roier, who now looked fine like he wasn’t running for his life minutes ago. Cellbit still feels bad, but he couldn’t help it. It was that cat part of his brain that flickered on like a switch, clawing at an exit to be fed. 

Speaking of which. That was still a problem. He was starved, his mouth felt dry at the thought of considering Roier as food, scaring him into a corner of his own mind.

He still couldn’t believe a day ago he was sitting at a booth with his brother in a diner their sister worked at eating burgers that were so delicious he wished he had savored it longer.. Cellbit laughs as he shakes his head.

He can’t believe he’s thinking like that, like some starved man that has had nothing but a glass of water for days. He’s gone without eating for a day he can last longer.

Unfortunately his laugh doesn’t go unnoticed as Phil looks at him curiously. He tries to look away and act like he wasn’t lost in thought while the others talk about whatever they were making a conversation of, but of course it can’t be that easy.

Phil caws at him drawing the attention of Roier and Jaiden too when he speaks. “What’s wrong with you?” He asks.

It almost sounds concerned, but he still has this frozen gaze and he still doesn’t look like he trusts him. Who would after seeing what he had. 

Cellbit stares at him blankly, stomach growling as he glances at everyone. He was huge compared to them all, it was kind of awkward.. “I-I’m kind of hungry.” He mumbled.

Phil looks at Roier than back at him. It's a silent “So you’re gonna try to eat him again” even though that was the farthest thing from the truth. 

He didn’t wanna eat Roier, the cat in him did. He didn’t understand it and he was sure Phil wouldn’t either, but there was this corner of his new brain that was clawing at every edge searching for its escape and his hunger was practically helping it.

“Then let’s find food.” Phil says instead of accusing him. Cellbit breathes a sigh of relief, and he watches intently when the crow flies past him to the pond beside them. “There’s fish in here, let’s hunt.”

“Hunt? You want a man who was turned into an animal to hunt?” Roier points out, Jaiden nodding beside him.

Phil glares at him and they both turn around as if they weren’t instigating.

Cellbit follows Phil towards the water, and he watches the bird fly over him as he goes into the middle of the pond. Far enough that the other can’t see him that well in the dark, though his eyes were starting to adjust as the sun slowly disappears behind the trees in the horizon. 

He looks up at Phil, who looks expectantly at him but he still stands there dumbly at the edge of the pond almost about to fall in.

“Cmere!” Phil shouts at him, gesturing a wing towards him to follow.

Now Cellbit can swim. He’s always been a decent swimmer when he was growing up, and he knows he could do it just fine without worry, it was just.. he didn’t know what to expect from swimming as a cat.

He had this same thought before except he was sure he could do it, he was mostly worried that this crow would judge him somehow.

He just seemed like the judgemental type.

Phil glares at him, motioning him to follow again as he lands on a lily pad somewhere, and Cellbit hesitates to dip his paw into the cool water.

Once he finally does he flinches back and shakes his paw to get it dry again. That little corner in his head now felt like scrambling, like it was pressing so far into that corner is made him feel queasy. 

He looks back at Phil who looks like a disappointed dad. Not that Cellbit would entirely know what that looked like though.. but still it made him frown and try again.

Because just like he was younger he had chances, and he couldn’t just not use them.

When things would spill his father helped clean them up, he didn’t get upset, or tell Cellbit off for the clumsiness, he helped him.

Phil stared at him as he tried to step into the water again, letting his paw fall until it touched the ground.

This part of the pond wasn’t too deep, he seemed like he could stand without being under. So he put his second paw in too. 

That corner sounds like there’s a voice telling him to pull back and continue to starve, the water was cold against his skin, and the sogginess of his fur was uncomfortable. But he pushed.

He wasn’t gonna let that stop him from getting approval from this bird. 

Phil stopped looking so disappointed as Cellbit stood entirely in the water, tail swaying lazily against the top of it as he slowly walked forward to him.

Once the water got deeper Cellbit tested how dog paddling would work for him and he slowly pushed himself towards the other.

He could feel the water move around him, and even the small movements of the fish swimming in the water. Which kinda scared him but he finally managed to reach Phil.

Cellbit swims around his lilypad a bit as he waits for the crow to say something now that he’s closer.

Phil flaps his wings, pushing himself into the sky. “I’m gonna show you how to catch a fish.” 

From a distance Roier and Jaiden watched them. It was weird seeing a bird guide a cat through killing something, especially a cat that was a human a day ago.

Turning around, Roier realizes that there’s something missing. Jaiden, noticing this, looks at him with a tilt of her head.

“We should make a fire.” He says.

“A fire?” Jaiden questions, “Why?”

There’s a beat of silence as Roier looks at her with a raised eyebrow, “So we can cook the fish they bring back? Why else?”

Jaiden gasps, softly laughing, “Ooh! You want to cook it? We don’t really do that out here.” She tells him sweetly, watching him go onto his paws to walk towards sticks that were on the ground.

“Well we’re gonna do that.” He hums, picking up sticks and waddling until he’s in somewhat the middle of their little spot and he sets his findings down. “We need a rock..” he looks around, grinning when he sees a few stones at the edge of the water.

Jaiden watches him silently, the sound of splashing and Phil speaking quiet in the distance. He's running around as he looks for things to make a fire with.

He’s made a fire before while camping with Leo, it wasn’t too hard. 

Taking the rocks he’s found he sets it down beside the sticks before he’s arranging them so it’s easy to make a campfire.

Once all of the sticks are layered and built up in a little tent formation he takes the rock and another. 

Looking up at Jaiden he grins proudly, “Watch this.” 

He takes the rocks and hits them together over the wood. This would be easier if he weren’t a rat but he’s doing his best. He tries to spark a light, watching intently as he hits the stones together. 

