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“LITTLE RAT!”
Clover had really had enough of Chara’s loudness. When they were partners, it was charming and silly for him to let out exaggerated yowls and yells at the slighted inconvenience.
He didn’t know he’d be the inconvenience one day.
Clover sighed as he got up from the couch to meet Chara in the kitchen, dragging his feet as he flinched at the sight of Chara’s outfit. He was in the red suit, red cheeks made even redder with the familiar fluster of inebriation, blinking tears out of his eyes as he clutched a wine bottle with vitriol. “...Ho—wdy, Chara.” He started, his voice catching as usual. Chara glared at him, eyes squinting with distrust.
“You… came.” Chara huffed, glaring daggers into Clover’s chest, stumbling forwards and taking another swig from the bottle. “What a shhhock. You jussst love leaving. Leaving the show, leaving the crew…” Chara hissed, walking forward on unsteady legs to jab a finger in Clover’s chest.
“You left me! How could you leave me?! I thought we were partners, real partners!” Chara yelled, holding his wine bottle like he was deciding whether or not to drink all of it before smacking Clover with it. Which he’d probably deserve, at this point. What could he say? I’m sorry for leaving, your best friend and I were roped into helping out the thing on the other side of the phone? Sorry I couldn’t come back sooner, Chara, I was busy having my SOUL torn out by your favorite person in the whole wide world? Sorry, I really wanted nothing more than to be with you, but I’ve been homeless for the past year?
“I-I should’ve come to you with that contrast sooner! Then you’d be stuck with me, and you couldn’t run away!” Chara sobbed, and now the tears were running freely, staining his cheeks as he raised his free hand and put it into a fist to bang against Clover but… didn’t. Clover couldn’t do much else but stand there, knowing he deserved every bit of hate Chara slung at him.
“...I wa—anted to. S-s-stay, I mean.” Clover started, the familiar scratch in his throat drawing out his words. Chara looked at him with a look of intense despair, but let him continue regardless, bringing the wine bottle closer to his face, as if trying to calculate if it was still worth it to keep drinking at this point.
“I wanted t—o stay, Chara, I did—” Clover started, and almost stopped himself at the wide-eyed glare he received from the other man, but soldiered on anyway, taking a deep breath and gently taking the wine bottle from the gameshow host’s hands. Chara didn’t fight him, but did make sure to hiss a little “I hate you” as he let go. That was understandable. Clover hated himself too.
Clover put the bottle on the counter of the kitchentop and turned back towards Chara, who contented himself with crossing his arms and looking anywhere but Clover as he began to speak.
“I know. I know that I can’t ever gi—ive that time back to you. You gotta hate me by n—ow. You can be mad at me all yo—u want. I des—erve it.” Clover assured, to which Chara let a little grin grow across his face as he wiped his face off. Which made Clover feel a little more confident about what he was going to say next, even as the fear of his already frail body breaking made itself present. “Ch—ara, I-I know you ha—te me, so… You can just hit m—e. I deserve it at th—is point.”
And, to his immense surprise, Chara’s face did not maintain the smile. No, his smile dropped immediately, and was replaced with a heartbroken shock. Clover actually felt a little confused as Chara burst into tears!
Clover was genuinely shocked as Chara’s arms uncrossed as he looked split between wiping his own tears and reaching for Clover and reeling back. “I don’t—I don’t wanna hit you! God, I was so angry when you showed up—but I don’t wanna do that again, I was—” Chara blubbered, gesturing to himself and to Clover, regret filling their features. Clover didn’t know what to DO. When he arrived at Chara’s door, Chara immediately tried to strangle him. Didn’t he wanna do that again?
Didn’t make sense. Didn’t make sense at all. Must be because he’s drunk. Yeah, that makes sense. Treat it like he’s drunk. Because he is. Clover straightened his back and walked forwards, clearing his throat and planning what he was going to say tomorrow when Chara was finished with his hangover. Chara continued to drunkenly sob about how he didn’t want to hit Clover at all. I forgot he was a sad drunk…
“Chara, it’s o—kay! I don’t mind—” He tried to soothe them, only to get grabbed by the taller man and held tight in a possessive, tight hug.
“It’s not! It’s not at all—why did you think I wanted to hurt you—I don’t wanna…” He trailed off, his arms wrapped tight around Clover. Clover let Chara cry into his hair as he slowly hugged back. We haven’t hugged like this since we split up…
They spent a long time hugging each other, Chara sobbing onto his head as Clover patted his back, wondering what he had done to deserve this. It felt… really good to hug again. Chara was never the biggest fan of the whole physical affection thing. No, Chara was always more of a fan of witty barbs and whispered compliments he’d deny after any amount of pressing. Hugging was rare. Close hugs were rare. But they were always moments that Clover would treasure, even if the tightness of this hug was crushing their ribs.
After some length of time, Chara separated from the hug with reddened, bleary eyes, sniffling. “Please don’t go… Don’t go again.” Clover nodded. He didn’t want to anyways, not after so much warmth. Chara took him by the hand, patted it twice, and started dragging away.
To be honest, Clover was a little… dumbfounded? He did not expect this to be the outcome of the whole conversation. His apology interrupted by Chara crying? He wasn’t even sure Chara had ever cried in their life, not even when he was drunk. He just moped and asked Clover if he really even liked Chara’s jokes. Clover would try to make a comedy routine out of it, but Chara just seemed insistent. So Clover told him the truth, and said yes every time.
Clover snapped out of their thoughts once he realized they were in front of Chara’s room. Clover didn’t want to let go, but this felt like an invasion of some uncrossed and unmentioned boundaries.
“...Guess I g—o back to the couch now.” He joked, and immediately Chara shook his head vigorously. “You said you wouldn’t leave.” He stated resolutely, but Clover shook his head. “I’ll sle—ep on the couch, Chara.” Clover insisted, and Chara considered him for a long moment before just… sighing, and walking towards the couch, once again dragging Clover along.
Once they had reached the living room where Clover had been napping, Chara gestured broadly to the couch, and Clover hesitantly clambered onto it, humming in confusion. Then Chara joined him, rolling on top of Clover and immediately getting drowsy. Clover was still pretty… shocked at this whole thing, and he wondered if Chara was even going to remember this tomorrow but…
They’d fall asleep holding each other.
And that was comfort enough.