Archive TP 23.5 — The Bog

It did take them until the sun was nearly completely set before their little party made it into the warm, lantern-lit tiled streets of Corbra. Lake waved down a young, bright-eyed guard for directions, getting Strawberry and Bandit stabled before heading down the street to the well-respected Santos Inn. Lake…

…Normally she’d suggest getting two rooms. With four people, one was fine enough, but it did tend to leave little elbow room, plus, she’d want to give the teens some privacy. But after her “business” with the concern Nekomaru had…Lake booked one room with two double beds and a pull-out futon. And, credit to the lovely hospitality, a very plush-looking dog bed!

(...and another room with a single name, but she didn’t collect the key for that one.)

Handing Kaito one of the keys, she gave the group a bright grin. “Alright, team! We’ve made it! I have some business to take care of with the Corbran force here, and, hah,” she laughed, “I wanna say hey to Captain Sawamura, but y’all feel free to go in and relax. Two things! Kai-guy, you want me to pass on a message to the rest of the fam? And! I can go pick up dinner for everyone, since I gotta go brave the streets anyway. That sound good?”

Kaito wanted to offer to go with Lake, say hi to the family and help her with groceries. Buuuuuut he didn’t entirely trust Arven and Doppio to not hype each other up and disappear while they were gone. So he just asked to make sure his family knew they were coming back tomorrow, and to tell his husbands he loved them, and ask Maki to make sure she’s talking to Haneda because these days it was usually him and Haneda making sure Tim did his homework and if Haneda forgot to ask Kaito wasn’t there to cover and also tell his little Miya that he loooooved her and he miiiiiisssed her and dad was sorry he was ignoring so many beeeeells.

…bells? Or, that was just Kaito’s metaphor for tasks he did for Miyako. Like a bell going off in his head! Reminding him to cater to her every baby little need. His little princess. “She’s such a fussy little thing, I love her so much, tell Kokichi to give her little baby cheek kisses, thaaaaanks Lake!” Kaito keened… before looking over his shoulder at the rest of the room, “Guys? Food?”

Doppio yawned, a bit more than half-slumped over on Arven. Despite his intention to sleep during the trip and be awake for when they got into town, he’d barely roused when Kaito shook him awake to get off Bandit, and still the veil of sleep was…well, less of a veil, and more like a winter quilt.

“Food’s fine,” he mumbled. “Not picky…”

“Alright, that’s one vote for anything,” Lake chuckled. “No one’s got any allergies, right? Now’s your chance to put in a vote for type of food too, otherwise you’re all at my mercy of what looks coolest to me while I’m out.”

“Anything’s fine, Guardsman Lake,” Arven called back, adjusting his grip around Doppio’s waist as the two sat on the bed farther from the door, watching as Chief immediately started sniffing and poking curiously at the dog bed. “And don’t worry about Chief, I have his pre-made food ready to go. He doesn’t like more over-the-counter stuff anyway, he’s a little bougie like that.”

“You’re the one making the trip, only makes sense you pick what we eat,” Kaito grinned. “...though if it has notable chunks of green onions? Uh, that’s… I mean, it’s not that I won’t eat them, but… they’re not my faaaavorite thing. If you get me,” Kaito said, voice a little strained… before he rapidly added in, “And I can’t do spicy things. I just can’t, I’ll vomit, it’ll be bad, I’m not exaggerating, I just can’t. But beyond that! Anything!”

Arven listened to this, eyes glancing at his pack… at Kaito… at his pack…

“Oh my god,” Arven whispered to Doppio, “I just had the best idea for a prank.”

“Aw, you’ve made a top gourmet, huh?! HA! After everything you told me about your cooking, I believe it! Hopefully I can find something to your standards, Ven-Ven, even if I can’t find any for Chief’s!” Lake grinned, giving the teen a finger gun.

“No green onions, zero stars for the Kai-guy, got it!” Lake nodded to Kaito. …though, just to make sure she asked him if he was sure he’d eat anything else, and in that meantime…

Doppio snorted softly against Arven’s shoulder. “Angioletto said before he should be punished with peppers in his food… Something along those lines? You did have those dried chiles packed away for making stocks ‘n broths, yeah?”

“Exactly,” Arven smirked, “And it won’t actually hurt him, they’re not burn your insides hot. It’ll just be funny. You have my back tonight?”

Doppio huffed a soft laugh, straightening ever so slightly and rubbing one of his eyes. “Always.”

“...” He gave a small, yawning sigh before opening his eyes a little more. “...uh…actually, kind of… I guess not on that note, but it reminded me… Um. Would…you want to share one of the beds tonight? I dunno what Kaito ‘n Lake were thinking for arrangements but…”

…okay, he wasn’t totally lying so…it wasn’t manipulation!

Shyly adjusting his sleeves, Doppio gave a small shrug. “...I guess I’m…kinda, a little still freaked out, from earlier. Um…so…if it was alright? Could…I keep close by?”

“Oh!” Arven said, “...oh. I mean, of course! I mean, haha, what’s the… what’s the other option, ha! Sharing a bed with one of them?” Arven laughed, gesturing to the two weirdo adults, “Kaito would barely let you sleep on the horse, I can’t imagine how he gets just trying to sleep normally. I bet he just talks to his husbands all night.”

“You’re not entirely wrong,” Kaito said, his grin growing wider as Arven jolted. Hell yeah, Kaito didn’t spend a lifetime with an assassin and a detective without learning how to walk quietly. “They give me sleeping pills to shut me up. Very effective! And, yep. Guess who didn’t bring his sleeping pills? So I will, very likely, be up allllll night…” Kaito narrowed his eyes at them, “Just so you both know.”

Giving them both another stern look, Kaito headed off to check out the bathroom, while Arven stuck out his tongue at his back. “He’s practically begging for dried chiles… by the way, where has Amaina been? I haven’t seen her, have you?”

Doppio grimaced with a roll of his eyes. “Look, I’ve slept in a lot of uncomfortable places, but I’m drawing the line at the two of them. If you didn’t want to sleep together I’d just take the bathtub--a surprisingly good alternative by far to the floor, by the way.”

Along with Arven, Doppio jumped as Kaito snuck up on them, arms about half-way jolted to a defensive position before the voice registered and he caught himself. And while something about how Kaito said he’d be up sounded like he was…trying to enforce a bad thing?

…Doppio was grateful. He knew Kaito told him he didn’t have to worry about the ‘things that go bump in the night’ but…Doppio knew how efficient some of those things could be. It made him feel a little better to have another pair of light-to-barely dozing ears around for the night.

Still, he gave Kaito’s retreating form a huff of solidarity to Arven’s tongue, noting Lake taking her leave as well before he shook his head. “Not since those two showed up… I, uh…” He grimaced. “...I guess if you don’t have to, experiencing something like…what happened isn’t something you’d choose.”

“Oh, you mean the fall?” Arven realized, looking around. Now that they were alone, Arven called out softly, “Amaina. Amaina, the fall is over. You can come back… darn. I hope she comes back soon. She can get on my nerves sometimes, but it makes me worry when she disappears. No real way to look for her, you know?”

Scratching at his chin a little, Arven said, “Maybe it’s because you’ve been asleep most of the day too? Maybe she can’t hear me but she’d hear you. Give it a try?”

Doppio nodded in agreement--though…he had a feeling out of the three of them, she was the one who needed looking after the least--and anxiously scratched his hand before sighing. Giving the bathroom door a nervous look before softly calling out, “Angioletto? Amaina? I…I’m sorry if I scared you, but…it’s okay now. We’re in a town… I don’t think Kaito or Lake really want us going out, but…we could look out the window together? You wanted to explore something like this, right?”

{-_-}

{O.O busy}

{((-_-))}

In the bathroom, Kaito twitched. Scratching at his chest a little, before calling out of the bathroom, “I’m taking a shower in here! Either of you need to go first?” and listening to a chorus of no’s, looked back into the mirror.

Carefully, Kaito started shedding his clothes… before frowning at the mirror. Sure, his body ached, absolutely, but…

…where the hell were all the bruises? Kaito had tackled a body in the air, was tackled on the ground, crashed into what was partly a backpack but was mostly the base of a tree after a twenty foot drop… forget how black and blue he should be right now, like, literally everywhere, something should be broken. Lots of things should be broken. He had literally landed on the arm he had broken a year before.

But no broken bones? And… weirdly enough, Kaito wasn’t even as sore as he had been when he first picked himself up from the ground. Like, the more he had ridden on the horse? The better he had felt.

He looked like maybe he had done some roughhousing with a friend. Not like he had literally crashed into the ground with a person collapsing just as hard on top of him. He felt fine. He felt great, honestly.

…fucking how??

As Kaito worriedly looked himself over, inside of him, Saint Madison finally pinned down the location of the power source. It had taken all day, because at first she hadn’t realized the power was coming from outside of Kaito. In his mind, it just felt like a particular good day for him. Where he felt confident and passionate and like his body was strong and he was invincible. Not a daily thing, but not unheard of in Kaito’s body, and Saint Madison had attributed it to a really, really long adrenaline and endorphin rush from the fall.

