Chapter Text
It was a bright, clear day on Quesadilla Island.
The sun was high up in the sky, casting golden rays down onto the islanders. Shouts of laughter and open conversations could be heard faintly in the distance, and a scent of coffee was wafting in through the open window.
It was the kind of day Katie could get used to.
She yawned sleepily, blinking away her tiredness and sitting up in a groggy haze of sleep.
She had no idea what time it was, but time was never something that mattered too much for her. With another less pronounced yawn, Katie stepped into the slippers waiting by the side of her bed and stepped out of her room.
Well, room was a strong word, considering the entire thing lacked a door, or even a front wall at all.
It led directly into the base of a tall, twisting lighthouse, one that Katie was very proud of, despite not having built it herself.
The pride came from the knowledge that her grumpy, seemingly unreachable neighbour had capitulated enough to let her live there.
He had helped her move the base, set up her stuff, and had even built a sort of trampoline at the bottom when she had complained the winding stairs made her dizzy.
Even this simple thought helped snap Katie out of her residual tiredness. It didn’t take much to cheer her up these days. It was like her ability to stay happy had been improved by all these months of endless hardship, not the other way around.
But this day would not be difficult. The young entrepreneur would make sure of it.
Yes. The day would be good. Katie didn’t care that she was still in her onesie. She didn’t even care that she hadn’t brushed her hair that morning. In fact, she stepped onto the spring plate with not a care in the world, smiling softly as the familiar sound of the wind hitting her ears became evident as she catapulted upwards.
The woman was propelled above ground, and got a glimpse of the blinding, dazzling sun through the entrance to the lighthouse, before smacking straight into the concrete.
Hard.
If there was one thing she disliked about the trampoline, it was that she had never quite gotten used to sticking the landing. With a much exaggerated groan and a tensing of her arm muscles, Katie was able to drag herself to her feet.
She even looked around to see if anyone had witnessed the feat. Part of her (the sidelined, sensible part that seemed to adopt Ash’s voice whenever it spoke) felt embarrassed at the possibly that someone had witnessed her less than gracious landing, however the other part (that sounded suspiciously like her own self) was glancing around eagerly, thrilled at the prospect of someone seeing her escapades, wether it was to offer concern, laughter, or both.
However - much to her chagrin and relief, nobody was around to see it. They were all in their businesses, Katie assumed, or else messing around with her HQ.
Again.
Brushing off the brief scowl that had etched itself across her face, Katie quickly began scurrying over to Schlatt’s house, her signature grin sliding easily back into place.
“Mr J!” She chorused, rapping loudly on the door. It was a practised routine, one that Katie performed every morning. Schlatt pretended to hate it, but deep down she knew he appreciated the company. “Mr J?” Tried Katie again.
No response…
“Mr Giggles?” Katie questioned, waddling over to a window and peering into it to try and see if her father figure was inside. “Can’t see shit through this…” she complained, trying to wipe at the foggy glass with her sleeve.
Deciding after a while that Schlatt was merely taking a walk (and that she definitely shouldn’t be worried) Katie stepped back from the house.
Making a spontaneous decision - as the young entrepreneur often did - she decided she would go and visit her son. Nacho.
That probably involved seeing Multi too, since talking with one usually involved talking to the other.
And if Multi was not with Nacho, he was more often than not the topic of conversation between the young egg and its mother.
It could have bothered other people, but not Katie. She was happy to talk about whatever Nacho wanted, as long as she got to be around her son.
Ultimately deciding that, yes, that was what she was going to do today, Katie made her way over to a waypoint, pulling out her purple teleporter… stone… thingy.
No one had ever really clarified exactly what it was…
A tap, a shuffle, the familiar sensation of being hurtled through time and space uncontrollably and rapidly gaining speed, all of this in the span of less than a second, and Katie was standing outside of her HQ, blinking rapidly in the sunlight, and suddenly missing the shade of her and Schlatt’s island.