His paws hurt slightly but he has a mission.

There’s a cheer from Phil and Roier tries a bit hard to make the flame appear.

He wasn’t gonna let them eat a cold, raw, fish. That was disgusting. Plus he was royalty so he couldn't eat anything.. so pathetic. 

Cellbit says something but his voice is muffled, but he sounds closer than had earlier.

Roier chips one of the rocks after hitting it too hard and he groans flopping onto his back in defeat.

Jaiden walks over her wing flapping at her side, face blank as he leans over him. “Wasn’t there meant to be fire?”

He glares at her, scoffing as he rolls over, turning back to her to open his mouth to say something but his eyes fall onto Cellbit who’s emerging from the water, a fish in his mouth as he shakes water from his fur.

He’s soaked. His long fur dripping with water, even his tail is dragging down from all the water that was soaking him. 

Cellbit sighs when he isn’t immediately dry, setting the fish down. It isn’t big but it isn’t small either, it’s a good size to feed all of them for the night.

“That was harder than I thought it would be..” he shook again, his hair curling and falling all over the place. The water flying around and hitting Roier, who covers his face to not get water in his eyes. 

Phil lands beside the fish, inspecting it but tilting his head and looking at it with one eye. He hums as he bites it and drags it closer to Jaiden and Roier.

“You did good though!” He says happily, using his talons to take the head of the fish off. 

Roier grimaces as he watches him. He’s seen chefs kill fish but it was more unsettling than that when you’re almost just as small as that fish. 

Cellbit walks over his fur shining in the moonlight from all the water covering him, but Roier makes no comment.

He just watches the feline as he sits down and lets Phil cut up pieces for all of them to eat. Roier sits too, accepting the piece he’s been given happily. 

Except he doesn’t start to eat immediately because he watches Phil give Cellbit the biggest piece. 

“What the hell?” He says without hesitation, they all look at him confused. 

Especially Cellbit who frowns slightly. 

“Why does he get more than us?” 

Jaiden shrugs, and Phil rolls his eyes, “Because look at him.” He glances at their furry friend. 

Cellbit takes a bite of his food, a small chirp sounding noise coming from him as he swallows. His ears hesitate to go down for a moment but they end up not doing that and they stand strong in his head.

Roier stares. The other’s eyes as he looks up from eating sending shivers down his spine. His pupils are blown and he looks like any other cat he would see running around, except he knows that he isn’t meant to be. He sighs, “Never mind.” 

He starts to eat his part of the fish, and it’s good, even though it’s raw and he isn’t really sure he should be eating it but it’s ok, because he’d rather not starve for this whole journey. 

They all eat and the sun sets finally. The moon rising above them and shining softly in the sky. 

Jaiden was curled up restfully next to Roier, using his body heat for warmth, trying to fall asleep while they all talked, her feathers bristling.

“So, you're telling me you used to be a prince?” Phil looked at him, and if he had eyebrows one would be up. He sounded skeptical but Roier nodded with a grin on his face. “Why are you all the way down here in quesadilla town?” 

“That’s what I was saying!” Cellbit comments while laying on his side.

Phil stood between him and Cellbit, just slightly off to the side, wings folded in as he listened to their stories.

Roier shrugs, “Family business.” 

The crow stares, face blank as if he were trying to read him. Roier had nothing to hide, it’s just complicated to explain how his dads practically kicked him out and told him “go get married.” 

The pause is shortened as Cellbit yawns and Phil looks up to see how late it’s gotten. He perks up slightly, his usual expression turning soft as he smiles.

“Kristin..” He whispers fondly, flapping his wings as he walks out to look further into the sky.

The stars greet him while they sparkle, and both Cellbit and Roier look at each other confused by him before watching him lift himself into the sky. 

He flies around, saying words that were inaudible to their ears, but that doesn’t stop them from getting up from their spots, and silently, and gently, leaving Jaiden behind for a moment.

Phil stops moving around and stares into the sky, eyes glimmering as he stares at one in particular.

Cellbit tilts his head, “What is he doing?” 

Roier shrugs, “Talking to the northern star..” 

The cat chuckles, watching as Phil turns to them. The same smile on his face as he flies down.

“That’s my wife!” He says, looking back up at the stars, “Kristin. Ain’t she beautiful.”

Roier hums, opening his mouth but Cellbit covers his face with his tail. “She's stunning.”  

Phil hums, flying back into the sky and rambling about his wife. “Look how she lights up the sky,” He says softly. 

Cellbit sighs, a small smile on his face as he watches him silently. Roier, looking up at Cellbit, looking more confused than ever.

The feline just glances at him while Phil dances around the sky.

“She’s the queen of death,” He whispers, “Her gaze so cold it makes my heart ache for her.” He lands on a lily pad the water making ripples. 

“There’s no one as beautiful as she,” His voice is so soft, and like he’s genuinely talking to this woman that he seems to love so much. “Te amo con todo mi corazón..” 

Roier hums, looking up at Cellbit, “I love you with all my heart.” He says. 

Cellbit raises an eyebrow at him, fur standing up on the curve of his back. “Como?” 

The rodent’s ears perk up as he clears his throat, “I’m-I’m translating..” He explains looking away.

“Oh.. Well, I know Spanish so..” He laughs softly.

Roier can feel his head spin as he does and he doesn’t know how or why but something about Cellbit’s presence beside him feel right. Maybe it’s the adrenaline from before, maybe he hasn’t actually forgiven him, but his heart is beating fast in his chest as he stares at the other.

His eyes sparkle in the sky, and they look like they could hold the stars in them. 

He cringes to himself looking away and back at Phil.

The crow sighs fondly one more time before he flies back to them. He lands with a laugh, looking at the others with a lopsided smile, “Sorry, I just get so excited when she comes out, it’s not always that I get to see her shine so bright.”