That just… kept going… and kept going… and no way, there was something going on.

Finally figuring out where the source was hiding, Saint Madison glared at the entrance of the Prince Kaito shard, which was not opening up for her. She needed backup…

In Kokichi’s mind, a bell rung.

Miyako was not happy that Dad wasn’t there for evening feet taps. And, apparently, Kokichi’s were not up to snuff. But, finally, he and Shuuichi had gotten her to sleep and…

Kokichi let out a sigh and flopped back on their bed. “...Saint Madison’s calling, honeypie. I’ll…’be back’ in a sec.”

Stepping through a golden portal, Kokichi gave Saint Madison a tired, worried smile. “Good evening, Saint Madison. I know it’s…not really, if you called me, but…I’m hoping this isn’t too much bad news.”

Saint Madison was full on fuming, her cheeks puffing out as she pointed at the castle. “The edgelord shard has woken up, meaning someone’s in there, and he’s locked me out! Go. Fix. Him.”

…someone was there.

Frowning, Kokichi gave the defense a solemn nod before going up to the grand doors of the castle and…well, knocking. Saint Madison hadn’t said that the intruder was locking her out (which would be incredibly alarming), just that King Kaito was, so…no need for brute force just yet. Or hopefully ever.

“Kai-chan?” Kokichi called out. “Can I come in?”

In the castle, King Kaito frowned, somewhat warily looking at the door, before looking back down at the creature on his throne. “...”

Don’t. I’m not done.

King Kaito looked down at his feet, adjusting his weight on the thin, vein-like vines that were covering the floor, glowing soft, rainbow colors, all digging into the cement of his castle, growing from the creature, who was a soft, glowing ball of rainbow light, eyes closed and sitting on the throne. “...it’s my husband. I can’t leave him out.”

There’s a chip in his hip and a chip in his spine. I’m close. I need more time.

King Kaito had agreed to lock the defenses out. They were zealots, they’d have kicked the source of power out no matter what. But his husband… “It doesn’t matter,” King Kaito said, “He’s my husband. I’m letting him in.”

Puuuussssyyyyyyyyy

King Kaito glared at it, before hurrying over to the door. Pulling it open. “Uh…” King Kaito grinned warily at Kokichi, his whole throne room glowing in pulsing rainbows, “Good day, Kokichi. In the neighborhood?”

Kokichi did eye the rainbows for a moment, but…first thing first. Gently taking King Kaito’s hands, Kokichi squeezed them and gave the shard an affectionate smile. “It’s good to see you. Thank you for letting me in.”

The colors just by itself were…a bit of a giveaway, but as Kokichi stepped into the throne room, he was hit by the presence of the intruder and…well. It wasn’t hard to classify something he’d felt before.

“Miku?” Kokichi called out, brow furrowing in confusion, before he corrected, “...Amaina-chan? What…”

…the glowing ball of light was familiar too.

Immediately Kokichi’s eyes widened and…well, while he did always want to give Kaito his privacy…it was basically what he’d be doing physically if they were home together. Practiced at feeling out a mind for damage, Kokichi let the tides of himself flow…before ebbing back, a significantly more worried expression lining his face.

Before he went to the throne and knelt by the ball of light. “Would it help best if I supplement your power, Amaina-chan?”

(((-_-)))

(((OvO))) Hellllll yeaaaaaaaaah take the stage big boy let’s daaaaaaaaance

Emboldened, Amaina stood up on the throne, and now that she was no longer hiding, music erupted in the room, the pulsing rainbow glows now rhythmically pulsing with the beat as Amaina started to dance.

〜(￣▽￣〜)

(~￣▽￣)~♪

((└|o^▽^o|┐))

King Kaito watched all of this with an increasingly grave, somewhat embarrassed expression. Rubbing the back of his neck, he said to Kokichi, “I swear, she really has been helping… I feel confident in saying that without her intervention, at the very least my arm would have re-broken. We had a bit of a fall.”

Even with the circumstances, Kokichi couldn’t help but giggle softly. She’d come by once to play, but he thought the little chibi was very sweet, if with a mischievous streak. Turning to King Kaito, Kokichi gave him a soft look before offering a hand. “You heard the maestro. Your Majesty? May I have this dance?”

And regardless of whether King Kaito played along or not, Kokichi would seem to…glow. Nothing as crazy as Amaina’s lightshow, but a soft, comforting glow that swirled into the vines, complementing and assisting the work already going on.

“I believe it,” Kokichi said softly, his brows pinching in again. “You’ve…taken quite a bit of damage. What Amaina-chan’s doing… Well, I think you’d know, actually. Alter Ego has done this for me before, when I’ve gotten hurt. This isn’t exactly a mental injury, but…having an empath share their power with you can aid healing quite a lot. I’ll ask for the full story from all of you, because Kai-chan deserves to know what’s going on in his mind, but, for now…”

“...oh hun, what have you gotten yourself into?”

King Kaito softened a little, his tight, embarrassed expression easing as took Kokichi’s offered hand, bringing it up to kiss the back of it in a bow. “It’d be an honor, your grace.”

King Kaito’s eyes lit up in admiration as Kokichi started to glow, the two of them going into an easy, careful two step, King Kaito making sure Kokichi wouldn’t trip on any of the vines. “I’m not sure,” he admitted, “There is something going on with young Doppio, but that’s not what caused the fall…”

King Kaito’s left eye twitched. Bringing up one hand to touch his temple, he frowned, “...well, Akane thinks she saw him bend himself backward. Apparently how he turned wasn’t a normal way to fall out of a tree. I suppose she’d know. She is our,” King Kaito rolled his eyes,”’wild side’.”

“And I have no idea why she showed up,” King Kaito said, gesturing to Amaina as he dipped Kokichi into a slow dip. “She tried to explain but I didn’t understand. Saying something about her investment in the upgrade and not wanting to orphan pretty boy… no idea.”

Meanwhile, back in the shower.

Kaito was in a fantastic mood.

No longer thinking about the bruises at all, Kaito used the provided soap as he sang in the shower, “When the mooooon, met the suuuuun, he was barely hanging on! But ‘Kichi’s eeeeeeyes, saved his life, in the SUUUUMMMEEEER! IN THE MIDDLE OF SUUUMMMMEEEEER!”

Raising his eyebrows, Doppio tilted his head back towards the bathroom, making an amused face at Arven.

Something going on with Doppio was…basically what you could say for the past week, nearly. Kokichi was happy to hear that, if he could infer correctly, Kaito and Lake had found the boys but…

“...you two fell out of a tree?” Kokichi’s power didn’t waver, and he was sure not to let his emotions literally seep out of himself, but the worried fear that softened his voice and pinched his eyebrows in a sort of frightened agony would be clear.

Kokichi had fallen out of plenty of trees in his time. But considering the damage that Amaina had taken upon herself to heal…it wasn’t just any tree. And…a fall like that…

Kokichi let out a short breath as he came back up from the dip, breaking the etiquette of dance forms for a moment to hug King Kaito tight. “...whatever her reasoning…I’m grateful. Kai-chan…”

King Kaito startled a little at the hug, before smiling, hugging him back. “I’m okay. Sorry, we make you worry too much. I know our sense of duty can be a hindrance. The boy himself has basically told us that a thousand times already. He called us out on the ‘paternal’ thing we have going on.” King Kaito sighed, shaking his head, “I just want to mentor them, but noooo. Akane and Caleb always have to make it about ‘family’. Honestly, Kokichi, how do you put up with us?”

He was okay. Amaina, and now Kokichi, were specifically making sure that he was okay. …geez, he’d never even talked to the teen but… Okay. Kokichi would check in on Doppio when they returned to the castle. Something like that…

Laughing softly, Kokichi swayed with the king. “By thanking the lucky stars Kai-chan was born under every chance I get. It’s a privilege, for you to be mine.” But, with a sigh, he could concede… “...Maki-chan was right, though. When you get home, you, me, and Shuu-chan should have a talk about your relationship with Doppio, okay? I agree, he needs help and support right now, but…we should talk about that.”

Tilting his head a little, Kokichi gave King Kaito a searching look. “...how’s he doing, is he alright? And Arven?”

Kaito’s face turned a little red, hearing Kokichi call him his– both inside his head and out of it, Kaito as usually not unaffected by the things he didn’t realize were happening in his mind, though he assumed it was just him remembering his husband was hot as all hell randomly– before King Kaito cleared his throat a little. Flustered.

“We’ll talk about it,” King Kaito agreed. “And Doppio seems better than when we last spoke to him. In truth, I’m quite proud of a lot of the decisions he’s made today, and yesterday, really. Standing up to me, not returning to that home, trusting Arven, the letter. Today, he was adamant that he wasn’t ‘for’ anyone else and that it mattered what he wanted,” King Kaito beamed with pride, “Isn’t that amazing to hear? It’s such a step from constantly referring to how he’s useful to his boss. Arven is so good for him. We’re determined to help the relationship, the boys make each other better people. It’s a solid strategy for improving their lives.”