“Whew…” she breathed out a sigh of relief to no one in particular, not really sure what she was relieved about.
That she had made it in one piece? That her HQ was still standing?
That it wasn’t raining like it had been all day yesterday?
Inwardly, Katie still blenched at the thought of rain. The foul weather never seemed to bode any well for her, and, anyway! It was natural for her to have a fear of water - the girl couldn’t swim.
Forcing herself to stay on task, Katie pocketed her way stone and headed into her headquarters, eyes already crinkled in a smile at the thought of who she was looking for.
Nacho. Her son.
Multi.
Her… what?
Katie frowned, stopping in her tracks in the entrance to her HQ. Who really was Multi to her anymore?
A co-parent, yes, but recently she felt like there had been something else bubbling beneath the surface.
A friend, someone she could rely on; and a third, more confusing option.
As her mind began to wander, so did her feet, leading her inside her HQ and autopiloting up the stairs.
This question with Multi was complicated. More complicated than Katie liked to admit. It was layered, intricate. Complex.
Katie didn’t do complex. The woman preferred bluntness over evasiveness.
She preferred to know where she stood at all times with everyone, lest she be left in the dark about some new development.
It was a side effect of being ex best-friends with Ewron…
She never wanted to look for a hidden meaning, never wanted to assume that someone was playing her false.
There were many secret, silent assassins hiding on the island that struck only when another’s back was turned. Katie was not like this - she carried her blade in the open.
But her relationship with Multi had countless, countless hidden meanings in every direction she could look.
Every time she felt satisfied with what she was to him, what he was to her, still there was the ever present question of more.
And deep down, part of herself (a part she had buried so deeply she could scarcely bear to think about it) wanted there to be more.
Katie was so sick of having such shallow, flimsy relationships. She might prefer direct communication over tangled, messy emotions, but if she was being honest, what she wanted didn’t matter any more.
Getting her way had never truly been in the cards for her.
She had never really wanted anything complex. Katie had just wanted to fry chicken in peace and quiet.
And - yet - here was a shining, beacon of complexity in her new family, and she was embracing it with everything she had…
Why?
She came to, realising she had opened the door to Nacho’s room. Katie hadn’t really known if he would actually be there, but there he was, sitting snugly on his slime couch, staring out of the window with a faraway look on his face.
“Nacho…?” Called Katie softly, not wanting to alarm him. Her son swivelled round, a broad grin lighting up his face.
“Mama!” He replied, beaming happily. Katie was filled with a rush of love at the sight of her son - her son.
He had never once failed at immediately improving her day on sight of him, and now was no different.
“Nacho!” she cried again, enfolding him into her arms as he ran to her. With one fluid motion, she had hoisted him up to sit perched on her hip, one hand around his waist for security, the other ruffling his snowy white hair. “How have you been? Mama’s not seen you for a while, has she?”
Her son shook his head in response, nuzzling into her side. His face was still alight with happiness, and Katie overflowed with pride to see it.
Pride that she, her humble self, could make someone so happy.
“Are you here alone? Where’s dada?” The young woman questioned, trying her best to make the question sound less accusatory than it could be.
Nacho never took well to any disrespect towards his father, be it by Katie or otherwise.
But Katie meant no disrespect, she simply wanted to know.
There was no double meaning.
Not anymore…
“Collecting!” Nacho proudly announced, to which Katie furrowed her brow. Nacho, seeing her confusion, hastened to clarify, his robotic tone clearing up his words. “For me. He’s getting me some herbs.”
“Are you sick?” Katie immediately wanted to know. Nacho huffed, shaking his head.
She coughed awkwardly, remembering the conversation she had had with Multi about trying to be less overbearing. “Do you… know when he’ll be back?” She began cautiously. Nacho shook his head.
Deciding to set him down, Katie slowly lowered her son to the floor until he was standing and fished around in her pockets for her communicator.
The sun was winding its way through her pink-stained glass windows now, illuminating the wooden walls behind her.