Cellbit shakes his head, “Don’t worry about it, Kristin sounds wonderful.”

Roier nods beside him, walking up to Phil. “You two look great together, man! Also I didn’t know you speak español, eso es tan cool!” He smiles widely at him.

Phil nods before shaking his head, “No no, my husband knows it. He taught me a few things.”

There’s a beat before Roier tilts his head and smiles awkwardly, “¿Que?” He mumbled, “Hombre?” He says.

The crow laughs a bit before sitting down to explain. “I have a wife, Kristin, but I have a platonic husband, Missa.” He tells him, “It means I still care for him like a usual husband would but we’re not lovey dovey like an actual couple, does that make sense?”

The rodent shakes his head and Phil shrugs, “You’ll understand it soon. We might bump into him and Chay on our way to BBH.”

Cellbit and Roier nod, looking at each other as the bird turns away and settles in the spot next to Jaiden. Even though they just met it’s like he’s fully prepared to take her under his wing, and in the literal sense he drapes his wing over her so she doesn’t get cold.

He shuts his eyes but not before wishing the others a goodnight.

It takes a minute or two of silent wonder before Cellbit is laying down and curling up comfortably. Roier joins him, going into a little ball near his stomach where the most of the warmth is. Unlike the other night Cellbit doesn’t comment on it. 

They would need to depend on each other, this is just one of the many steps to that. 

The next morning Roier is woken up by the abrupt movement of Cellbit next to him. He groans, rubbing his face into the softness of his fur, not realizing how close they were.

Theirs a view voices around them as Cellbit bats his paw at him, mumbling something incoherent to the rodent. 

There’s a laugh from somewhere before Roier is being picked up by the scruff of his neck and pulled away from Cellbit. He whines some, squinting as he’s set down again. 

“What the hell..” he grumbles, yawning.

Cellbit stands up, stretching with a groan, his tail curling up before he relaxes again. “You were clinging to me as if I were some sort of teddy bear.” He says.

Roier’s eyes widen but he shakes his head and rolls them instead. “Yeah right.” He crosses his arms.

Jaiden laughs, hopping over to him. “It’s true! Me and Phil saw.”

The rat gasps, whipping around to look at them. “No way! I never cling when I sleep!” He exclaims. If he were human his face would be red, he’s sure of it.

The blue jay shrugs, wincing when her hurt wing aches, but she still grins at him. “It’s ok, Roier, no one’s judging.” 

She sounds confident in her answer but the crow beside her chuckles, looking away when Roier glares at him.

“Whatever!” He throws his arms into the air, turning around to face Cellbit again. “Let's go big guy, we've got places to be!” 

Cellbit yawns, scratching the back of his ears as Roier runs past him. 

They all watch him before he comes running back. “Where are we going..?”

Phil hums, flapping his wings and becoming airborne. “Just follow me and you’ll be fine.” 

They all follow Phil as he flies above them. Jaiden is on Cellbit’s back while Roier walks beside him. 

There isn’t much conversation. If there was talking it was Roier asking to be carried too and Cellbit telling him no, and Phil telling them where to turn.

Seeing him fly around Jaiden frowns, she tries to move her injured wing but it sends a spike of pain through her body, and she winces.  “I wish I could fly again..” she comments, looking at Phil as he rolls in the sky like some sort of dog.

The crow glances at her, huffing as he glides down and lands on Cellbit, who he tells to keep going straight until he says so.

He looks back at Jaiden, “Listen up mate, You’ll fly again. Even if it takes months, I’ll help you relearn it and I’ll be here to support you through it all.” 

The bluejay nods, smiling softly, pulling Phil into a hug. It had only been hours but he felt like family to her. All of them did.

She pulls away, “Thank you, Phil. I really appreciate it!” 

“No problem, Jaiden” He smiles, ruffling her head before opening his wings and flying up into the sky again. 

Roier stares up at them as he continues walking with Cellbit. Who doesn’t look particularly interested in anything going on around him right now.

He stares at the woods in front of them. It reminds him of the forest at home, and all of the times he’s climbed trees for kites and balls that Leo would get trapped and stuck in between branches. 

He sighs at the thought of missing her. He wonders how she’s doing or how either of his parents are too. 

He wonders if Doied is having fun. Roier scowls at that. He doesn’t wanna know what he’s getting up to that traitor.

A few minutes pass before any of them talk again.

“How did you injure your wing, Jaiden?” It’s a simply question that Phil asks, honestly Roier’s been wondering too but he assumed it’s a sensitive topic for her so he didn’t.

Phil had more confidence than him though.

Jaiden looks at him for a beat before look down at Cellbit’s fur. 

“Well you see..” the feathers on her head bristle, but she deeply breathes. “There were these hunters, and they had knocked me and a couple of my friends out of the sky..” She lifts her wing to show the cause of what happened, wincing as it hurts each time she moves it.

Then suddenly Cellbit’s ears go down, it’s the first time he’s acknowledged what’s going on with everyone around him and it kinda strucks Roier in some way.

He can’t describe it but it makes something flutter. He quickly shakes his head, averting his attention back to Jaiden.

“Everyone got back up, they were all fine but.. but they left me behind.” Her posture drops slightly. Her eyes shimmer in a way Roier couldn’t recognize but it made him frown. 

She was abandoned. 

He could relate to that. He could relate to understanding what it’s like to wake up and suddenly not know where anyone you cared about was, and it’s scary. He knew the absolute dread of knowing you’re all alone in the world and he hates to admit that it’s happened twice.

Once when his mom suddenly disappeared, and again when Doied ultimately betrayed him. 