King Kaito’s eyes suddenly darkened, as he said grimly, “Cutting down that bastard who drowned Doppio would be a second good strategy… but Kaito’s never going to do it. Turns out the three of us together don’t have it in us. It’s a humbling and frustrating thing to realize. Especially for how hard I argued for my country's practices in regards to that.”

“Really?” Kokichi lit up as well, even his glow brightening a bit, his surge of pride and happiness the kind of emotional bleedover he was a little less concerned about gating off. It was never fair to compare different people’s progress, but Kokichi knew how big of a step valuing himself outside of other people was for Kaito (though it was still something Kokichi knew he struggled with), so to hear that…in a few days? Doppio had had his own epiphany about it? “That’s wonderful… In honesty, I’m always scared for runaways but…well, that’s great.”

Hopefully they’d be able to help him just as much without having to leave the city without backup.

Giving King Kaito’s shoulder a squeeze, Kokichi offered a soft, moderately smug smile. “...even if it’s something you can’t bring yourself to do…it still means a lot to me that you won’t. But for a different method…CPS reopened the investigation. Even without having another sample of Doppio’s handwriting, Shuu-chan proved that the letter was written way before we came in again, and they took the case. And…regardless of if it’s founded or not, a minor feeling like they’re in mortal peril? They’re not ignoring that. They’re gathering the warrants to question Vinizio tomorrow.”

King Kaito nodded, looking entirely reassured. “I knew you could handle it. My good Ouma… oh!”

There was a sudden fire in King Kaito’s eyes, his calm, princely disposition bleeding away as suddenly the smell of smoke and heat in the room started to get higher and thicker as King Kaito grit his teeth, pointing at a space in the room. “Her!”

Growing from the ground like a black smoke before forming into a person, a woman looked calmly back at them as King Kaito growled, “Apple Leif! Doppio told me she was paid off by the boss to suppress the case. And on top of that, she threatened Arven, and,” the sound of war, which had been entirely buried under the music, started to clang and shout outside the windows, “was scheming to bury my character witness under claims of delusion!”

Smoke starting to puff out of his mouth like steam, King Kaito took a step back from Kokichi, gripping his hands into fists as he said, “I want her handled! How dare she!? Doppio could have been killed, and Arven’s just a child on his own! And I am NOT! CRAZ–gah!”

Kaito’s shouts were interrupted– and with it the smoke, fire, and sounds of war dwindling back down to nothing– as Amaina suddenly bounced down onto his head, dancing in the middle of his crown as she sang to Kokichi, ALLLLLL done! It was much faster with your help we did it chips gone let’s goooooooo we rock!

In the bathroom, Kaito panted a little, the sudden spark of rage gone, before he looked down at the sink handle in his hand, before looking nervously back at the sink.

…maybe he could just… pop it back on? Damn. He’d probably have to go to the front desk about this…

Kokichi’s eyebrows had raised a bit, but while Kaito’s own anger wasn’t influencing him, it wasn’t hard to get swept up in the rage regardless. It was certainly a matter to get mad about.

…a CPS agent had been paid off? Of course all people in government were thoroughly vetted, but those who were responsible for others’ safety? How on earth did…

Well, Apple Leif would likely be questioned within the organization anyway, as someone to close an investigation that immediately got reopened. It wouldn’t be trouble at all for Kokichi to propose his own concerns.

Bitch.

But…that would begin tomorrow. And for now?

“Thank you, Amaina-chan,” Kokichi smiled up at the construct. “It means a lot to me that you’d look out for my family and my Kai-chan like this. But…you know I have to ask…” He pursed his lips a little. “...how did you know about this? As grateful as I am…I’m not okay with even sweet little tourists like you hanging around Kai-chan’s mind for fun.”

I do not hang around for fuuuuuuun I hang around for LOVE O.O

“...okay, well, then I’m not comfortable with it then,” King Kaito said.

Not for you, sexy dungeon! I am like the golden cat. I have found my boy and i am showing him all of the beautiful things, Amaina explained, before pointing to Kaito and saying, He’s one of the beautiful things even if he is very duuuuuuumb

“Do not… punch the little fairy thing… she is only as big as your fist… do not punch her,” King Kaito murmured to himself. “We’re better than that.”

OoO so when I saw that the upgrade was about to go SPLAT I thought well where am I going to get another one of these?? Gotta protect the investment! So i flew into his tummy and offered P O W E R and turns out the tummy is pretty connected to this place which works out

“A lot of my stronger emotions do seem to start in my stomach.” King Kaito shrugged.

Kokichi giggled softly, rubbing King Kaito’s arm. “Tummy Kai-chan…”

…but all that… It did help that things tended to be clearer in intent.

Kokichi gave Amaina a slightly worried, but mostly kind look. “...you’re looking after Doppio, and…you’ve been encouraging Kai-chan as something that helps look after him? Also, that’s unkind, Amaina-chan, Kai-chan is very smart.”

He thought for a moment. “...is…Doppio aware of you? Like, you’re not just sending intent into his head, are you?”

Oh yeah he’s suuuuper aware of me we are BEEEESTIIIEEEESS

“...wait,” King Kato said, looking to Kokichi since he couldn’t decipher Amaina very well, “Kokichi, please don’t tell me I’ve been doing all of this because another person decided to mess with my brain. Isn’t that why I have the divine? So people can’t just redesign me anymore?”

I DIDN’T REDESIGN SHIT i am not an aaaartist it’s not one of my skills -_-

OoO i just dropped the knowledge of Arven’s address in your head because while i did not make you do anything you are very predictable little sad boys are your CATNIP munch-munch-munch chasing them neglected children nom-nom-nom offering paternal love and support YA CAN’T GET ENOUGH YOU GOBBLER

“I feel weirdly insulted.” King Kaito muttered, “...though, I think I got from all of that that she didn’t make me look after Doppio and Arven… right?”

Kokichi let out a little sigh. “That’s good… The kid has enough problems, let alone adding in psychic manipulation.” He flashed Amaina a small, sheepish smile. “Even of a benign sort.”

No one needed that.

Nodding, he patted King Kaito’s hand. “Right. She’s saying that she just told you Arven’s address--which, wow, that makes your confusion about it make a lot more sense--and…everything else has been your decision.” Pausing, he pressed against Kaito’s side. “...and though we still need to have that talk? I think it’s very sweet that you want to help out kids so much that your soul shines with it. I love that about you.”

“But…okay,” Kokichi sighed. “Amaina-chan? …please pass on my ‘hellos’ to Miku-chan, when you get the chance, and please ask permission from Kai-chan before hanging out in his head. And…thanks for looking out for him.”

“And Kai-chan?” He looked up to the king. “I think I need to talk to all of you. Do you think you have a second?”

“I always have time for you, your grace. I could never deny you anything,” King Kaito said, bowing his head respectfully… before saying, “Though, give me five minutes? I’m apologizing for breaking a sink handle. Kokichi, is one gold enough to get a sink fixed, or will I insult them by offering that?”

Kokichi snorted softly. “A sink? Then…you guys made it to a town? If you’re talking to the front desk or maintenance, they’ll probably just add the damage deduction to your room fee, hun. Honestly, though, between the part cost and cost of repairs, it’d probably be around a gold, yeah.”

King Kaito nodded determinedly, “Understood.”

Kaito decided not to offer the gold– they’d probably just add it to the bill, right? That made sense? They’d say something otherwise, no doubt– before saying, “Thank you, again, very sorry, I appreciate you all taking care of it so quickly. Um, we have the dog in the room should we… yeah? Okay, I’ll take everyone outside for a bit. Thank you again.”

Kaito huffed when he finally stepped out of the office, running a hand over his face, before heading back to the room. Knocking to warn them he was heading in, he opened the door. “Boys? A maintenance guy is on his way to fix the sink. Let’s step out for a little bit so we’re not in the way, okay? There’s a nice garden I saw when we were coming in around the building, let’s get some air.”

“How did the sink handle break anyway?” Arven asked, helping Doppio up as they headed out.

“I-it’s a cheap handle! Copper! I have big hands. No one can prove it wasn’t a little broken already when I touched it… anyway, come on. Not for long, they said it’d only take fifteen minutes, and the sunset looks nice.”

Finding a bench to sit on at the garden, Kaito sighed, watching Chief immediately start running to and fro, sniffing patches of plants, as Arven started telling Doppio idle things about the plants they were looking at. Kaito watching them all for a bit as he took another deep breath…

“....???” Kaito glanced to his left. Giving his husband a blatant side eye. “.....!? ‘Kichi?”

Smiling softly, Kokichi held a finger to his lips before speaking. “Sorry, hun, but I didn’t wanna knock you out for this… King Kai-chan said you’d probably have time, but I’ll ask again--can we talk? Saint Madison called me over, and I wanna get you up to date.”