As Nacho looked up at his mother, he saw the light was casting a sort of halo around her head.
It was mesmerising…
“Aha!” Katie announced aloud, pulling out her communicator. She noticed her son staring at her. “What? Do I have something on my face?” Nacho shook his head, turning away. If Katie had to guess, she’d say he looked a little embarrassed.
Well, she’d have to deal with that later…
She tried her best to quickly punch Multi’s name into the communicator, but it had never been something she was particularly fast at. Finally, she managed to type it in.
Then came the next hurdle. What to actually send? She tried a few combinations, typing them hesitantly onto her keypad,
saucebxss: nacho said you were foraging. im with him in KTB HQ when will you be back?
saucebxss: hey multi im with nacho, no need to panic just wondering when you’d be returning?
saucebxss: do i need to watch nacho? he says you’re foraging. i have the time, no need to worry.
But as she looked at each of them in turn, she found that they didn’t feel quite right, and her fingers hit the backspace on her keypad over and over again as Nacho stumbled around the room, clearly bored.
Eventually, her mind drifted off to other matters, and she hardly noticed as her fingers began typing a new message,
saucebxss: hey multi, im with nacho right now, when will you be back? he’s kinda bored and misses you. i miss you too. any chance we could talk? im at ktb hq.
And she definitely didn’t notice when her fingers clicked send.
No - her mind was decidedly elsewhere.
And when Katie finally pocketed her communicator, deciding to let Multi come back at his own pace, she had no idea that she had sent it to him after all…
saucebxss whispered to you: hey multi, im with nacho right now, when will you be back? he’s kinda bored and misses you. i miss you too. any chance we could talk? im at ktb hq.
Multi stared at the message on his communicator. He had looked at it once briefly, giving it a passing glance as the thing buzzed, then immediately done a double take and re-investigated the message…
Katie… missed him?
She wanted to talk.
And she was with Nacho. In her HQ.
The thought, to Multi’s dismay, made him feel strangely warm inside. He had never known what it was like to be wanted - to be properly loved and trusted - before Katie and Nacho.
It was like they rejuvenated him. Gave purpose to him, his science, and everything he stood for. With his family he was different. Calm and patient, instead of distrusting and rough at the edges.
With Nacho he could be kind. With Katie he could be at ease. They made him a better person.
A better man.
But this, this message was… unexpected, to say the least. Katie sending suspiciously worded messages was nothing new to him, but the thing was that he had barely been gone from Nacho for ten minutes.
Multi was not an irresponsible parent by any means, Katie surely must know that he wouldn’t leave Nacho for an extended period of time? It made him wonder about the true meaning of her message.
Perhaps… it was a coverup?
She was embarrassed about missing him so disguised it as her will merely aligning with Nachos?
But that was ridiculous, surely! Katie was never subtle about anything.
His co-parent either went the full way, or she did not do anything at all.
Co-parent…
…
…
…
No.
He would not be debating this today, Multi determinedly thought, clutching the handfuls of willow bark like they owed him money.
No.
Katie did not need to be around someone who made things complicated. She was easy to read like that - atleast to Multi. He had gotten the hint relatively quickly that she liked things to be straight forward, so who was Multi to try and complicate matters?
It would do him no good to ponder the true status of their relationship. If Katie wanted it simple, then simple it would be.
If this had been old Multi speaking, he would’ve laughed at the notion of accommodating anyone else’s feelings.
What were feelings to the great mission he had in mind? What were feelings to his own personal goals?
But feel was all that Katie seemed to do.
She was one messy, chaotic ball of personality. And if Multi cared for Katie (which he shamed to admit, even to himself), then he supposed he must care for his feelings.
And - moreover - this was not the old Multi talking. He had changed. He had been changed.
A better man…
Multi took out his waystone, thinking firmly,
‘Katie’s headquarters…’
And the familiar feeling of being torn apart and rebuilt painlessly engulfed him once more.
…
…
…
Usually, Multi bore these teleports well.