He frowns, ears moving in an uneasy way. Roier doesn’t know what to say and from the sounds of things no one else knows either. It’s quiet now, the only audible noises being Cellbit’s feet hitting the ground and Phil’s wings flapping in the air.

He takes the moment of silence to think about how he’ll turn him and Cellbit back, especially if things don’t work out with that BBH fellow. 

If they never get turned back will they be trapped this way forever? Maybe it’s temporary he’ll be back to normal in no time..!

Something tells him that it won’t work out like that.  Something deep into his stomach turns and twist in disagreement, like it knows after witnessing what he witnessed that if he didn’t hurry he’d be trapped as a rodent forever and his family will never know where he’s gone. 

That thought alone makes him gag.

He wonders if Cellbit feels the same as he looks up at the feline.

He looks so calm, like nothing in the world is bothering him right now. It almost makes Roier feel envious. Why does he get to feel so carefree? He was the one who tried to kill Roier the night they first met.

Roier slowly comes to stop, as he looks at the ground lost in thought. Everyone ahead of him continues until Jaiden calls him out. “Roier, what’s wrong?” 

Cellbit stops soon after, a couple of feet ahead from him, looking over his shoulder and at Roier confused. 

He looks up at them, “What are we gonna do if this doesn’t work?”

Phil lands on Cellbit’s head. The cat grunts in disapproval but he stays put. “What do you mean?” He asks, folding his wings into his sides.

Roier purses his lips, looking away again, “Like.. If this BadBoyHalo guy can’t turn us back into humans then.. What are we meant to do?” 

He can see a shift in Cellbit’s expression, like this might be the first time he’s thought about it. His tail whips around, before settling on drooping low to the ground. 

“Then..” Phil starts but Cellbit finishes, “Then we get used to it.”

They all look at him, Roier’s eyes narrowing, “Como..?” 

The other looks away from them, staring at the ground, “If all of this ends up being useless and we somehow get stuck we get used to it.”

Jaiden and Phil look at each other then at Roier whose nose is scrunched up, and his mouth is agape in disbelief. He takes a small but mighty step forward. 

“Are you serious?” He says, Cellbit’s gaze shifts as he glances at the rodent but won’t make contact. “How could you possibly think like that!? Don’t you have a family you wanna see again?” 

Cellbit opens his mouth but he doesn’t get a word out before Roier is talking again. “I know for a fact that I’d rather see my sister and fathers again in a heartbeat. Because they’re all I have, and I can’t imagine a world where I have to live like this again.” 

He gestures around but this doesn’t exactly compare to the cold streets. The cold streets he and his brother grew up on together before they were picked by the kings. 

He may be a brat but he was a brat that was grateful for his family because up until that point his brother was his only family member that he had to worry about. Now he had Leo, and his parents who he knows only want the best for him.

There’s this sour taste in his mouth as he thinks about his brother again. His best friend, the person he looked to for his entire life, that traitor.

“You don’t get to say just get used to it, Cellbit! You don’t know what it’s like to scavenge for something to eat when you’re on the brink of fucking starvation!” He points an accusatory finger at him, even though he’s small he can tell it does something to the other because he turns around to him, growling with his ears airplaned again.

Roier’s heart skips a beat as it pounds heavily in his chest and for a moment he’s convinced Cellbit is gonna kill him but he doesn’t. 

All of this while Phil and Jaiden watch.

“Oh and you do? Aren’t you a prince!?” He hisses, and it sounds like it’s coming from the deepest part of his throat. “Aren’t you served fancy meals for dinner everyday while maids pamper you and do all of your work?!” 

They stare at each other, Cellbit directly in his face with their bird friends on his back watching them, Roier glaring at him as his pupils go thin.

“I do know what that’s like!” He says, and Cellbit opens his mouth to retaliate against him but Roier shushes him, “Shut up! Just shut up! You don’t know anything about me, man! Just because I’m a prince doesn’t mean I was born a prince!” 

Cellbit pauses, ears going back up as he tilts his head to the side. Roier huffs, “Two kings can’t necessarily have kids you fucking idiot! They took me off the streets, and they gave me a life I had convinced myself I could never have!” 

His lips are wobbly and he swallows down the absolute mess of emotions he was starting to have. Because it isn’t everyday that he tells strangers about the shitty childhood he had. 

He can only imagine the thoughts going through all of their heads, more so Cellbit who would understand this more than Jaiden and Phil combined.

“I- I don’t wanna be stuck this way as much as I know you do man. So stop pretending that you don’t care because I know you do.” He huffs, looking around them again and at the ground.

He wipes his eyes, feeling tears well up in them. Great. He was about to cry in front of all of these people.

He can see Cellbit’s mouth open and close, and he’s sure he looks like a complete fool, and just as he accepts the fact he couldn’t find the right words to respond instead the big shadow of his body is lifted and he’s hissing again.

Roier looks up just in time to see two complete strangers in front of him. Both of them had dirty torn clothes and they had guns strapped to their backs. One of them had Cellbit in their hands while Phil helped Jaiden up from falling off of the other. 

Things really couldn’t go their way could it? Something always had to find its way to interrupt.

The two men laugh, the one holding Cellbit battling with the cat to let him go. He’s wiggling around and his claws are out trying to scratch them, but they keep moving him around in their arms.

“Look at this beauty!” The one not holding Cellbit grins, he has missing teeth and it makes Roier grimace. 

The other grins too, “Who knew we could find such a fine kitty cat out here!”

Roier just stands there, listening to them laugh and talk as they walk away with his friend in their hands. His hissing and growling fading as they trudge through the woods.

He doesn’t know how to react, or how to feel, because moments ago he was yelling in his face and feeling like he couldn’t ever knock sense into his head but now he was feeling this absolute dread of concern. 