“...you guys are in Corbra?” he remarked, looking around through Kaito’s vision. “Aw, we did wanna see how it looked properly in fall… This is lovely!”

Even if he had to go…Kokichi leaned forward on the bench a little, looking over at the boys. He’d met Arven at breakfast the other day, of course, but…this was the first time he was even “seeing” Doppio. …aw, it looked like they were having fun.

…and looking right over.

“...uh, Kaito?” Doppio asked, looking over his shoulder. “Did you say something?”

As much as Kaito felt near instant joy just to see his husband there… the sheer alarm bells of being keenly aware that people were going to see him talking to himself again…

“Uh, y-yep! Just praying! It’s a beautiful day, it’s making me feel grateful and chatty with my god! Don’t mind me guys! Just, ya know… Atua, who loves me, your chosen follower calls on you to blah blah blah,” Kaito murmured, his voice going lower and lower with every word, until he saw the dismissiveness on the teenagers’ faces, the two tuning him out. “...okay, that should cover me. I pray like a casual conversation all the time. Should be fiiiiine,” Kaito said warily, glancing around, before looking over to Kokichi. “And lots of pretty flowers in your direction, so, that’s why it looks like I’m talking to the air. Foolproof. Nooooo paranoid delusions or whatever… oh! Kokichi, you will not believe what that CPS lady did–”

“I know, you told me. Or…part of you did.” With an apologetic smile, Kokichi “put” one of his hands on one of Kaito’s. “Can I… I would say give, but it’s more like ‘remind’ you of the conversation we already had? There’s…a lot, and I think this would be easier…”

“It might feel unnatural, but if you ‘think’ at me, since I’m in your upper consciousness, I should be able to still hear you, hun. If you don’t wanna talk out loud. …sorry for putting you in a position like this.”

At his consent, Kokichi did pass on the conversation, and while he knew it was a lot to process, he really could only wait a minute or two before speaking up again.

“...so, yeah. My empath friend’s construct has been hanging out with Doppio, and when she saw you guys were in trouble, she went to your mind to share her power and keep you from the worst of the damage. Which…” He sighed, squeezing Kaito’s hand. “...I’m so grateful for. If something happened to you, like that…”

He shook his head a little, looking to the boys. “Or to him… Kai-chan, you said you fell out of a tree, but…what happened? Why…” …why did Akane think that maybe Doppio did it on purpose?

It was a little bit like daydreaming, but very quickly, and Kaito only felt a little out of step by the time Kokichi started talking to him again.

Oh! So that was why his body was healing so rapidly. One of Kokichi’s empath friends… constructs? Was… following him? No, was looking after… Doppio. And was basically recruiting Kaito’s help to look after Doppio. But not forcing him to. Okay… Kaito could live with that. He wanted to help Doppio anyway. And Doppio knew about the little dancing construct? Doppio knows about empaths? Or at least something like that. He knows about magic, that’s for certain. Does Arven know? Hmmm. Arven does chase after stories of magical titan plants…

As for his question, Kaito frowned, trying to think of how he was going to think at Kokichi. Idly taking out his meditation stone, keeping his fingers busy helping his urge to just talk aloud to his husband– he was right there after all– as he looked over to Doppio.

…Doppio had moved his head backwards. That’s what (Akane) Kaito had noticed. He had moved his head backwards to look up at Arven, and he hadn’t looked dizzy. There was no swaying of his body, no shifting his weight that might have gone poorly. Just looked up, then fell backwards like how Little Lamb might fall from the changing station. Not rag dolling, body stiff, in control.

It hadn’t looked like a natural fall.

But! But! Doppio got blackouts. And he didn’t act like himself during his blackouts. He acts like someone maybe trying to act like Doppio? But doesn’t know him very well? Like a caricature of himself. And he gets these terrible headaches after that happens. Kaito wants Seiko to look into it, but Doppio is scared of healers, and he’s scared of Kaito, and Kaito doesn’t want to scare him any more but it’s so hard to get Doppio to accept help without being an asshole about it…

Kaito had been in a really good mood since the fall, but he was starting to think a dancing construct healing him from the inside might have something to do with that. He worried to Kokichi that he was going to mess this up again… look at them, ‘Kichi. Neither of them even come to my damn chest. They’re so small…

Kokichi frowned, looking at the boys. “...he acts like someone’s pretending to be him, huh? Though…I don’t think he’s scared of you, hun, if he’s letting you help. Or…if he is? Then he trusts that you’ll be able to help him more than he’s scared of you.”

He sighed, leaning against Kaito. “...you guys will be back in Usott tomorrow. My Kai-chan is good at helping people--you won’t let anything happen to them. And then…let’s talk to Doppio together, alright? If he’s willing, you, me, Shuu-chan… Sorry, there’s a little bleedover, but…from you, I get the feeling he’ll probably insist on Arven too. We’ll talk and…if he’s suicidal, we’ll figure that out. If he has a neurological issue, we’ll figure that out, and work together for him to be able to see a healer and feel safe.”

Kokichi smiled softly, looking over as something made Doppio blush and Arven grin widely. “...if it’s a psychic issue? Then we’ll figure that out too. And thankfully I think I’ll have a resume that’ll impress him on that front. You said he likes cats, right? Maybe we could introduce him to Alter Ego, and that might sweeten the pot.”

“They’ll be okay, Kai-chan. You don’t have to shoulder that responsibility on your own.”

Snorting, he nudged Kaito a bit. “...Mi-Mi is displeased that she didn’t get Dad Bedtime Kisses tonight. I think you’ll have one happy baby to see you tomorrow.”

Kaito’s eyes reddened, glancing down at Kokichi, not sure if he could touch him back and not willing to risk trying in case it looked odd to anyone who might glance over, but… it was really reassuring. Between Lake coming with him to help handle the guys and Mr. Nidai doing whatever the heck he had had to do to protect them and Shuichi and Kokichi getting the case reopened and even Maki helping in her own Maki way…

Kaito didn’t know if he’d call this ‘easier’. But it felt less like if he stumbled someone was going to die. There was an incredible relief in that, and Kaito took a small, shuddering breath that got broken up by a laugh. His poor fussy princess… Shuichi always said he thought Kaito’s pre-bedtime playtime kept Miyako up longer, but Kaito swore it helped her sleep. His little girl just needed some love and affection before she drifted off to sleep.

“I’ll be home as soon as I can babe,” Kaito whispered, “Thanks for taking care of me.”

Kokichi knew it wasn’t the same, but he got up off the bench and leaned in.

{^3^~♡}

“Always, my Kai-chan. Thank you for taking care of me too. You and Nee-chan and Nekomaru keep those boys safe, alright? And if you see Riley Rivers, please say hi for me--she runs a convenience store in town, so you might get a chance if you guys need to stock up before the trip back home.”

“I love you.”

Kaito gave him a warm look, placing a hand against his warmed face. “I love you too, beautiful.”

…and when Kokichi disappeared, Kaito sighed. Standing up and stretching. “Alright! You guys ready to check to see if our room’s cleared? Let’s go, the flowers will still be here in the morning.”

“I am absolutely calling dibs on the next shower if it’s ready,” Doppio grumbled, offering a hand to help Arven up.

“I’d race you for it, but I’d win, sooooooo~” Arven grinned, taking the hand, “It’d be mean. Wouldn’t want to bully ya.”

Doppio made a face and stuck his tongue out. “...maybe today! Any other day, though, I’d totally win!”

Arven laughed, “Pfff, you wish. We’ll see! We’re gonna wait till you’re 100% so I can prove I can whip your ass!” before sticking his tongue back at Doppio.

“Don’t walk and stick your tongue out at the same time, that’s how you lose your tongues!” Kaito shouted over his shoulder.

Thankfully the sink was back together by the time they returned to their room, and Doppio didn’t waste much time digging out his pajamas and claiming the bathroom for himself. Yeah, he had just taken a shower yesterday, so it wasn’t really like he was caked in weeks of traveling grime…but he was gross. And he was gonna be sleeping next to Arven again, and he didn’t want to be gross for that.

So it was shower time.

Lately…Doppio had been avoiding himself in the mirror, whenever he went into bathrooms. No going full head down or anything, but just…not focusing, really. Not wanting to look at…angelic scars and spotted skin and a…dumb…skinny body. But as he was getting dressed--fully dry this time--a wave of lightheadedness came over him, and Doppio had to lean against the sink counter.

And when he looked up…

…huh.

…of…course his eyes were always gold. That’s his eye color. Why would…

Shaking his head, he just opened the door when Lake burst back in, carrying, uh…a whole ass basket?

“Grub’s up, crew!” she boomed enthusiastically, not seeming concerned at all with just the…vast amount of food she’d gotten. In honesty, between her (who had a very physical job), Kaito (who ate a lot), and two teenage boys…Lake was a little concerned she hadn’t gotten enough.

