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When Mapic stops — it’s at Jamato’s little humble abode. The flowers bend with the wind and the lighthouse seems to cast a shine on the Farlands. Mapic leans on Zam’s shoulder, curling into himself. He misses Spoke. He thought, well, he thought Spoke would come with them and they could explore the Farlands together or some other adventure. Life is never boring with Spoke.
When he first came here, he thought it’d be a nice pause from everything, the peace he yearned for. Except Mapic realizes he has never yearned for peace, exactly. He’s yearned for a break, sometimes, when Spoke would curl into him and they would nap for a few hours before running into, or away from, the next thing they’re involved with.
Now, he’s the one leaning onto Zam and it’s nice, but it doesn’t feel right. It’s too calm, and yes, Mapic likes calm but he also likes the chaos that follows Spoke around. If Spoke were here, he’d be ranting about one thing or another. Spoke is never silent, even when he’s sleeping. He snores lightly, and he hogs the sheets — causing them to tangle.
Mapic glances at Zam — she’s nice to have around, and he would consider her a friend, and he doesn’t want to leave her alone, but he misses Spoke. He misses Spoke like he misses…well. There isn’t anything or anyone he misses like he misses Spoke. He frowns, opens his mouth and closes it again.
He curls into himself even more. He takes out his communicator, thumbing it gently. Zam makes a confused sound, looking at him instead of the flowers. Jamato had told them not to use their communicators, because they would be tracked, which isn’t impossible to do, but Mapic doesn’t know anyone who’d target Jamato like that.
“...Are you gonna text Spoke?” Zam’s voice echoes out in the field, and Mapic startles. He wonders if he’s that readable. He laughs, but it’s a tiny thing. When coming here, he was so excited, but he can’t muster that same excitement now.
“Yeah. Kinda miss him, bro. I thought he’d be coming with us, y’know?” Mapic fiddles with the ends of his hoodie, wondering if Zam would be mad at him for potentially risking the location of this place. But when he gets enough courage to look Zam in the eyes, he’s smiling.
“Yeah, I get that. It’s kinda too peaceful here, doesn’t fit Unstable.” Zam laughs and Mapic jabs him in the stomach. Zam’s right though, Mapic has never had a peaceful day in Unstable. He opens up his communicator again, and makes up his mind.
You whisper to SpokeIsHere: bro wru??
Mapic grows more anxious as the minutes pass and Spoke doesn’t answer. Spoke usually texts back the moment he gets a message from him, and when he’s silent like this, there’s something wrong. Mapic’s mind immediately goes to the Mafia, and the way Spoke had gone so, so, silent those days, a deep sadness in his eyes.
Mapic hates remembering the Mafia, but he has promised himself not to forget. He promised himself because he can never forget the reason Spoke’s light dimmed, the way his hands shook, the way he cried himself to sleep when cuddling up to him. Mapic can never ever forgive the Mafia, or forgive Ash, or anyone else.
On bad days, he doesn’t think he can forgive anyone that has done Spoke wrong. And sometimes, he feels like he’s the only one that remembers Spoke before everything, before Ash. When his smile used to actually shine with mischievousness, when he used to jump and run around like the world owed him something.
SpokeIsHere whispers to you: is
SpokeIsHere whispers to you: ist thsr rlly u??
All the worry leaves Mapic at the ping, and he scrambles to open his communicator again. He exhales, relieved. Spoke is fine. Everything’s okay.
You whisper to SpokeIsHere: who else would it be bro
You whisper to SpokeIsHere: ill send u the coords meet me
Mapic bites his lip, hesitating. He swallows up his fear, the fear of someone stealing Spoke’s communicator, and every word Jamato’s said about someone following them out here being true. But, but, but—He knows Spoke. Spoke texts like he has six fingers when he’s scared, anxious, or running away from something. All three of those options sound bad but no one other than Spoke would know to text him like this.
You whisper to SpokeIsHere: i miss you bro
To cover up his blatant vulnerability over text he sends the coords immediately. And it’s not like Mapic fears vulnerability when it’s Spoke, but when it’s over text, it makes him cringe, like he’s a kid, venting to his friends over some stupid shit.
SpokeIsHere whispers to you: omw
SpokeIsHere whispers to you: psl be theret
SpokeIsHere whispers to you: icant lose u
Mapic startles. As much as he hates venting, Spoke hates vulnerability even more. Spoke protects himself from everything, and even though Mapic considers himself one of the only people close to Spoke, even he has to work to get Spoke to actually open up.