What were they gonna do with him? What if they killed him? What if they used his fur for rugs, or clothes? 

“Roier!” He hears Phil call to him, and he shakes his head as the men fade into the trees ahead, he turns to the crow and both him and Jaiden are on their feet. “Are you done gazing into the void? Because we gotta get him from those guys.”

“Well no shit!” Roier says back, rolling his eyes.

Jaiden shakes her head, “That’s not what he means! We have to get him back, those are the hunters that injured my wing and I have no idea what they could do him!”

That dread from before erupts into worry and bile as he turns to the direction the hunters went in and he chases after them.

He can hear Phil and Jaiden call after him telling him to wait but he ignores them.

He doesn’t care how annoying Cellbit is, or how dumb of an opinion he has in them staying like this forever, he was still his friend and at this point he couldn’t imagine escaping this curse without him. 

He heaves as he tracks down these humans by following muddying foot prints and the tiniest bit of sound they were making as they walked. 

Roier had no idea where he was going, it was dark and the grass was wet and the dirt was muddy and his legs hurt from walking already, but he couldn’t let someone as innocent as Cellbit end up as somebody's hat they wear. It wasn’t his fault that he was turned into a cat.

He can hear the hunter’s voices getting closer, and he sighs heavily once he realizes they’ve stopped moving.

He can see lights up ahead as he approaches, slowing down to catch his breath. 

Once he’s caught up he can see the hunters around a small fire and an old beaten up trailer next to them and beside that was a small kennel with a paw coming from the front with claws battling to find a way out.

Roier sighs with relief as he scampers over to the kennel. He can hear Cellbit’s deep voice swearing in whispers as he struggles to pull his paw back and struggles more to pick his way out. 

As he approaches he can hear the hunters talking, one of them mentioning pet trades and the other suggesting selling his coat. He grimaces but he doesn’t let that stop him as he stops in front of the cage and pokes his tiny head in.

“Cellbo?” He whispers, watching as his feline friend’s eyes widen as he stares at him. He’s pushed himself into the back of the cage, his fur is on ends, and his pupils are still thin. 

He has this look on his face, he looks scared and not the same type of scared from when he almost ate Roier. He looks genuinely like he’s been preparing himself for the absolute worse.

“Roier..” he whispers back, pulling his paw from the door of the kennel, relaxing slightly as the rodent smiles at him.

“Hey man..! I’m gonna get you outta here just-” “Is that a rat?” One of the hunters points out, and from the lisp it’s the one with missing teeth.

Roier grimaces as he turns around to see both of them staring at him. He squeaks pathetically, ears going down instantly as they stand up to shoo him away.

He runs back into the woods looking into the camp from between tall trees and bushes. He can see Cellbit press himself into the back of the kennel again, hissing like a feral beast as the one that grabbed him coos at him like he’s some sort of baby.

“Is he ok?” Jaiden's voice comes from behind him, and Roier turns around a look of relief on his face, ears going back up.

“Thank god you're here, I need help getting Cellbit from that kennel over there.” He points in the direction of the feline. The little tan cage in the distance wiggling as hisses and yowls come from it. 

Phil hums, “How do we help?”

Inside the kennel Cellbit curls in on himself. His arms weren’t flexible enough to reach the lock keeping him in, and he definitely couldn’t push his way out. He’s never been in a small space like this before, other than hiding away in closets when Quackity would get in accused of having him over when he was told no.

 He wasn’t usually scared of tight spaces but for some reason this cage was making him feel claustrophobic. His paws are on his head, claws digging into his fur as he tries to regulate his breathing but for whatever reason the little voice in the back of his head was sending sirens all throughout his body and he couldn’t help the hissing and pained noises coming from himself.

Roier tried to help him, he had chased after these men to reach him and all he could do was stare at him and wonder how could this guy still come for me.

Roier was right, he didn’t know him. To Cellbit he was a stranger who had a better life than him, but suddenly his world felt like it was flipped upside down.

“You don’t know anything about me, man! Just because I’m a prince doesn’t mean I was born a prince!”

He huffs, he doesn’t understand what the meant but the assumptions he has makes him feel like shit.

It wasn’t like he didn’t want to go home to his family, he missed his siblings and his mom because he couldn’t imagine causing them more grief than they had already gone through with their dad.

He just got used to being the outlier of everyone, just so they can all stay calm. 

He did it when his father died, and he did it when Roier said he didn’t know what they would do if everything didn’t work out.

He thought that maybe telling him then they’ll get used it was a good idea but clearly not. Now he’s fucked up twice with the rat, and somehow.. Somehow.

Roier still chose to come after him to free him from this cage. 

It smells like smoke and rot in the kennel and it causes him to gag a couple of times. He doesn’t know what to do other than sit there and curl up into a ball while he waits for Roier to try again. That is if he even does try a second time.

And he was gonna try a second time.

It would be a quick swoop in from Phil and Jaiden will be there to help, and while they distract, Roier will help Cellbit.

Simple.

At least he hopes so.

“After I get him out just run for it, alright?” He says to them, but mostly to Jaiden who will be the most behind than any of them. She nods, a determined look on her face.

“Great, let’s do this!” Roier turns away and just as he’s about to start their operation he whips back around and hugs her. It wasn’t like things could go wrong. 

The worst thing that could happen is them failing at saving Cellbit, the likelihood any of them get hurt is basically zero. But he hugs her regardless, and she hugs him too, wrapping her uninjured wing around him.

Jaiden was the closest thing he had to Leo. He was just as worried about them like he would be for Leonarda.

“We got this, Ro.” She tells him, confidence laced in her voice. 

Sighing he pulls away, “Alrighty, let’s go!” He turns away again and starts to go back into the camp the hunters have set up.