Kaito, validating her lack of fear, practically started drooling when he saw the food. In fact, ‘practically’ was not an adequate word. Holy shit, he was starving. Why was he… oh! Right, the little construct– had Kaito gotten her name? Amaina-chan?-- had put his body on ‘hyper healing mode’. Regardless of how she did it, Kaito could assume it had taken a significant amount of calories on his end to match the healing overdrive. And now his mouth was watering.

“Holy shit, you didn’t hold back, Lake! Nice~” Kaito grinned, heading over to help her pull everything out and display it. “You didn’t pay for this yourself, right? If you did, I can cover it.”

Meanwhile, Amaina climbed up the inside of Doppio’s pajama shirt, popping her little head out of the collar of his shirt, looking around, before going OoO fooooooood! I’m starving!!!!

Arven looked over at Amaina, looking notably relieved. She had said she was ‘busy’, but not explaining with what. He was glad to see her back.

“No worries, bro-bro, I get a food budget for these things,” Lake waved off, before starting to present the food. “Alright! Gotcha two kinds of popcorn chicken--the one with the red flakes is spicy, Kai-guy, so go with the other one if ya want some--they got a specialty poutine cart here, got gyoza, uh, pork kind I think, some egg rice balls, cabbage rolls, tofu balls, yam natto cakes, some soy-marinated jellied kelp, some street corn, egg-wrapped steak strips, and for dessert! Honey-baked apple slices, and mini-funnel cakes! Know ya got water already, but I got some craft root beer too if you want somethin’ fun!”

Doppio glanced down with some relief, smiling slightly as Amaina showed up, though he still looked at the…mounds of food with some amazement. It…really was a lot and…

“GRRRROGUUGGLE-RRRROU!”

…he flushed deeply at the sound his stomach made.

While Lake just laughed brightly. “Ha! That’s the spirit! Right, you and Arven dig right in, ‘kay Doppio? Kai-guy! Come with me to get some ice! Then the party can begin!”

Kaito bit down the whine that he wanted to keen out. Nooooooo he was huuuuungryyyyyy. But! Lake had asked, so he’d rise to the challenge! …whine.

“Alright, coming! Guys, if you’re gonna eat on the beds, eat on top of the comforters, alright? Easier to brush off crumbs,” Kaito advised them, before dutifully following Lake. Closing the door behind him, Kaito beamed at Lake, “Aren't those pajamas cute?? Awww, I thought they’d suit him, and I was right. Kicked it out of the park! Denji better watch out, I’m gonna be the new castle stylist soon.” Kaito bragged, “I have no idea what the pink tadpole-looking thing is, but Doppio embodies it. It may be fake. The person who sold me the pajamas insisted it was a real creature, but I dunno, they coulda been messing with me.”

“Thank you, thank you,” Lake nodded to Kaito following her, before laughing brightly. “Aw, you picked those out? They are very cute--I feel like it’s a hard balance pickin’ things for teens, there’s always the risk of pickin’ something they’re gonna be like, ‘ugh, you think I’m a baby??’ with, but if you nail it? Legend.”

…they really were just kids.

They walked a bit more down the hall before Lake lowered her voice. Tone still casual, but just…private. “...that disturbance that Mr. Nidai had me handle is being processed by the Corbra force, now. I had to go write up a report of my account and own dealings, so…that’s part of what I was doing. The whole thing is still going on, but…”

Lake sighed softly, starting to fill up a cup with ice. “...you know the boys better than I do, Kaito. You have an idea why a trained hitman was targeting two 15-year-olds?”

Kaito listened to this quietly… before rubbing the back of his neck, digging his fingers into the muscles as he stared at the floor. “...depends,” he decided. “...I want to know what happens to teenagers in criminal organizations here first. If I don’t like the answer, sorry. No idea.”

Lake’s eyes widened slightly before she sighed, nodding. “They’re not tried for felonies--even if it was genuinely something they chose to get into, it’s treated as a case of ‘coercion of a minor’. He likely would be asked about the organization…but we can’t force a minor to testify.”

There were some…other qualifications, but considering Doppio’s situation… “...whoever his guardian ends up being will likely have to report monthly to a caseworker, on top of normal adoption check-ins, and he’d have to do it too, and…likely? He would be asked to sign off on having to report his inter-city and international movements.”

“...so? How you like that?”

Kaito winced. Rubbing his arm a little, chewing on his inner lip as he stared out at the middle distance.

“...he’s gonna hate it.” Kaito murmured. “And he’s gonna hate me. And I already fucked up with him once…”

“...but fuck.” Kaito cursed, gripping his hand into fists and kicking the ground. “A hitman. I won’t ask you how you know, if you and Mr. Nidai say it was a hitman, then fuck, it was a hitman… fuck. God dammit. Fuck!”

Kaito growled some more… before running his hand over his face. Hating himself as he said softly, “...yeah, I think I know. The kid was talking about how the CPS lady wasn’t a ‘fixer’. His ‘boss’ very likely isn’t in charge of a trading company like he told me, according to our ‘Kichi. And…”

Kaito hesitated. Having been refusing to think about this, at least out loud, to anyone… before saying softly, “...the wounds on his arm looked defensive. Life or death.”

“...fuck,” Kaito cursed.

“Fuck,” Lake agreed, sighing as he leaned back against the wall, running a hand through her hair. Letting her cheery demeanor fade into a quiet sadness before she drew herself back up with another breath.

“...okay. You could guess, but Mr. Nidai is still staying nearby,” very nearby, “And, well…the boys don’t need anything shootin’ their nerves more than they are, so I drank a coffee on my way back. I would offer to trade shifts with ya, but,” Lake smirked, “Don’t think you’d sleep even when it was my turn.”

Clanking the ice in the cup, she nodded to herself. “...we get ‘em home safe, then… Well, he’ll prolly say he won’t need it, but we can get Arven an escort to and from school. …couldn’t tell ya what’ll happen, if some orgie boss is gonna be hunted for child abuse, of all things, but…well, we’re protectin’ Doppio anyway until that’s all over. Gonna be one steep expectation on any adoption papers, to keep him safe from a criminal organization, but that’s how it is sometimes.”

Something…hard and nervous went through Lake’s face. “...d’ya think he’s almost 16? I could see him tryin’ to apply for independence but…well, I don’t have the legal right to fight him on that but…I don’t think that’s a good idea for ‘im, Kaito. Him and Arven both… They need someone lookin’ after them as a proper guardian.”

Kaito rolled his eyes. “I am not sleeping tonight. This anxious? I’ll be freaking you all out by the third time I’ve woken up and slept-walk my paranoid rounds into opening up every random cabinet and looking under all the beds.”

Kaito went to lean against the wall next to her, crossing his arms and crossing his ankles, closing his eyes. “...he doesn’t know how old he is. 15 is just a guess, entirely because of how he looks next to Arven. We don’t know if he’s 15, or 16…” Kaito opened his eyes, a mean glint in his eyes as he said darkly, “He could be 14, arguably. I’d be up to arguing it. We could get Seiko to confirm it…”

“...” Kaito sighed, rubbing his thumb and his index finger against his eyelids, forcing his shoulders to relax. “...let’s try to talk to him. Before you and I do anything. Doppio’s not unreasonable, once he’s done being furious with you. Maybe we could get him to volunteer for this, if we just explain why we think it’d be good for him. How hard can it be to convince a kid that we… need the government to keep surveillance on you and… definitely need more time to be raised and cared for and protected… what teenager doesn’t want to be told they’re not ready to be a grown up.” Kaito groaned, burying his head in his hands, “Ahhhhhhhh.”

“Geez,” Lake sighed. Some kid wrapped up in the mob, either raised so detached or dealing with repression or amnesia, didn’t know how old he was… And yet he hadn’t entirely been following Arven’s lead, this whole time. Doppio was just as fiercely independent. Trying to make sure they weren’t just two more names lost in the shadows…

Reaching over, Lake threw an arm over Kaito’s shoulders, squeezing him for a moment. “One step at a time. We eat. We talk to the boys that they’re in danger…and, honestly? I don’t think they’re gonna argue against that part so bad. Then…we try to work out what their futures are gonna look like. We don’t need to figure it all out in a hotel away from home.”

“...what are you planning on eating first, if the boys haven’t scarfed everything?” Lake softly snickered. “I’m really lookin’ forward to that poutine.”

“Probably the not-spicy popcorn chicken, I’m a carnivore at heart,” Kaito mused, leaning into the squeeze a little, letting his hands drop as he sighed tiredly. “Then? Like you said, whatever they’ve left behind for us. Man, I could eat a whole horse, I swear. I’m starving.”

“...hey, Lake, before we go back?” Kaito said, looking to the guardsman, “Did anything help, in particular, when people were helping you with your thing as a kid? You ended up at the castle, with, like… no legal guardian, right? Or something like that? That seemed to work for you, you’re, like, reasonably well adjusted. So is Waku. Was there anything in particular that felt like it really helped?”

