Chapter Text
Things were different in every aspect for Ze. A new house, a new roommate, and a new emotional scar. He didn’t feel right. Nothing felt right anymore.
One upside was being able to TALK about what had happened in the Down Under. What he didn’t expect is that he said it all to ReGect; the entity, let alone person, he hated most. He often thought to himself on why he had told ReGect. He didn’t deserve to have Ze open up to him! He didn’t want to be vulnerable around that douchebag!
At the same time though, he didn’t feel as much hate as he normally would’ve done. It was a weird feeling that he couldn’t explain. He actually LIKED the memory, even if he had been very abrasive at the time. He’d feel his cheeks become warmer, his chest tighten, and his wings tense when the thought came across his mind. It was weird.
And it didn’t end there. Ever since that talk, he couldn’t talk or think about ReGect normally anymore (which was wishing death upon him and utter hatred), and the feelings appeared again and again.
Ze thought about this a lot in his free time, like right now. He had been staring out the window near his bed for an undisclosed amount of time, thinking.
Maybe it’s some side effect from the hole. As much as Ze wanted to believe that, he knew that it wasn’t true. He’d felt these before about ReGect, but much MUCH less than he had before. He’d been able to brush it off before, but now it was almost as hard to ignore than the memories of the hole and the Veil. The comment ReGect had made when he told Ze that Moe and him were worried about him didn’t help whatsoever.
“ZE! ZE GET OUT HERE, WE’RE GOIN OUT AND YOU’RE COMING WITH!”
Well that was one way to get broken out of his zoning.
“Alright, jeez, I’ll be out there soon.” Uttering a ‘Jesus Christ’ under his breath, he got up and slipped on some non-laced shoes.
~
As soon as he went down the stairs, Moe honked a very loud hello. She’d noticed the overall distance from Ze and how deeply upset he was. She had very unnatural insight, it felt like.
“Oh my god, finally. You take forever by the way.” ReGect smiled, but not one of cockiness. It was more of a “I’m glad to see you” kind of smile. Was that a thing the entity could feel?
Ze rolled his eyes. “Yeah, hello to you too. You said we were headed out?”
“Oh yeah! Uh, Moe? Where are we going again?”
Moe explained that while out throwing water bottles at the natural wildlife, she’d found a beautiful flower field and fell in love with it. She wanted to take the other two to take in its beauty as well.
“Well, it sounds like a breath of fresh air. I’m down.” Ze said.
“Yeah, sounds nice.” ReGect agreed. Moe let out a honk of delight before bolting out the door.
“WAIT, MOE!” ReGect ran out the door after her, leaving Ze alone in the house.
“Okay, uh, FONTE, REGECT, MOE AND I’LL BE OUT FOR A WHILE!” Ze yelled up at Wakafonte, the old wizard who got his arms stuck in the air a while back.
“What was that, sonny boy? Don’t whisper, my hearing isn’t that great.” Frustration boiled inside Ze.
“I’M NOT-ugh, whatever.” Ze stomped out the door, quickly running after the other two as an effort to catch up.
~
Moe was right, the said field was beautiful. Multiple kinds of flowers dotted the land, from sunflowers to cornflowers to alliums. A small river ran through the middle of it, adding ambience alongside the sounds of nature. They’d spent a few hours out there now, goofing off, picking flowers, and just hanging out. It was a nice distraction for Ze, and ReGect seemed to think the same thing, after basically admitted it while watching the sun slowly set in the west.
“You feelin’ better?” ReGect had broken the peaceful silence, which Ze found slightly annoying.
“A little, yeah. It’s nice out here. I’m glad Moe brought us here.” Moe had fallen asleep a while ago, spread out in the soft grass.
“It was my idea for Moe to bring us here, actually. I wanted to do something instead of moping around the house.”
“Oh, cool.” The silence felt more strained now.
“Things’ve been different recently, huh?”
“Yeah, no kidding.” Ze smirked a little. The weird warm and tight feeling was back. He hated it.
“I, uh, have a question though.” Oh boy. Questions were never good.
“Spit it out.” ReGect looked nervous for some reason. His eyes kept darting back and forth.
“What, uh, made you want to talk to me specifically about the hole? I thought you would’ve told that to Moe or something.” ReGect was right. Why hadn’t he told Moe?
She would’ve been much better of a person/entity to tell. So why hadn’t he told her, and told the entity instead?
“Can I not tell you anything?” He joked.
“I-guy, you never told me anything! All you ever do is yell at me.” ReGect pouted.
“Hey, not all the time. But as much as I do hate you, you’re still my friend. I do trust you, I hope you know that.” ReGect’s eyes lit up, even more bright with the last light from the sun.
“So you admit you’re my friend now, huh?” ReGect shoved Ze, both laughing.
“Fine, I guess I did.” Ze smiled. He felt so much better than he had in what felt like forever. The weird feelings didn’t feel so invasive anymore. He just felt happy, and that’s all that mattered to him right now.
“Well, at least you told me.”
“I can trust you with at least this. Anything else? Not so sure.”
“Oh, you’re cruel.” They couldn’t help but smile at each other. Why were Ze’s wings twitching? WHY COULDN’T HE STOP IT?!
Pieces clicked in Ze’s head.
Fuck.
Ze was in love with the entity he hated the most. And that changed a lot.