He can hear Phil above him flapping his wings as he goes into the direction for the hunters. 

Roier stops behind the kennel, hearing the heavy breathing from Cellbit on the other side. He peaks into the cage through a little hole, “Gatinho?” He calls out to him.

Through the fur and fluff the cat lifts up his head from the ball he’s wrapped himself in, a confused look on his face before it morphs into a small smile. 

“Olá, Guapito.”

Roier chooses to ignore the fact his heart skipped a beat at the nickname, instead he chuckles softly. No time to dwell on a sappy nickname.

He goes around and ends up on the side of the cage with the door. In the distance is the ruckus of Phil tormenting the two hunters.

So he takes his time reaching for the lock. He’s a little bit too short but if he stretches enough he’s able to reach it. 

Cellbit watches intently as he fixes himself to sit on his feet rather than laying, and he stares as the rodent works. He keeps glancing back and forth between Roier and Phil, and his heart is fast in his chest.

All while Jaiden stands off to the side hoping for the best. She would only help Phil if things got messy, and she’d only help Roier if he was struggling.

Right now it seemed like she might have to help him, even though he reached the cage’s lock fine his tiny hands couldn’t work while strained. 

She looks to Phil, who seems fine, then he turns back to Roier and nods. She was gonna help him.

She sneaks over, careful to not get noticed by the hunters who were somehow struggling to fight off a crow. Jaiden stops by their trailer’s wheels that are right next to the kennel. 

“Do you need help?” She whispers to Roier, he squeaks in surprise at her sudden appearance but nods once they’ve all made sure they weren’t noticed yet.

Jaiden rushes over, “Climb my back.” She tells him, facing the cage with her back to him as he does as he was told.

Climbing and easily reaching the lock to pull it open. It clicks out of place and quickly they both move so Cellbit can crawl out.

Then they all rush away from the area, still trying to be sneaky but noticeable for Phil to notice.

Once they’re out of view Roier looks back and sees Phil still messing with them. He laughs but starts to wave his arms around to get him to come back.

It takes a couple of seconds but the crow notices and caws a few more times at the hunters before flying away.

After multiple hours of following Bagi and that detective Maximus, or something.. Quackity is finally home getting ready for this date he had planned.

He wanted to tell Cellbit about it, because that’s who he usually went to about boy problems, but, of course, he was missing. 

So he had no one to talk to about the fact that the prince Roier asked him out to dinner.

Excitement courses through him as he brushes his hair and fixes his beanie onto his head. Then he dresses in the finest button up and slacks he’s got before deciding he was dressed well enough to go.

The walk to the place they were meeting wasn’t far, it was just a bit out of the way from main roads, but it was fancy and Quackity’s been there a couple of times. 

As he approaches the building he notices exactly who he’s been expecting to see since he’s woken up.

Smiling, he walks up with his hands behind his back. 

When that magic man, or Etoiles, had told Doied he can have whatever he wants for a price he hadn’t expected it to be his brother’s life. 

At first he thought it was insane, until Etoiles gave him the amulet he currently has around his neck and suddenly he was his brother. From his messy straight hair, to his clear vision, to the double joints in his fingers. 

He didn’t know where Roier was right now all he knew was that he was a rodent somewhere in town. That was something Etoiles wasn’t very happy about. 

Doied didn’t care though, right now he had a date with the richest guy in town. Who he can see approaching him from the corner of his eye.

He’s dressed nice, compared to Doied who wore something he would wear rather than what Roier would’ve picked himself. 

Not like Quackity would notice. He didn’t know either of them. Not yet.

“Hola Roier!” He’s greeted happily by the other, the biggest smile on his face as he stands in front of Doied.

“Hola,” He smiles back. He isn’t used to being close to people that weren’t his family or guests that were invited to events his parents planned. Right now he needs to get used to it. “How are you this evening?” 

He offers his hand to Quackity, who hesitates but he takes it into his own. 

“I’ve been good!” He tells him, “Though..” He trails off, letting Doied guide them into the restaurant in silence for a moment.

This makes the prince cringe, did he figure him out? He hopes not that it would be hard to explain.

“Uh.. My friend went missing last night.” Quackity tells him, his smile turning into a frown, Doied can feel a tug at his lips to frown but he doesn’t. 

“I’m sorry..” He says, squeezing the other’s hand, “I’m sure he’s fine.”

The ravenette laughs, “Oh I’m sure he is! I’m just worried because he left with no trace.” He sighs.

They walk into the restaurant together, immediately getting greeted by the workers, one guiding them to a table and another taking their orders. 

They order drinks, sending them away to talk more.

“So, who’s your friend?” Doied asks, he’s got an idea of who it could be but he won’t assume. 

Quackity smiles, “Remember that guy that made a mess of the food bar?” Doied nods, his suspicions correct. “That was him, his name’s Cellbit.”

“Cellbit?” Doied repeats back, “Interesting name..” 

The other shrugs, smiling as a waiter comes back with their drinks in hand, politely he takes it thanking her before he turns back to Doied. “I suppose, but my name isn’t any better.”

They both laugh and the prince can’t deny that Quackity wasn’t a very common name but his wasn’t either, he can’t even remember why he had Doied as his name.

He only remembers being young and Roier saying they should give each other names for fun then suddenly the ones they picked stuck.  

No one questioned it when they got adopted by the kings, and Doied hadn’t questioned his name until now. 

They continued to talk for a while, eventually ordering things to eat and slowly getting to know each other through stories. 

Dare Doied say he felt.. normal? Sure he wasn’t himself and ‘just be yourself’ was apparently a good thing for dating, talking to Quackity with the same pep his brother had.. Was.. fun.

Unfortunately, half way through their dinner his vision started to get blurry and he kept squinting to see more clearly, though that wasn’t working out for him. 