Lake sighed softly, moving her hair over a shoulder. “If I’m honest, it’s kinda hard to remember. Not really in a ‘repressed’ way, but just…For a long time I was scared and aggressive, then…one day I was just me, yanno? Obviously it did happen over time, but it’s hard to see it that way looking back.”

“The folks who weren’t scared of me defo helped,” she nodded. “Big Ik, the queen, Aiichi… Big surprise, not a lotta folks are jumpin’ at the bit to be all parental towards a kid who’d just offed their folks. But those three were never anything but kind to me. And…havin’ a goal helped. I got enamored with guards pretty early. Real life heroes, sign me up!” she chuckled.

“So…folks that basically were my parents, even if we weren’t legally tied, that I could go to any time? Having dreams for the future? Helped a lot, I’d say.”

“Great… weird question,” Kaito said, scratching his neck. “Did any of them ever tell you they adored you? Loved you? If they did, was that a good thing or a bad thing? I can hold back saying stuff like that! He has very specifically told me not to say stuff like that, because Arven is telling him that I’m trying to ruin his life on purpose so that I can swoop in and be his parent!” Kaito said, suddenly speaking quickly.

“So of course he says that and he’s got this uncomfortable look on his face and I’m being creepy and weird and I’m like ‘well I’m not trying to be your dad maybe I’m like an older brother type’ but that didn’t seem to make him feel any better and he was like ‘just stop saying weird stuff like that I’m not your kid’ and I’m like ‘ha ha of course I’m not old enough to be your parent’, but that was a lie, because Lake I am absolutely trying to be his parent, I’m just not trying to ruin his life to do it, his life is already ruined! It came pre-ruined!” Kaito ranted, pushing himself off the wall and pacing back and forth now, “And I don’t want to be his big brother anyway because big brothers are awful, except for Timothy he’s gonna be a great big brother, he better be because I don’t know what I’m going to do if he’s ever mean to Miyako, he’s not gonna be mean to Miyako, right? Byakuya is an outlier, NOT the rule! And it was mostly Tengan’s fault anyway! But either way, I don’t want to be Doppio’s pseudo big brother, I want to be his pseudo dad! And I’m worried if I back up because he doesn’t want it then he’ll never have a father! But you and Waku never had fathers at his age and you’re both fine, and I super had a father at his age and I was sold to live out a shitty sex fantasy, so maybe Doppio doesn’t need me!?”

“But it might not matter because I already told him I wasn’t trying to do that, so!?” Kaito stopped in front of Lake, waving his hands frantically in front of himself, before shrugging. “!?!”

Lake had been about to say…well, that kind of phrasing wasn’t anything any of them, or the other adults in her life, would use, but…yeah! She’d been told she was loved. But as Kaito rambled on…Lake’s eyebrows just raised before she whistled. Shaking her head a little before she pulled Kaito into a hug, saying softly, “Settle down, Big Guy, there, there… Deep breath, man.”

“...you’re really attached, huh?” she laughed softly. “It is somethin’ they warn us an’ the folks over at CPS about, but ol’ civvie Kai-guy didn’t get the disclaimers or seminars. He’s too busy goin’ around savin’ kids.”

“I was gonna make some metaphor, but…I think you already made a good one,” she hummed, rocking the two of them side to side a bit. “Dippin’ Dots is his own person, ‘a course, so I might be off base but…your first instinct, if someone tried to classify you as a big bro, is, ew, I’m so much better than that, why’d you insult me, yeah? That’s the same reason I was happy no one actually adopted me, growin’ up. If anyone came out and started calling themself my parent, I would’ve been pissed and insulted. ‘Cause to me, a parent was a person that hurt and neglected you, and no amount of actual parental-intentions would’a changed how I felt about it in my heart.”

“So…the folks that were my parents, in how parents were supposed to be? Never called themselves that, or tried to insinuate it. They just let me form those connections on my own terms.”

Lake sighed. “...it is somethin’ ya should talk to your husbands about anyway, but…I’m sorry t’ say that ya likely wouldn’t be high-likely for bein’ able to adopt Doppio anyway. Ya got a 10-year-old you adopted last year, a new baby, have a recent violent record… Plus, you’re high profile, for a kid that’s gonna have special needs. And that’s without all the stuff you’ve alluded to on the Luminary side.”

“...but you can still be there for ‘im, and you can still be an important person in his life. Just slow your roll a little, and listen to ‘im.”

Kaito leaned into the hug, forcing the breaths out. He had known all of that was upsetting him, but he hadn’t actually been expecting to rant about it like that. He felt both embarrassed and better.

Still, he groaned a little about the recent violent record– he kept forgetting about that– before straightening up, giving her an exhausted look. “Yeah? Well, that’s assuming he doesn’t hate me once he finds out I told on him to you… ngh. I just gotta remember what that older hot guy said. Keeping him safe is more important than him liking me. Must channel that older hot guy… between me being in Doppio’s life, and Doppio being happy? It’s more important for Doppio to be happy.”

“...Arven’s gonna hate me too. Maybe I can peer pressure some of Arven’s teachers to pick up the slack when it comes to getting him to focus on his school work. He’s a smart kid! He should be able to show that off, we can’t just let him give up on his education!” Kaito shouted… before letting his shoulders slump, “Wow I have a real problem, huh? I should probably talk to Miss Crystal about this.”

“Probably!” Lake chirped. “You’ve just been through some real traumatic stuff with the kids--that’s top tier therapy subjects, for sure. You can get through the ‘being attached to kids’ stuff after that, in my opinion.”

Shrugging a little, she gave him a small smile. “They might hate us, we’ll make sure they’re safe…but that doesn’t mean that we won’t still be around for them, right? Sometimes kids hate ‘ya for being a caring adult, but ya gotta power through all that anyway. Just means that sometimes the person they go to for happier stuff is gonna be someone with less baggage. And…ultimately, I think that might be better for them. They need more folks than just a couple heroes anyway.”

“But one thing at a time,” she reminded. “And right now, that means eatin’ dinner.”

Doppio, still flushed and a little embarrassed, shuffled over and looked at the spread of food in amazement for another moment. Wondering just what he should eat…

He plopped down in front of the low table the food was on with a huff. “...I think I wanna be, like…a full vegetarian now.”

“Cool,” Arven said, looking at the food, before deciding, “Still plenty for you to eat. You mind if I have some of the tofu balls anyway? Just one, I have a soft spot for them, then I’ll eat the rest of the spicy popcorn chicken. Oh!” Arven suddenly looked excited, looking at the plain popcorn chicken. “One hundred percent he’s eating those, right? Hold on, let me get the chile, this might be our only chance.”

As Arven went to open up the pack quickly– he didn’t know Lake and Kaito were going to be awhile, and was racing against time– he said, “So, any particular reason? Or does it just feel like it's time to start?”

Giving Arven a nod, Doppio took up one of the curved plates Lake and Kaito had set out and a pair of chopsticks and started loading up, focusing mostly on the cabbage rolls, but snagging one of the ears of corn, one of the rice balls, and a few yam natto cakes too. Snickering a little at Arven’s prank, he watched the door while he dug in.

“I mean…the only reason I wasn’t was ‘cause of…work. And…” Doppio glanced down for a moment, before remembering his duty and looking up again. “...um. Well…it occurred to me that…I don’t need to follow work rules anymore. I think I might still cook with meat, since other people enjoy it, but…if I’m the one person in charge of my food now? Then…I can be a vegetarian.”

“Ah! Found ‘em!” Arven said, pulling out his jar of dried chiles, before heading back to the food. “Okay, check this out.”

Taking one of the chopsticks, he dipped it into the jellied kelp, before pinching the chile between his fingers and sprinkling it over the jellied chopstick. Then, taking the plain popcorn chicken, he pushed the chopstick into the middle of it, pulled the chopstick out clean, before putting the popcorn ball back down. Arven grinned, snickering a little, “It won’t be a ton of spice, but if anything that means he might get through a few before he starts to feel it.”

Loading up another chopstick, Arven said, “And that’s awesome, Aceto! You don’t have to cook meat for me if you’d rather not, I’m sure whatever you’d cook instead would be just as good. Anything else you could never do before because of work?”

Oh… How loud his stomach grumbled probably should’ve been the biggest tip-off, but as Doppio started eating, he suddenly realized that he was starving. It wasn’t like he and Arven had been skipping or skimping on meals, but…oh man, this suddenly seemed like a perfectly acceptable amount of food.

Glancing over, Doppio snickered against his wrist, finding the method…pretty ingenious, since he really would’ve only thought about sprinkling some of the chiles over the chicken, which might’ve been a bit obvious…ha. Get owned, old man. Embrace the spice.

Smiling a bit at Arven’s encouragement, Doppio paused trying to think of…other things… (and determinedly not thinking of one very big thing) Before his face screwed up in determination, squaring his shoulders a little as he declared, “I-I want to make apple cinnamon bread pudding! A-and honey brick toast!”

