Work Text:
Kay has looked forward to moving into their new place for so long now, and that day is finally here! After hanging around for ages for the movers to lug their heaviest belongings into the building, they pick up the last of the boxes, squash their way into the elevator and ride up to the third floor, where their apartment is. She saw the place when they viewed it, obviously, but it feels different now the lovely apartment is their own. No longer will the four of them have to awkwardly juggle their time between Fran’s place, Klav’s place, and her and Ace’s place—now they finally have an apartment just for them, and more importantly, big enough for four people.
Bouncing on her heels, Kay watches Franziska unlock the door, and they enter the apartment. The place is a mess, their furniture (a clashing collection of styles, but Kay likes it—it gives the place character) and boxes piled haphazardly in the middle of the open-plan living room and kitchen. As the others look around the room, a little overwhelmed by the work ahead of them, Kay carefully sets down her pile of boxes, turns to face her boyfriends and girlfriend, and grins.
“Well then, let’s get to work!” she says, spreading her arms wide.
“Fool,” Franziska mutters, but a smirk twitches on her lips.
---
After several hours of hard work, most of their furniture has found its new place, and it is now time to find homes for their belongings. After a round of rock-paper-scissors, Klavier ends up on clothes duty, confined to the beautiful walk-in closet as he sorts through their many, many clothes. Although, to be fair, at least fifty percent of those clothes belong to Mister Rockstar himself.
As Franziska finds a place for their crockery and glasses in the kitchen and Kay sorts their DVDs and video games on the shelving unit around the TV, Eustace… Well, Eustace is supposed to be setting their ornaments, trophies and other displayable items on the shelves and surfaces dotted around the room. But instead, he holds one of his anime figurines in both hands, staring down at it blankly as his gloved fingers rub the plastic figure.
“What are you doing, Ace?” Kay asks gently, using the nickname that always makes him blush.
“Uh…” he jumps, turning to look at her. Eustace hates hearing people approach from behind, always moving before someone gets the chance to do it. Just thinking about why he’s so jumpy makes Kay want to break into prison and punch his father in the face. “N-Nothing.”
And that’s the problem—he literally does nothing, just standing there.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” she asks, stepping closer. “Is anything on your mind?”
“Eustace Winner, you better not be internalising things again!” Franziska calls from the kitchen. She knows better than most that bottling up your emotions can really fuck you up.
As she speaks, Klavier wanders in from the bedroom, still carrying an assortment of Kay and Franziska’s bras. In another situation, Kay would lose her shit laughing at the sight of him (or make a joke about Mister Rockstar having bras thrown at him onstage) but focusing on Eustace is more important. “What’s going on?”
Eustace flinches, eyes fixed on the floor. “Nothing. You’re all just fussing.”
“Perhaps, but you were just staring into space for, like, five minutes,” Kay says. “There’s gotta be something wrong.”
“It’s stupid,” Eustace mumbles.
“Nein, I doubt that,” Klavier says. “But even if it is, we won’t judge you.”
Eustace sighs. “I just… I was thinking… should we bother putting my figurines on display?”
“Huh?” Kay says. “Of course we should. That’s what we bought the shelves for. So we can display all our stuff.”
“Are you sure? Because, well… they’re dumb. Just stupid anime figurines and they’ll make the place look ridiculous. They’re kind of childish, too. Though… that’s to be expected from me, huh?” he adds with a horribly self-deprecating snort.
Kay glances at Klavier and Franziska. To her distress, it seems that Eustace quotes something his father told him about the belongings he loves when he was younger. Once again, the urge to yell at Ace’s father wells up inside of her.
“Don’t be foolish, Eustace Winner,” Franziska says, folding her arms. “Your figurines are not stupid, or childish. I may not know who these characters are, but they clearly have great personal significance to you… and for that reason, they belong on our shelves.”
Eustace looks over his shoulder at Fran, glancing at her face but avoiding eye contact (a good thing, because despite how much it distresses him, Eustace used to force himself to make eye contact with his partners—probably something instilled into him by his asshole of a father—but he doesn’t do that anymore; he trusts them enough to be his true self around them). “Do you mean that?”
“Of course,” Fran says. “So, please stop worrying and put the figurine on the shelf already.”
“Y-Yes, ma’am,” Eustace says, his voice a little wobbly, but he manages to copy one of the things Klavier likes to do to wind up Franziska.
She sighs. “Wonderful. Thank you so much for being a bad influence on him, Klavier Gavin,” Franziska says, sarcasm dripping from her words.
Klavier laughs. “You’re welcome, Fräulein.”
As Franziska rolls her eyes, Kay smiles and puts her arm around Eustace. “They’re right, Ace. You don’t need to worry about that. You’re allowed to put your figurines on the shelves. You’re allowed to put all your stuff wherever you want. Cos this is your apartment. You live here. And you don’t have to do anything to change yourself, okay?”
For a few seconds, tears shine in Eustace’s eyes, and Kay fears she set him off. But instead of breaking down, Eustace smiles.
“Thank you,” he whispers. “I love you all.”
And as Kay repeats his words back to him, and Klavier gives him a kiss on the cheek, and Franziska calls him a foolish fool before hugging him, Eustace smiles brighter and carefully sets his anime figurine down on the shelf. Where it belongs.