Obviously Quackity notices this because he raises a brow and awkwardly laughs. “Is something wrong?”

Doied’s eyes widen and he quickly shakes his head, “ ‘course not.” He waves his hand dismissively.

“You sure? You’re squinting a lot, is it the lights?” Quackity asks, which is dumb because it isn’t bright in the building at all. It’s dim and if it weren’t for the candles and small lamps around it would be a safety hazard. 

He shakes his head, “I assure you I’m fine.”

 So Quackity nods slowly, looking around and asking for a refill of his drink, while Doied’s hair twirls and suddenly it’s in his face like it usually was in his body and he grimaces slightly. 

He combs it back, smiling at Quackity once he’s turned back to him. “I heard your brother is around, is he nice?” He asks.

Doied cringes internally, he knows he is around, but he can’t say “oh I turned him into a rat and he’s escaped.” That’s wrong on so many levels.

He knows it’s wrong, that’s the part that bothers him the most about switching with his brother. Leaving Roier to be a rat to travel all on his own, even if that was his own fault, it’s been bugging him. 

He clears his throat, looking into Quackity’s eyes the best he can without making a fool of himself. “Doied? Oh he’s.. great.” He grins, “He’s probably out reading a book or something, y’know..” 

Suddenly Doied’s vision is so blurry Quackity looks like a blob in his eyes, he bites the inside of his cheek as he looks around then down at, what he hopes is, his watch. 

“Oh- Well uhm, look at the time!” He glances back up at Quackity, who through the blur tilts his head.

“What?” He chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck.

Doied stands abruptly, tripping over himself and catching himself only grabbing the table. When he looks up, Quackity is looking down at him with wide eyes, and being so close to the other makes it so much easier to see his face clearly.

His cheeks are dusted in pink and he has his mouth open in awe. “Are you ok?”

Doied nods, looking at him and glancing around. How did he end up with the richest and probably the prettiest boy in town? This is who Roier was expected to marry?

He’s never been interested in relationships and especially not moving quickly with things like this but he wasn’t himself right now. He was Roier, the second prince of Favela, who is loud and enthusiastic about everything, who shines like the sun and rushes himself into dozens of things to continue the thrill and adrenaline he got from all of his partying.

So if he were Roier.. He would rush into things with no second thought. Might as well rush into this too.. right? That was the point. Even if Roier would never get to see this life Doied would make for him. 

Doied looks up at him and hopefully into his eyes as he grabs his hand and holds it in his own.

“Quackity..” he starts, making his voice soft and gentle. “I would love to see you again sometime..”

Quackity smiles softly, “I would love to..”

Doied stands up, the Mexican following his lead. He kisses Quackity’s cheek, “Good, then I’ll see you later.” 

He walks away, thanking the waiters for their service as he pushes the restaurant's doors open to let himself out.  

He stumbles trying to walk down the sidewalk, using his palm against buildings to help walk as he tries to navigate his way back to Etoiles’ again.

It takes a long time, and a few people to help tell him with which direction he was going before he made it back to the magic shop the man owned.

Inside were novelties and old books on shelves all round. Behind a counter was Etoiles with one of these books in his hands.

Once the magician sees Doied he immediately notices something’s wrong. “Don’t tell me..” He grumbled and the prince slowly nodded, stumbling and catching himself on the counter. Small figures shaking from the sudden push.

“I can’t see a fucking thing right now.” He tells him, rubbing his eyes before being poked by a small rod. When he grabs it he realizes they’re his glasses and he quickly slides them onto his face. He groans, leaning his head onto the counter.

Etoiles pinches the bridge of his nose. “I should’ve known it wouldn’t last long.” 

Doied looks at him, raises a brow as he turns around and reaches for something on a shelf. 

Once he’s facing him again Etoiles holds his hand out. “We need to take matters into our own hands.”

Doied scoffs, “Have we not already done that?”

Etoiles glares at him, green sparks and particles buzzing off of him. “Be quiet. I’m doing this to help you.”

The prince nods, standing up straight again, and watching silently as the other man does his magic. The sparks appear again, coming off of him in big waves. Some of the sparks glitch and jolt around as they burst from him, and the ground shakes underneath them.

Doied looks around as a green cloud appears around them, the pattern of binary covering the walls of the shop as Etoiles stares into nothing, his eyes glowing the same binary patterns. 

It feels like wind has been let in as things blow around and things fall over and off their shelves. Glass shattering when it meets the ground.

Then it all stops.

Time freezes as Etoiles blinks and things go back to normal in seconds. Doied looks at him confused before the binary shows up again in blobs spinning like tornados. They have no eyes but they look to Etoiles like he is their leader and from the way he sinisterly smiles.. Doied thinks there’s no way he isn’t. 

“I need you to find the rodent.” He turns to Doied and pulls the amulet off from around his neck, “Find him and bring him back to me.” 

He holds the amulet to them and like dogs they lean into it as if sniffing out a scent all jolting and spinning quicker once they’ve all got it done before vanishing quickly to find their victim. He hands Doied the amulet again and pats him on the shoulder. 

He says nothing but he doesn’t have to. The prince understands.

Tubbo was with Fred when the weird earthquake happened. Quesadilla Town never got earthquakes. So the small panic it caused a few of the residents of the town was reasonable.

When they finally found their footing again Tubbo let go from holding his arm for stability, “Sorry!” His face goes red as Fred laughs. 

“It’s ok, Tubbo..” He tells him, smiling softly, taking the brunette's hand into his. “Where were we?” 

Tubbo’s face heats up more but he clears his throat, “Right uh.. We were gonna go to my house and search for clues for where my brother’s gone.”