“Ooooh, yes! Both sound good, but personally I love honey brick toast,” Arven said, still dutifully and quickly spicing as many of the chicken balls as he could, glancing at the door over and over. How long could grabbing ice take? “Though, why weren’t you able to do that before?”

Doppio turned red, but certainly not from any spice. …Arven liked honey brick toast? It was one of the few recipes that…well, Doppio didn’t actually know the recipe for, but had seen in a cafe and read about in a newspaper, rather than finding it in a cookbook. It was marketed as…as a kinda trendy big dessert for students to stop by a cafe and get after class together.

…he wondered if that was one of the things that Arven did with his old friends. …Doppio wondered if…maybe they could eat one together like that…

Clearing his throat a bit--it made sense, but man those yam cakes were sticky--Doppio shrugged a bit. “I mean…I…guess I could’ve, if I bought ingredients with my own money… Boss always…” Doppio looked down, tracing the pattern in the carpet with his eyes. “...he’s not much of a fan of sweets. Maybe honey in his tea every once in a while, maybe he’d be happy if I made biscotti once or twice but…mostly he said it was a waste of time and funds to make…food that was terrible for me that only I’d eat.”

“Hmm,” Arven hummed, triumphantly spicing the last of the popcorn chicken, before licking the chopstick off and finally starting to fill his own plate with food. “I know you really admire the guy, Aceto, but… your life with the boss sounds sort of miserable. And that’s not even taking into account the physical stuff.”

Chewing on some of the gyoza– mmmmm– Arven gave Doppio a soft, though not quite pitying, look, as he swallowed before asking, “Why did you put up with it for so long? I mean, you said it yourself: you were in a professional relationship. Isn’t there a level of misery that would have made the job not worth it? Eventually?”

Doppio sighed, curling around his plate a little. “...it wasn’t miserable to me,” he said softly. “I loved it… S…sure, I didn’t have…much of a reason to make desserts, but I could try out cooking just about everything else I’d ever heard about. And he was always happy to eat what I made… I like cleaning too, and…”

A slow look of miserable agony crossed over Doppio’s face. “...I was so happy… Right…right before he… Before…” Doppio swallowed. “...before the pipe. He… He said he was proud of me. Th-that I was exceptional. And…and I was gonna… He had a plan, a-and I hadn’t seen him that happy in so long and…I was gonna make it happen…”

Setting his plate down, Doppio leaned against the end of the bed and pulled his knees up to his chest, curling into himself more. “...I was happy. It wasn’t bad.”

Setting his plate down, Arven went to go sit next to Doppio, putting his arm around him at first in a half-hug… and then deciding, well, in for a copper, in for a gold, before pulling Doppio into a full hug.

“...I can’t say I really understand,” Arven admitted, “I’d hate being in that position. I don’t do well with authority. Makes my skin itch.”

“But…” Arven hesitated… before huffing, “Sorry, no. I really can’t think of anything nice about your job. But. You, I can think a ton of nice things about. You are exceptional, you can cook, which is the obvious one, but also you’re really tough, which is really impressive to me, and you’re smart, and brave, and–”

Really good at catching frogs!!

“Ya know what, good contribution, Amaina! A+ frog catcher!” Arven laughed, watching as Amaina rode a frog across the floor, “And what was so good about his plan? Like, really, to you? What was he actually going to accomplish that was worth you putting up with all of that?”

(...he was really glad he took that shower.)

Doppio scrunched his eyes closed, embarrassed but…pleased and flattered and warm, hearing Arven say such nice things about him. Things that…he said pretty often, actually. And never with caveats, or catches, or…dual-sides or…

…he could list a bunch of things about the plan. Admittedly, a lot of things that Kaito had told him, about what having a rail system would mean for the world, and specifically what making one in Luminary could do, but…

…at the end of it, Doppio didn’t really care about all that stuff, when it had come to Boss’s plan. What made Doppio so excited and dedicated was…

“...it was going to make him happy,” Doppio said softly. “I’d do anything… I’d make the impossible possible at Boss’s word, just…because I knew that he was happy when his plans came through. I was supposed to help him…”

Arven frowned a little, resting his head a little against Doppio’s, before giving him a little distance. Pulling back to give Doppio a concerned look, as he asked, “...did you love him?”

Doppio shrank into himself, his mouth a wobbly line. …it was so unprofessional. Every impulse and feeling that he’d tried to bury.

…but he wasn’t working anymore. So…could anything be unprofessional?

Grimacing, Doppio flushed brightly with shame. “...I almost…accidentally called him my dad in front of Kaito, once…” Gripping the sleeves of his shirt tightly, he shook his head a little. “...the…the earliest memories I’ve ever been able to find… They’re all with him. He was my entire world…how could I not love him?”

“That makes sense,” Arven agreed, keeping an arm around his shoulder. “...can I tell you a secret?”

Glancing at the door, seeing the adults were apparently still really struggling with that ice machine, he looked back to Doppio before admitting quietly, “I still love my mom… kinda. And she’s been in my life way less than your boss has been in yours. I don’t know if that feeling ever goes away. Not really.”

“But the way I reason it?” Arven mused, “Just because I love someone, doesn’t mean I like them. And I really don’t like my mom. A part of me still wishes she’ll just… show up one day and tell me she’s proud of me and be impressed by how well I’m doing… but a huge part of that daydream’s being able to tell her how it’s too late and I don’t care, and it’s almost kinda true too.”

“I guess what I’m saying is even if it feels wrong, maybe there’s not way to stop you from loving the guy who raised you,” Arven said, “But, like… he was a total dickwad to you, and if you focus on that, you might not like him anymore. And if that feels unnatural, you can just copy how I do it. I had to fake being too good for my mom for a long time before I started to feel it. Now I can say it and even mean it! Fuck my mom.”

Doppio peeked over, giving Arven a small, curious nod…before his eyes widened a little. He could tell that Arven wasn’t…totally over his mom. But still loving her? And…loving, but not liking. And…

“Fuck your mom,” Doppio nodded firmly, before sighing. “...but I dunno… Y-you guys keep saying it, but…Boss was never mean to me. There’s…” A complicated expression wobbled over Doppio’s face before he squinted, “...there’s…maybe some stuff I didn’t…like so much, but…mostly? Things were good. And…I know I can’t just go back now, but…”

Shaking his head, Doppio sighed before turning a little, aiming to give Arven a hug in return for his comfort…if only Lake hadn’t chosen that moment to slam the door open, startling him. And, er…making him jump enough to sorta…end up straddling Arven’s lap, face slamming into the bedside behind them as their chests bumped together.

“Eeeep!” Arven squeaked, his face turning bright red as, inexplicably?? He put his hands up like he was surrendering, afraid to??? Touch anything inappropriate??? Wow, Doppio was warm on his lap…

“We’re back! With ice this time!” Kaito said cheerfully– he and Lake had almost walked back in at one point without realizing they never actually got the ice– before peeking over Lake’s shoulder, “.... : D!!! Awwwwwww!!”

“What?? What ‘aw’?? Nothing awww!” Arven shouted.

My ship is saaaaiiilliiiiiiing!!! Amaina squealed.

“That’s so cute,” Kaito grinned… before saying determinedly, “Arven! You and I need to talk about stuff!!”

(...oh no this was almost as comfortable as Arven spooning him)

(but also)

“Aw fuck…”

Doppio rolled off of Arven’s lap, rubbing his scarlet face, before he looked up and pointed at Kaito, glaring, though that didn’t detract from the incredibly flustered expression he was sporting otherwise. “I fell over, vecchio di merda! Don’t get any dumbfuck ideas and harrass people!” (Shitty old man)

Stiffly getting up, he took back his plate, starting to eat again with an embarrassed grumble, “Ti manciu l’anma, don’t you dare, asshole…” (You’re dead meat)

“Wait, what are we talking about?” Arven asked, looking both bewildered and deeply suspicious.

“Hernias, mostly,” Kaito mused, scratching the inside of his ear, “And also communication. Which helps avoid hernias… and upset stomachs… and hurt feelings… accidentally creating crippling insecurity issues that affects a person for the rest of their lives… oh fuck there’s so much to talk about. Maybe you and I should go for a walk??”

Arven gave Kaito a wary look, scooting closer to Doppio.

Lake watched all this, amused, as she placed the ice on the table and started loading up a plate for herself, happy that the boys had been too caught up with their own stuff to demolish everything already. Though, she could only snort and shake her head. “Alright, alright, c’mon, Kai-guy… How ‘bout this?”

Already a gyoza dumpling down, Lake swallowed and pointed a chopstick at Arven. “Ven-Ven, what health class are you taking this year?”

Doppio sent the guard a bewildered look and pulled Arven in more as well.

Arven’s look of suspicion deepened. “...I have to take two this year. Mental Health 101? And STI’s… why?”

