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Kuroba stood uncomfortably next to the drink table. (Why are we at such a fancy party?) they thought, tugging their collar to try and make it a bit looser. While it looked (and certainly felt) like Kuroba was wearing a suit with their hair un-dyed and actually kempt and slicked back, revealing their right eye, it was actually just their regular look changed via shapeshifting, since the whole thing was just sorta sprung on them by Clover.
“Oi, Kai,” Clover had said. “Ya gotta get ready.”
“R-Ready? Ready for what?”
“We got invited to the Mayor’s Holiday party. Do you have a suit?”
“N-No?” Kuroba said hesitantly. “Uhm, sh-should I…”
“Eh, shapeshiftin’ should be fine. You should prolly fix your hair, too. Combin’ it and making it natural. Anyways, it’s at 5, so you have a few hours to get ready. Speaking of, I gotta go and make sure I, uh, l-look nice.”
Kuroba had noted at the time that Clover seemed to be blushing a bit before they disappeared into the bathroom and then their room until it was time to go.
(Wouldn’t even let you relax for a few days during winter break. Haven’t been home in months and that’s the first thing they do?! Do we even know the mayor?)
As though reading Kuroba’s thoughts, Kanako just chuckled to himself.
“Wonderin’ ‘bout the mayor, eh Clo?”
“Whaddya think?” Kuroba rolled their eyes. “Apparently you all know them? And enough to be invited here?”
“You really don’t know the mayor?”
“No, I don’t really care about-slash-follow politics.”
Kanako’s snickering increased, yet they refused to tell Kuroba why they were doing it in the first place.
“You’ll find out soon enough, Clo.”
“Could you not say it all ominously. Wipe that creepy look off your face! D-Don’t you melt it on me!”
“Kids…” Ceroba said, shaking her head. “Can you please keep it down? I don’t really want to make a commotion.”
“(Yeah, Kan, stop making a commotion.)” Kuroba has said in a whisper. Unfortunately Ceroba had also heard that.
“That means you, too, Kuroba.”
“S-Sorry, Ka-san.”
“Oh, you don’t need to worry yourselves on that,” someone had said, walking up to the Ketsukanes. “It’s not like the other attendees will notice, with how caught up in their own conversations they are. I wouldn’t be surprised if they ended up causing one themselves.”
From the general air of confidence exuded, Kuroba thought that this person had to be the mayor. Although, there was something slightly familiar about them… Kuroba just couldn’t put their finger on it.
“Carol, are you sure?” Ceroba asked.
Carol chuckled a bit. “Quite sure. People like them tend to be more full of themselves.” She shifted her gaze. “Ah, you must be Kuroba. You certainly do look like your sibling, however that is certainly to be expected from you.” Kuroba felt a shiver when she had said that. As though she knew something that she shouldn’t, and was letting them know. “By the way, have any of you seen my daughter? She seems to have disappeared.”
“Oh, yeah, saw her heading upstairs with Ver,” Kanako said. “I think they were headed for her room.”
Both Kuroba and Carol immediately turned to look at Kanako, both with a similar look of “Fuck you mean they’re in her room? What are they doing in there?” albeit for differing reasons.
“We’re just talking, Mom,” Dess said, seemingly appearing at the top of the stairs. “Clover was saying that they were feeling a bit self-conscious because of their crutch so we went to the privacy of my room. That’s all.”
(Ooooooohhhhh. That’s how everyone in your family knows the mayor. Hirai’s dating her daughter. … WAIT, THEY’RE DOING WHAT?!)
“Aaaaaand there’s that face,” Dess said, looking at Kuroba and taking a picture with her phone. “Clover’s gonna be a bit sad they missed it, but I think this is a good compromise.”
“Wha–huh?” Kuroba snapped back to reality.
“Nothing, don’t worry about it,” Dess winked. “Anyways, I gotta get some drinks. I’ll see you guys later.”
Once she was back in her room, Dess handed a glass of juice over to Clover, who drank it all in almost one gulp.
“It was worth it by the way,” she said. “Took a pic if you wanna see Kuroba’s face.”
“Oh, please, I wanna see that. The whole reason I never told ‘em ‘bout your mom.”
“Just sent it to you. Anyways, what were we talking about, again?”
“I… duh…” Clover scratched the back of their head embarrassed, “don’t remember, haha. I kinda just… like… being with you… Don’t feel like I get judged, y’know.”
“I get it. Adults can be so condescending. ‘Oh, I’m so sorry.’ ‘I just can’t imagine what you’re going through.’ Blah blah blah. It’s always so insincere. Like they just wanna earn brownie points or something.”
“Right? Like yeah, I get my situation sucks, I’m the one living the damn thing. So stop reminding me of it every two seconds, I already got one with me at all times.” Clover sighed. “I’m so glad your mom never did that to me.”
“Yeah, she seems to like you. I think it was because of your playing the piano back then.”