He was never one to fall over, throw up or feel pain. He was also usually the first (or second if Ewron was ever there) to laugh if anyone ever did. However, whether it was down to his convoluted thoughts or the early hour of the day, he realised immediately after teleporting that he was way off balance.
The scientist crumpled like an old wax doll off of the top of a shelf. He hit the pavement with a dull thud and a wheeze.
“Kurwa..!” He cursed, rubbing his head. He had hit it when he fell. Hard.
His immediate thought was to scan his eyes around the area. If anyone had seen this moment of weakness… He could not allow…
But nobody was there.
Relief flooded him as he gingerly got to his feet and looked up at the looming, garishly pink figure that was KTB HQ. Massaging his sore head, he made his way into the building (still concerned about the lack of a door) and started heading up the stairs.
He had just taken out his communicator and was about to inform Katie of his arrival, opening the door to Nacho’s room, when he became aware of two figures behind it.
Two figures who were suddenly making a complete racket.
He shrieked (in a very undignified manner) in alarm and scrambled backwards, dropping the willow bark he had spent all this time foraging for.
“Multi!”
“Dada!”
Both Katie and Nacho burst through the door with all the dramatics of a theatre troupe, scaring the poor scientist out of his skin.
“Pierdolę! Holy shit…Yes, yes, hello to you too…” Multi tried his best to wave the pair down, until Nacho waddled over to him and wrapped his small, furry arms around Multi’s legs, looking up at him with adoring eyes.
“Dada!” He crowed, clearly ecstatic about seeing his father. Multi smiled fondly down at him, ruffling his already messy hair, to which the young bear pouted heavily.
Maybe Nacho really had missed him in these past ten minutes after all…
Then, Multi’s gaze travelled to Katie.
Katie.
Who was staring.
She stood stock still, completely frozen, gazing at Multi with an indescribable expression on her face.
This jolted Multi for a second. It was unusual. Katie being hard to read for even a split second.
Strange. One could say unheard of. But here she was, unmoving, like a statue, still in the doorway to Nacho’s room.
The child himself hadn’t noticed - he was still bouncing up and down at Multi’s feet.
She was in her unicorn onesie, he noted. The thought helped bring him back to his senses, but Katie was still staring.
Multi ventured a small, nervous sort of smile. It crept up his face in an unfamiliar lopsided manner.
In an instant, he suddenly became very self conscious about his appearance.
The way Katie was looking at him - like she was analysing him - unnerved the scientist. It made him very aware that he had not styled his hair properly this morning, had not even bothered to iron his coat.
What was Katie seeing right now?
What kind of dishevelled creature did she see looking back at her?
Multi was here.
Katie heard it.
The undignified grunting noises of a man who had just endured teleportation, coming from directly outside her HQ. Tapping Nacho on the shoulder, Katie felt a mischievous thought form in her brain.
“Honey,” she began, as soon as Nacho had turned around inquisitively, “you wanna surprise dada?”
Almost instantly, Nacho was nodding, agreeing with the plan without even needing to hear it.
Katie lent in close to Nacho’s ear, explaining her idea in hurried whispers as the tramping sound of Multi’s feet moving up the stairs became clearer.
The young woman hurriedly positioned herself directly behind the door, Nacho scurrying to join her.
She counted two, long, apprehensive beats of silence before the door swung open, and there he was.
Multi.
Katie gave Nacho a small nudge to prompt him, and then the air was wrent with noise as mother and son screamed simultaneously,
“Dada!”
“Multi!”
Said father yelped something in Polish, stumbling backwards and letting go of a clutch of herbs Katie didn’t recognise, and did not care to name.
And then Nacho was rushing forwards with a squeal of joy, pressing himself up against his father’s legs in happy reunion.
And Multi was recovering himself, and ruffling Nacho’s messy locks just like Katie had done herself.
She was about to move forwards, and join the perfect picture of a happy family reunion, when Multi looked up at her.
Their eyes met.
And by the Goddess herself; he was beautiful.