Chapter Text
It had been a peaceful afternoon, rather leisurely compared to previous days. The sun was dipping below the horizon, casting a soft pink hue across the land.
A chill breeze swept across the desert, dancing through a campfire surrounded by a group finishing up dinner.
Kore started to stand up when he was swiftly pulled to the side. Now face to face with Amelia, he could see she wore a mischievous smile.
‘Hey, could you help me out with something?’
-
The fire had been put out, and nearly everyone had begun shuffling back into the tent. That was, excluding a certain pink someone that was walking towards his sand sailer, before being stopped by a cold blue hand on his shoulder.
Turning around he saw Kore, currently with Nerbles cuddled into his arms.
‘Do you have a moment to talk about something?’
Rooster looks up at him, smiling. ‘Oh, sure! What is it?’
‘I wanted to ask you some questions about Marco’
‘Wuh- but- why don’t you just ask him?’
‘It’s more so that I have questions for you that are about him.’
Rooster shuffles uncomfortably
‘Well I don’t really get what that's supposed to mean, but uh, sure.’
‘First of all, do I need to kill him for you?’
‘WHAT!?!!? No! Why would you want to do that?!’
‘Well you’re always acting weird around him.’
‘It’s really- I- I don’t- I’m not weird around Marco, I’m just- He’s- it’s nothing.’
‘What's going on with him then?’
‘Nothing...’ he murmured, avoiding eye contact
‘If I wasn’t holding Nerbles he would have torn you to pieces by now’
-
Meanwhile within the tent, Marco had been sat down at a table. His fingers keep drumming against the drink Amelia had offered him. They’d been absorbed in conversation for some time now.
‘-By the way, how have the guitar lessons with Rooster been going?’ Amelia asks.
‘Oh uh… yeah those have been going pretty good. He picked up on it rather quickly, and we’ve both been having a great time playing together.’
Marco visibly had a red tinge in his face, likely from something more than the alcohol.
‘You guys have been getting quite close recently. You seem to really enjoy having him around. I mean, you’ve kinda always acted like that, but you’ve seemed extra upbeat lately.’
‘Well, you know how it is, he’s just pr- it’s pretty nice to be around friends a lot.’ Marco stutters out, ‘He’s been- we’ve been on this nice road trip, seen some cool stuff- I really- sorry, I think the drink’s getting to me a bit.’
‘Really? You’ve barely had anything, but if you’re not feeling ok you can leave,’ Amelia assured ‘Maybe I’m just used to Rooster’s level of alcohol tolerance.’
Marco stops just as he was standing up.
‘Yeah, I’ve noticed he’s pretty good with the stuff. I don’t know exactly how good he is with it though.’
‘Well I’ve actually seen him have a whole bottle just to start off the day. Pretty crazy if you ask me.’ she remarks, ‘I’ve never seen anyone that can drink as much as him.’
The room remains silent for a bit as Marco seems to be thinking about something. A moment or two passes before he sits down again.
Speaking up, he confidently claims ‘Actually, I think I’m fine for a few more drinks.’
-
Back outside, the sky had long since turned dark. Under the dim glow of stars, two still remained outside despite the cold.
‘And I’ve heard something about a poster. What’s that about?’
‘I UH- How did- I don’t-’
But he’s cut off as Amelia emerges from the tent.
‘AMELIA. Hi. Great, perfect.’ Rooster quickly stands up and walks towards her, ‘I just needed a way to- just wanted to talk to youuuuu- you have Marco. With you.’
Surely enough, she was toting along a rather drunk looking Marco
‘Yeah, I just- wanted to get him a bit of fresh air’ she said, avoiding eye contact with the cat that was now glaring at her. ‘Anyway, what have you two been up to?’
Rooster quickly blurted, ‘Well we’ve just been talking. About some... stuff.’
‘Yes, talking’ Kore concurred, ‘I can tell you about it in a moment.’
He leans down to let Nerbles jump down from his arms, watching as the cat walks into the tent.
Amelia then seems to remember something, and she moves toward Rooster.
‘Hey, do you think you could just-’ and she gently pushes Marco towards him, and he flops down over Rooster’s shoulders. ‘Yeah just- hold onto him for a bit, thanks.’
‘Wuh uh- I- um- but I- uh-’ Rooster stutters, eyes flicking between Amelia and the person now draped over his shoulders, before resigning with a weak ‘okay.’
-
Amelia pulls Kore to the side, whispering into his ear.
‘Ok, did you manage to get any answers out of him?’
‘Not particularly. He keeps avoiding the questions.’
‘Ah, yeah I expected as much from him.’ Amelia thinks. ‘It’s gonna be tricky to make him say anything.’
‘What exactly are we gathering information for?’
‘Don’t worry, I’ll explain it in a moment. But first,’ she pauses, ‘Did you at least find out anything about the poster? I tried asking Marco about it, but it was hard to tell exactly what he was say-’
Amelia is cut off as they hear a thud behind them. She and Kore quickly turned around to find the source.
What they see is Marco splayed out on the ground, nearly unconscious and giggling softly to himself.
Next to him was Rooster, a thousand yard stare on his very flushed face. Placed on his cheek however, was a rather comical purple lipstick mark.
‘Well,’ pipes Amelia, ‘looks like the problem fixed itself.’
‘I think I read the situation very differently from what it was’
Surprise is audible in Kore’s voice, as he hesitantly approaches Rooster.
He places a hand on his shoulder and shakes him gently, and Rooster quickly snaps back into focus.
‘Ah- uh, hi. Kore.’ Rooster stammered, his view continuing to drag itself back down to Marco.
‘Are you ok?’ Kore questioned, unsure of what to do. ‘You seem a bit... shaken.’
Rooster stares off into the distance for another moment
‘Yeah I’m- I’m uh- gonna go get a drink’ he mutters, turning around and taking a single step towards the nearby sailer, before falling face first onto the sand, completely unconscious.
Meanwhile, the moon and stars continued their trek across the night sky, quiet and glowing.
And one last question rang out across the silent dunes
‘Wait, where’d Marco get the lipstick?’