Chapter Text
Don's always been a simple man.
Or, at least he thinks he has.
After the crash, no one seems to remember much of their life before the cruise. Everyone mainly seems to remember basic facts or instincts, nothing specific. To some this could be a blessing, some a tragedy, but Don….Don didn’t really care much.
So Don thinks he’s always been a simple man. He knows how to survive, in fact he considers himself a survivalist. He has a knack for cooking, getting creative in the kitchen even when ingredients are low. And he has no issue hunting for his food, no issue hunting for anything…or anyone.
But no one’s really warranted that side of him yet. He’s found companions, started a cafe, hosts a fighting ring (don’t tell anyone), and lives a fairly peaceful life.
But recently…there's been this weird feeling in his gut. A feeling that only comes out when he’s with Katie B.
It’s a strange feeling, one that makes his stomach bubble and his head get a bit fuzzy. His arms twitch and his feet get restless. Whenever he sees Ewron mess with her, he feels unnaturally angry, or when he sees her hanging around with Mike, he’s happy she's found herself a good friend. He feels an unnatural sense of pride when he hears about her accomplishments, and gets worried when he hears she's in trouble.
And sure, you might just think these are normal human emotions, but to be feeling them only towards Katie B puzzles him. He doesn’t really care much for the girl, and honestly finds her a bit annoying. She's loud and proud, even when she's wrong, but Don can’t help admiring her a bit for her confidence.
And ever since Jeremy opened his trading card shop, Katie has been stopping by Holland a lot more, and these weird feelings have been increasing. They’ve been leaving him confused and giving him a shit ton of migraines, which is what he’s experiencing right now.
The cafe’s closed for the day to allow a pipe burst that flooded the bathroom, one he’s sure Katie caused on her latest visit to the cafe. But as he started to work on fixing it, he started thinking about Katie, and a strange feeling indused migraine all started up.
“Jesus fucking Christ..” Don muttered as he stood up, his head piercing with pain. Duncan was out grabbing some fruit to stock up on, leaving Don to go over to Jeremy at the TCG shop, hoping he had some kind of pain killer.
The door’s little bell rang as Don swung the door open. Jeremy looked up from the counter to the sight of Don wincing while holding his head.
“Your head’s bothering you again?” Jeremy questioned, already knowing the answer by Don's pained expression.
“Yeah,” Don sighed, “I started to work on fixing the pipe and then bam, started throbbing like anything.”
Jeremy fiddled around under the store’s counter for a minute, then pulled out a golden apple and threw it to him.
“Here, hopefully this will help dull it for a bit.”
“Thanks,” Don said, catching the apple and taking a big bite. The overwhelming throbbing in his head quickly dulled as the apple worked its magic. He let out a big sigh in relief, the pain now almost leaving his system completely.
“Maybe you gotta see a doctor or something soon, this has been going on for a while and it only seems to be getting worse,” Jeremy expressed with concern in his voice. While he and Don haven’t known each other for all that long, he doesn’t like to see his friend in such immense pain.
“Yeah I know, but I don’t know if a doctor can really help with this ya know? Like, this pain isn't from a sickness or me hitting my head too hard. It’s…well…I don’t know how to explain it.”
“Well you need to figure it out soon,” Jeremy sighed, “I’m worried about you man, I know you’re a tough guy and all, but this pain seems to be getting worse and worse.”
“Yeah well nothing I can do about it for now.”
They both sat in silence for a bit, watching out the window as leaves flew past and as the wind shook their bike rake, almost knocking it down.
“Oh!” Jeremy spoke up, “What about finding out if they have triggers?”
Don looked back at Jeremy, a puzzled expression on his face, “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Well,” Jeremy started, “I’m sure something has to be causing your headaches, like maybe a certain smell or sound, so if we figure out what it is, then we can get rid of it and stop your headaches!”
Don paused for a second, thinking about this. He wasn’t appalled by any specific smells, and his hearing has always been a bit short, so he doesn’t think anything like that could be the trigger. But the more he thought, the more he realized there was infact one common denominator.
“Well,” Don started, pausing, then taking a breath, “I have some sort of clue to what it might be, but you can’t laugh.”
Jeremy looked at Don, curiosity in his eyes, urging for him to continue.
“I think the common factor is….well it’s Katie B.”
Jeremy paused and looked at Don, puzzled. A small smile creeped on his face and he let out an amused sigh.
“Well I mean I think she causes all of us headaches. She’s so loud and let’s be honest we all know that pipe burst was from her messing around the other day-”
“NO” Don yelled, much louder than he intended. Jeremy paused and looked Don straight in his eyes, a bit startled by the sudden shouting.
“Look I’m sorry,” Don sighed, “But it’s not like that. Sure she’s loud as anything and that pipe was 110% her fault, but this headache isn’t from annoyance…it’s kinda like, well, it feels like....like I know her.”
Jeremy looked at Don, more confused than before, “Like you know her? But you do know her? I know her, we all know her!”
“No I mean…I think I might of KNOWN her…like BEFORE the cruise..”
Now this caught Jeremy’s attention. He walked around the counter, now a bit closer and face to face with Don. They met each other's eyes and a sweat drop slowly beat down Don’s head.
“You think…you knew her..? How, how can you even be sure?” Jeremy questioned, his voice not concerned or amused, but lined with disbelief.
“I mean…it’s so weird. When she’s mad, it's like I’m mad for her and when she does something, even something small, I want to shout out from the hills and scream how proud I am. And the worst thing is this urge…this urge to almost…protect her? Like when I see Ewron messing with her, I get angry, and I just wanna pound the guy’s face in.”
“I mean, I get wanting to punch Ewron he can be a jerk sometimes, but the rest of that, I mean it makes no sense you don’t like her, WE don’t like her she always fucks up our stuff! Spreading rumors about the cafe having poor service, not paying her tab, and even causing a piper burst, she’s a nuisance!”
“I know,” Don yelled, instinctively grabbing his head, “But I still feel this way, this strange sort of protection almost here. And it feels like….like when I think about her I’m reaching for her, almost like I’m reaching for….for the memory of her.”
Jeremy hummed, deep in thought. He’s never considered himself to be dumb, but this situation…well it definitely was not his forte. The pair sat in silence, contemplating, till Jeremy perked up.
“Quackity!” He said excitingly.
“What??” Don questioned.
“Quackity had mentioned to me once that him and Schlatt were old friends. Older like BEFORE the cruise! Maybe talk to him and see if he felt the same way about Schlatt that you feel about Katie!”
“That’s….that’s actually not a bad idea.” Don said, a excited smile creeping on his face. He pulled out his communicator and typed out a quick message to Quackity.
donkaaklijn Yo Quackity, gotta talk with you for a sec, where you at?
quackity At my statue :]
“He’s at his statue, I’m gonna pop by and ask him about it.” Don said, searching for his waystone in his inventory.
“Good luck man, message me if you figure anything out,” Jeremy said, returning behind the car store’s counter to finish restocking the packs.
Don pulled out his waystone and set a course for Quackity’s statue, hoping to find some answers.