“Really? Wow, didn’t know my own nostalgia would affect her that much. Guess she thought of… you know, your dad.”
“Can’t say I blame her, I certainly can’t help but think of him when you play that one. It’s just got that sort of vibe, you know?”
Clover chuckled. “Well I did first hear it when Ka-san was telling me about Ko for the first time. So I guess it’s just already got that nostalgia feeling.”
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, to which Dess had responded. Outside was Kuroba, who had been told where to go by Kanako.
“Hey, is Hirai still in here?” they asked.
“Uuuuhhh yeah? Why do you ask?”
“Some doctor said he wants to examine and ask them questions. I’d rather be cautious though. You know why.”
“Alright, I’ll get them. Unrelated, but it is so weird being able to see your full face.”
“I know, right? I feel… naked with both my eyes visible. Ugh, I wish I could fix that…”
“I give you permission to fix that. Please do.”
“Waaaaaaaay ahead of you.” Kuroba quickly brought some of their slicked back hair to its natural position of over their eye. “Haaa. There we go. Alright, now go get Clover for that guy. He should be in the kitchen. That’s where he said he’d be, anyways.”
“Got it.” Dess closed the door and turned to Clover. “You heard them, right?”
“Yup… Though I really wish I could just not go… But it’d be rude to do that, huh?”
“Maybe a little bit, yeah.”
“Darn my want to not be ruuuuudddeee!!!” Clover shook their fist in the air. “Alright, I’ll go and meet with him… I will be back as soon as I can. I luv u.” They gave Dess a quick little kiss.
Dess gave a light chuckle. “Love you too, dork. Now stop stalling and go.”
“Okaaaaaaay,” Clover said with a hint of dejectedness, simply to joke around.
“If you wanna avoid the party, I think you can go through the vents to reach the kitchen,” Dess suggested. “Though obviously I don’t know the way.”
“I’d rather not. I don’t wanna get lost somewhere and make my family worry, you know? I’ll risk going the normal way and just try and go fast so I don’t feel as self-conscious. Easy. Alright, guess I gotta go… See ya later.”
Clover made their way to the kitchen. While there they decided to get a cup of water as well.
“Let’s see…” they said to themself aloud, “the glasses are iiiiiinnn… that cupboard. So now I just gottaaaaaa. Reeeeaaaacccchhhhh. And graaaaaaaaabbb. A cuuuuuuuuuupppp. Ugh, stupid height difference.” (Could put your leg on the counter to try and gain height… but that’d have to be the bad leg… Can you support yourself on it? Probably best not to risk it.) “Alright, extendo-arm time. Whup. There we go. Now to get the waterrrrrrrrrrrrr, aaaand then just sorta wait.”
“Ah, hello there.”
“Uwaaah!” Clover gave a slight jump and nearly spilled their water. “H-Hi. Are you. The one. Who. Wanted to. See. Me?”
“Haha,” the man chuckled. “Yes, I am. Doctor Philip. Nice to meet you.” He held out his hand.
“C-Clover Ketsukane. Likewise. Uh, one sec.” Clover put down their glass in order to shake Philip’s hand. “So why did you want to see me? I’m not entirely sure what someone like you, a doctor at a mayoral party, would want from someone like me, just some random monster kid.”
“Ah, it’s rather simple, actually,” Doctor Philip reassured. “You see, I’ve heard–and then saw–that you can change your shape. I was simply curious on the extent. After all, could you not simply fix up your leg so you wouldn’t have to use a crutch?”
That last sentence had put Clover a slight bit on edge. Did the doctor only see Clover’s condition as something that needed to be fixed? (Great, even more ableism. Just what you needed. Though it’s not like that thought didn’t cross your mind at first.)
“Only thing it affects internally is whatever causes voices,” Clover said, with a hint of being over it in their voice. “Plus, even if I could ‘fix up’ my leg, I actually rather like how I am right now, so I would not try and change that. Is that all you wanted to talk about?”
Doctor Philip looked slightly disappointed by that response. He tried to hide it but Clover noticed instantly. “Actually, if I may,” he said, taking back control of the conversation. “There is another aspect I am curious about. That being you and your older—”
“Sibling,” Clover interrupted. They weren’t sure if Kuroba was about to be misgendered, but they didn’t want to take any chances. “Sorry for the interruption, I just wanted to be sure.”
“No, no, it’s quite alright,” Doctor Philip reassured. “In any case, I wanted to ask how the two of you look identical, despite the age gap. It is a genetic wonder, in fact. So if you wouldn’t mind?”
Clover shrugged. “Monster genetics are just like that. There are tons of monsters that look identical to each other. Froggits, Whimsuns, Ice Caps, Temmies, Vulkins, Fliers, Insomnitots, Dunebuds, and more. And before you ask, yes they can have different names. There’s a Temmie named Bob, and a whole family of Sir Slithers that are a part of my other sibling’s body, each differently named. So really, it’s nothing special. If anything, the fact that humans can look drastically different from one another, (to the point of oppression for something as stupid as skin color) is interesting to us monsters. Now, yes, there’s a wide variety of monsters, but the interesting aspect for humans is that the general-slash-natural body type is the same, with two legs, two arms, one head, no tails, no wings, etc.”