Hours ago they were walking around town asking if anyone’s seen Cellbit, now they’ve decided they should investigate his bedroom. Maybe he had something to explain where he’s gone..

Fred was the only other person who knew Cellbit like Bagi and Tubbo did. Not to the same extent but he’s around enough for Cellbit to tease him. So he was practically family. 

Together they walked hand in hand back to the house.

“Maybe he’s just on a secret vacation” Fred suggests jokingly. He’s been trying to cheer Tubbo up since he found out about Cellbit.

Tubbo laughs but there’s still a sorrowful smile on his face when he does, “God I wish! He’d never go on a vacation though, he’d say something like,” Clearing his throat again he deepens his voice, “Well who’s gonna look after you idiots? Not mom!” 

Fred laughs and Tubbo smiles fondly as the other covers his face with his free hand. 

His impression of his brother was off, he knew it was, and yet Fred still threw himself into his laughs like Tubbo was a world renowned comedian. 

That’s why he loved his boyfriend.

As they approach his house there are lights on and music coming from inside. This immediately makes Tubbo’s smile grow and he quickly drags Fred inside.

“I think mom is home!” He tells him excitedly from over his shoulder.

Their mom was home a lot, but when she wasn’t the house was quiet and it felt like a ghost town to be in. It made Tubbo feel a little bit better about their situation when he realizes she might be inside.

They walk up to the front door, opening it and letting themselves in before Tubbo locks the door behind them.

They go into the kitchen, the sweet buttery scent of pastries filling the air. They both practically drool at the smell as they stand in front of the island that separates the kitchen from their living room.

“Olá mama, what’re you baking?” Tubbo asks, leaning over the counter. 

His mom looks up at him, a little surprised that he’s home but she still smiles. “Just making a few muffins, want one?” 

She offers them the tray with muffins, letting each of them grab one off before setting it down.

“Hello Fred, what brings you around?” 

Fred smiles, pausing instead of biting into the pastry, “We’re looking for Cellbit.” 

She looks at him, raising a brow smile falling slightly. “You make it sound like he’s missing!” Her smiles reforms as she laughs, pulling another tray of muffins from the counter and sliding them into the oven.

Tubbo frowns, nudging the other boy in the arm before reassuringly smiling at his mother. 

“Nah don’t worry about it!” He says, trying to sound totally confident. “He just promised to give me something for the thing we’re working on. Right Fred?” 

He turns to his partner, and Fred flushes before nodding vigorously. “Right!” 

His mom hums, untying the apron she has on and folding it neatly. She looks at Tubbo, eyes narrowing and they stare at each other. Her icy eyes piercing into him, while still keeping his composure as her smile falls and turns into a thin line.

She stops once she blinks and sigh. “Okay, just don’t mess with anything else, you know how your brother gets.” 

“Não- uhh não há problema.” He grins. 

He grew up speaking English, unlike his older siblings who grew up primarily speaking Portuguese. Doesn’t mean he doesn’t understand it, he does! He just doesn’t speak it as fluently as any of them.

Their dad was the one who taught them, without him Tubbo was always gonna end up not knowing as much as Cellbit and Bagi.

Still, his mom smiles at him and dismisses him with a wave of her hand and another muffin. 

Fred follows him as he walks out of the room and down the hall to their bedrooms.

They walk until they’re about half way and when they stop they look at a white door, shut with no lights peaking out.

Cellbit always preferred to keep the lights off. Besides a lamp or two.

Entering Tubbo is hit with the strong stench of his brother, the cologne he wears, and the musky smell of all of the tossed around laundry. He grimaces hoping Fred doesn’t mind the smell as he steps inside further and picks up a few things from his floor and tosses it onto his bed.

He can hear his boyfriend follow him in, as the door shuts behind them.

He turns to look at the other, “I promise he’s usually clean.” 

“Don’t even worry about it,” Fred chuckles, shaking his head. “He’s a busy guy, I wouldn’t have time to clean if I worked the way he did too.”

That assures Tubbo as he picks up a bit more before walking up to his brother’s desk and looking at all of the papers he has covering it. Parchment with news reports, and lined notebook paper with Cellbit’s handwriting on it. There were lines after lines of him talking about his findings, and photos of things Tubbo couldn’t make out but apparently his brother could.

“What the hell is any of this..” He ran his fingers across one of the photos as he mumbled, mostly to himself but Fred came up beside him and tilted his head. 

“No idea, how could he make any of this out?” He says back. Tubbo shrugs, lifting up a few papers and looking at the contents underneath them. 

“Quesadillas’ magic man.” He reads aloud. It’s a title from one of the things Cellbit has cut out, and it makes Tubbo scratch the back of his neck in confusion. “Magic man? We have a magician in town?”

He glances at the blonde and he shrugs. “I’ve heard stories about him,” he says, “But I didn’t think any of them were true.”

“Well.. It certainly seems like they are.” 

Tubbo takes out his phone, opening its camera and taking a few photos with it. He hopes maybe these will help lead them to his brother.

Otherwise he doesn’t know what else they’d do.

“So, your brother seems pretty passionate about his job..” Fred says, smiling.

Tubbo nods, tucking his phone back into his pocket. “He’s always had a taste for mysteries and puzzles.” 

“That’ll explain why you love finding the littler things in your own work.” 

The brunette gasps then nudges him in the shoulder, “Shut up, asshole. My trains and his puzzles are very different.”

Fred hums, walking away from him and to the door of the room.

“Sure..” he opens the door, “Hey, how about we go get something to eat? Take your mind off of this for a bit?”

Hearing the offer instantly makes Tubbo grin widely as he walks over and walks out behind Fred.

“That sounds good!”

He was still worried about his brother, but Fred had a point when he said he needed to take his mind off of it for a while. 

Who knows how this can affect his psyche.