You whisper to SpokeIsHere: ill be here
You whisper to SpokeIsHere: zams also here
Mapic taps his communicator once, twice. He had sent the last message to get rid of Spoke’s weird mood, but maybe he should’ve made him open up more. Mapic leans into Zam more, and Zam throws his arm over his shoulder. Mapic just sighs.
SpokeIsHere whispers to you: thats
SpokeIsHere whispers to you: thatsgoodf
You whisper to SpokeIsHere: dont spam ur rockets on the way bro
It takes a few hours for Spoke to find them. Jamato comes out once — to bring them some food. Mapic doesn’t know why, but he feels more at peace when it’s only him and Zam. Jamato, in addition to meeting him a few hours ago, seems suspicious. Zam had dragged him to the center of the fields a while ago, telling him to lighten up, and had grumbled the whole way. Mapic had still followed her, sitting in the middle of the poppies.
It’s there that Spoke finds them. Mapic turns around at the sound of rockets, and he doesn’t even have the time to get up before Spoke jumps at him, hugging him tightly. Mapic blinks, arms stuck in the air, before he returns the hug.
In the silence that follows, Mapic can hear the little hiccups that are leaving Spoke, and his heart freezes. He tightens his hold, bringing Spoke closer to him, “Bro, bro, what happened, why’re you crying?”
Spoke shakes his head, hardly noticeable with the way his entire body is trembling. Mapic shares a look with Zam, who also seems worried out of her mind. She kneels, placing a comforting hand on Spoke’s shoulder.
“They—Leo, he said, he said he—” Mapic can’t understand anything from Spoke’s ramblings, so he reaches out and pats him on head, trying to calm him down. Spoke melts into his hold, going silent, the only sounds leaving him being cut out little sobs.
“Take a breath, it’s fine, it’s alright.” Zam shushes, rubbing Spoke’s back gently. With their combined effort, Spoke calms down, or at least calms down enough to explain what’s happening. Mapic stares into his frenzied eyes, and remembers the Mafia again, remembers Ash’s mind games, remembers how they messed up Spoke so much.
Whoever’s behind the state Spoke is in now, Mapic vows to himself to kill them.
“Leo, he said, he said he killed you, and—and he had your shield, and he, he carried it around like it was some t—throphy, and, he just, I—I just—” Spoke can’t see it, with the way his face is buried in Mapic’s sweater, but both he and Zam freeze at the same time.
Mapic’s expression goes through a series of emotions before settling on anger. Leo has been a thorn on their side for a while, but Mapic hadn’t realized he’d stoop this low. To pretend he killed him, just to, what? Have one over Spoke? To torment him?
Mapic suddenly comes to the realization that he doesn’t care what kind of grudge Leo has on Spoke. Nothing can excuse this cruelty. After everything Spoke has been through, after everything he’s endured, after everything he’s done to try and keep the server safe, this is how he’s repaid? This is how the server decides to treat him?
Mapic laughs, a little manic. “Yeah, what the fuck, man? Yeah, no, I don’t even care, we’re killing this guy, bro. He’s dead.” Spoke stops shaking at his words, as if he’s said something that’s shocking. Mapic doesn’t think there’s anything shocking about wanting to kill the person harming, hurting, his best friend like this.
Zam raises a brow, but shrugs, a smile on her face. “I’m down for it. Especially since Leo’s working with the guys that locked me up.” She rolls eyes, and well, Mapic wouldn’t be happy thinking about the people that captured and locked him up either.
“W—Wait, wait—You guys, you guys are okay with going back? J—Jamato, he told me, he told me you guys wanted to stay here and—and it’s like peaceful and,” Spoke cuts himself off, burying himself deeper into Mapic’s sweater.
Mapic huffs in confusion, “Bro, I talked to Jamato like, max two times. Why would I stay here with him instead of helping you?” Zam nods in agreement, but she seems to realize Spoke can’t see her because she slides next to Mapic and gently lifts Spoke’s head.
“Yeah, plus why would I miss up on the opportunity for some revenge, huh?” Spoke giggles at Zam, and Mapic feels a weight lift off his chest. He likes it when Spoke laughs like that — all airy and giddy.
Mapic swears, he swears to himself and to the world, he’ll do anything to make sure Spoke will forever be able to laugh like that. Easily and without worry.