Clover sighed. “And yet some humans still consider others as ‘sub-human’ for innocuous, stupid, prejudiced reasons. And it seems it can be projected onto monsters as well. Ableism comes to mind for me. Especially since you, yourself, partook in it earlier when asking about ‘fixing up’ my leg, and then were disappointed when I said I wouldn’t want to ‘fix’ it. So forgive me if I seem rather disinterested right now, but I would honestly rather be elsewhere than speaking with someone who may be seeing me as lesser for being disabled. Thank you for this talk, I hope you’ve learned something interesting about monster genetics, and goodbye.”
Clover left before Doctor Philip could get another word in, opting to Dash to the door to make it harder for him to catch up. They continued to Dash in brief bursts to make it to Dess’s room, completely ignoring the stairs so that he could not even find where they went to try and continue later.
“Hey, welcome back,” Dess said as soon as Clover opened the door. “So how was it?”
“Meh, it was…” Clover shrugged their shoulders, “alright, I guess. Although I think he might try and come after me to continue since I did kinda end it early and then dip out.”
“Wanna head for the roof?” Dess suggested. “We’ll be able to get away from the fanciness and from that guy.”
“Yeah, that’ll work. If it’s alright with you, I think I’ll try and get a head start, just to be safe.”
“Sure, I was gonna change out of this stupid dress to head up there anyways.”
“Okie dokie, I’ll see ya up there. I luv yuuuuu.”
Dess giggled. “Stop with that overly cutesy voice all the time. Oh, if Kuroba ever hears that it is so over for you.”
“Nah, they won’t even bother. I got a foolproof way to shut ‘em up if they try teasing me for stuff like that. Anyway, I’m heading up now. Baiiiiiiiiiiii.”
Instead of using the door normally, Clover decided to play it safe and shapeshifted into an insect so that they could get to the roof without being spotted by Doctor Philip. It had turned out to be the right move, since as soon as they had left the room, he had knocked on the door to Dess’s room in search of them. Unluckily for him, Dess had denied knowing where Clover was and gave a false suggestion in order to lead him on a wild goose chase.
After a few minutes of waiting on the roof, Dess finally showed up in a much more casual outfit. During the wait, Clover had also changed from their suit to casual clothes, so the time spent on the roof ended up feeling more like a regular date for the two of them.
“Anything you wanna talk about?” Clover asked after a few moments of silence.
“Nah,” Dess responded. “I just wanted to get away for a bit. Plus, last time we were up here, you had a whole freakout.” Dess turned to Clover. “Are all our important moments gonna involve that?” she jokingly asked.
“Oh, come on,” Clover said with equally joking exasperation. “Those were only rare occasions and you know it. Besides, our date at my place over the summer went perfectly fine.”
“Yeah, cuz you were too busy being a nerd and were engrossed in what we were watching to even have one. Not to mention the infodumping.”
“Shut uuuuuuuhuhuppppppp.”
After a brief little lighthearted laughter, the two went back to simple stargazing. Or rather, skygazing. It was a nice, peaceful time, which seemed to go on for a while before Dess spoke up.
“The night air is really refreshing, isn’t it?”
“As refreshing as it can get in a city. But it does feel a lot cooler than it used to be. Though I guess that could be my fur helping out.”
“I somehow keep forgetting you didn’t always look like that. I’m just used to how cute you are now. Objectively but also subjectively.”
“Well then this leads me to a very important question,” Clover turned to their side to face Dess. “Would you still love me if I were a human?” They immediately took on their old look.
Dess stared at Clover for a moment, as though ruminating her answer.
“Still cute,” she said at last.
Clover turned away to hide their blushing, which became incredibly obvious with their de-furred face. Realizing that, they changed back, which did not help hide the blushing.
It was then that Clover’s phone buzzed as Kuroba texted them.
[where u at?]
[Roof w/ Dess. We wanted to
get away from the fanciness]
[Why?]
[that doctors looking for you]
[Ah]
[So will you rat me out?]
[nope]
[youd do way more than just
glares if i ruined this for you ]
[True]
[You wouldn’t know peace until
you head back to college ]
[and thats why im letting you
go free ]
[well that and also he kinda
scares me a bit ]
[when he comes back ill
just say that i couldnt reach
you ]
[👍]
“So, what’s the update?” Dess asked as soon as Clover put their phone away. “You’ve been looking at your phone for a while.”
“That doc’s apparently still looking for me. Ended up telling Kai where I am but they’re not gonna tell him. So for now, it’s just us up here.” They leaned onto Dess’s shoulder. “And hopefully it’ll stay like that for as long as possible.”