“Oh! STI’s is a good one! Actually, we’ve got you both here, so maybe we can just clear some things up now: are either of you experiencing, one,” Kaito put up a finger, “Discoloration? Warts? Anything that stings? It’s alright if you do! It’s better to acknowledge it and get it treated then ignore it and spread it!”

“Oh my god is he trying to give us the sex talk?” Arven realized with growing horror, before looking to Lake, “You’re a guardsman! Stop him! Arrest him! This has to be illegal!”

“Shoooooosh,” Lake shushed Kaito, picking up one of the steak strips and shoving it in Kaito’s mouth. “We just talked about this, slow your roll, Papa Bear. One step at a time.”

Doppio let out an agonized groan, covering his face. “Need fucking…bleach for ears…”

Laughing at the boys’ scandal, Lake continued eating before she gave them an amused look. “I think we can leave the medical stuff to your conversations with your healers, but,” she gave them a smug, yet pitying look, “There is a good point Kaito has. I can’t condone it, legally, but I’m not gonna pretend kids your age aren’t gettin’ more physical with their affections. And as embarrassing as these conversations can be, it’s better to ask questions an’ go through that than end up accidentally hurtin’ yourselves later.”

“So I’ll ask this--” She pointed at them again. “Do you have someone you’d be comfortable talking about sexuality with?”

Doppio burned crimson. “Never having sex in my life shut up.”

Arven gave Doppio a startled look. “You’re not?”

Kaito chewed on his steak strip, gaze glancing from Doppio to Arven to Doppio, fascinated. Idly reaching for the food and grabbing more pieces at random. Oh, fuck, he was hungry.

Shooting Doppio another uncertain look, Arven tapped his fingers together, the tip of his ears turning bright red as he said, “...’ dunno? What else is there to ask? I already go to all the classes… well, except last year.”

Kaito’s eyebrows raised. “What was last year's health class?”

“I don’t know?” Arven shrugged, “I missed it.”

Doppio made a garbled, choking sound, peeking a scandalized, but…also nervous and flustered eye over at Arven. “...w-well…I don’t know… Not gonna talk to these two about it.”

“And that’s fair!” Lake laughed, before she gave Arven a kind look. “So’s that, honestly. Sometimes shit just doesn’t occur to you until later, and that’s alright. I’m just pushy and wanna make sure that if you do have questions, you have someone to ask, okay? Like…your guidance counselor, or a doctor, or a neighbor you trust?”

Huffing softly, Doppio looked away and returned to his food. “...you know I don’t.”

“Mmhm, mhm,” Kaito nodded, reaching out to grab another random piece of food, “Well, you do, ya just gotta utilize me! Or, well, if not me, I could hook you up with someone. Still think you’d learn a lot from my husband. Either of them, really, but definitely the small one.”

“Does Prince Kokichi know you call him ‘the small one’?” Arven asked dryly.

“It has noooooot come up yet~” Kaito grinned brightly. “But seriously! Between Lake and I, we can recommend a ton of helpful people! Seiko for the hygiene questions, oh, oh! I know a great relationship therapist for communication stuff! Um…” Kaito popped another random piece of food in his mouth, talking in between bites, “...honestly, I am still arguably your best source for things to avoid. Quick, easy tip? If you’re going to a weird party, bring two friends. That way if one ditches you? You’re not completely screwed.”

“What does that mean??”

“Literally what I said,” Kaito mused, brow furrowing a little… his tongue felt funny.

“Why are we talking about this at all?” Arven finally asked, giving them both exasperated looks, “W-what? Like Aceto and I are gonna sneak out and hit on people? Is that why Kaito’s been so weird about ‘not falling asleep’? We didn’t run away to party.”

“Yeah, there’s no way you’re that blind,” Kaito said, rolling his eyes, even as he loosened his collar. It was hot in this room, what the heck. “I know that move. Playing stupid isn’t gonna get you out of… out of… ow, ow, ow what the fuck?!” Kaito shouted, eyes widening as he started to wave his hand in front of his mouth, drooling as he scurried up, heading to the bathroom. “God what did I eat!? It’s like swallowing acid! Lake, the food’s been poisoned!” Kaito shouted from the bathroom, quickly turning on the sink and–

SNAP!

“Oh come on!! What are these made of, paper!?”

Doppio just glowered at Kaito. He was not asking anyone about…about sex, o-or relationships, and especially not Kaito or his scary husbands! (...Arven had asked about other stuff he hadn’t been able to do because of work…and…) (...did…he want a relationship? What did that even mean? What did it look like?) (Was it…disgust and disinterest?)

(...or holding hands in a field, promising to look after each other?)

“Oh shit,” Lake muttered, giving the boys a firm look before she popped up to dig through the first aid bag. “Stop eating, tell me as soon as you can if something feels weird.”

Pulling out Maki’s Test Kit, Lake joined Kaito in the bathroom and…

Doppio raised an eyebrow, glancing at Arven. “...I thought you said they weren’t that spicy?”

“They’re not, he’s just being a baby,” Arven said, raising an eyebrow as Kaito started to retch. “Wanna wait outside with me until they realize it’s just spicy?”

Doppio looked down. “...I’m bringing food with me.”

“Good call,” Arven said, grabbing some of the plates and hurrying outside with Doppio.

Closing the door behind them, Arven huffed as he sat down in front of the wall, beneath the window, eating some of the tofu balls. “What a couple of weirdos… Why has everyone just decided we’re dating? It’s so out of nowhere.”

Huffing, Doppio nodded. “Like…I wasn’t even allowed to date until…yesterday. I think Kaito might just have a romance-rotted brain but… Eugh. His “advice” isn’t even helpful, he just says a bunch of nonsense about like…random scenarios he’s made up. It’s just awkward and confusing and…”

His cheeks burned. “...non-applicable. Since we’re not dating.”

“Yeah, exactly. Exactly!” Arven said, popping another spicy popcorn chicken in, “... you haven’t been able to date since yesterday? Wait…”

Arven gave Doppio a concerned look. “...were you not allowed to date?”

Doppio shrugged a little, looking to the side. “I never wanted to, so it never came up… Until that night, um, you loaned me your clothes? Boss went on a few tangents ‘n stuff, and he ended up on dating and…well, he said that ‘love wasn’t for me’. And I was like, finally, someone who gets it.”

“...so I assume, from that, that I wasn’t allowed to.”

“Oh,” Arven said, “Okay.”

They sat in silence for a moment. On the other side of the wall, there was a crashing sound. Arven guessed they were searching through the food.

“...like…” Arven said, “So, never? No interest in dating?”

“...I’m… I don’t know,” Doppio said softly, tapping on the edges of his plate. “Until you and…at this point I don’t really want to count Kaito, since I’m mad at him… I’ve never…really had anyone else in my life.”

“...like…what does it even mean, to date someone?” he asked, chewing on his lip. “Or…to like someone that way? I’ve never kissed anyone, how am I supposed to know about anything more, or if I even want it?”

“Oh, um.” Arven scratched his chest, thinking about what Lake said. That felt a little too embarrassing to repeat though. Cause, like… if ‘liking’ someone was… thinking about them a lot and… caring about them… and wanting to spend a ton of time with them…

It’d sound an awful lot like Arven liked Doppio.

Though, with what Doppio brought up? Arven looked at his knees, sweating slightly. Maybe the food really was spicy. “...would, uh… would kissing someone, like, help? I mean… you’ve never had the opportunity before. It’d be a shame if you…” Arven scratched his chin, “...never knew?”

O.O

O . O

O//////O

Lighting up again, Doppio stared at the opposite wall of the hall. Feeling those, apparently, ‘friendly handshake’ feelings in his stomach again, along with his heart speeding up. Biting his lip and…suddenly very aware of how much he’d torn it up today. Probably…very unpleasant to kiss…

“...maybe,” he said softly. “I mean…if…everyone agreed to it, then…I don’t think it’d…be something I’d regret. Cause it’s…important to figure out stuff like that. Um…”

Don’t look at Arven you’re going to stare at him don’t be creepy!

“...what about you? You…said you were waiting for the right person, right? Someone who’s a big deal?”

“Well… yeah?” Arven squeaked, before clearing his throat desperately, his face turning bright red, “I-I mean, yeah, I want it to be a big deal, b-but, I mean…”

Arven continued to glare at the ground, still holding his plate in his lap, no idea what to do with it now… or his hands… or his body… “...it wouldn’t not be a big deal. With you?”

“U-unless you didn’t want it to be a big deal!” Arven suddenly said quickly, giving Doppio a nervous look. “Or to do it with me because I’m not, ya know, I’m not assuming anything! We could totally sneak out a-and find that kind of party neither of us go to and find s-some… someone? You’d… rather? Try it on?”

O//////O

…so he was…potentially a big deal? And Arven would want to…

…he hadn’t brushed his teeth, a-and he was starting to sweat again, and his lips were all bitten, and he was sitting in a hotel hallway in cutesy pajamas and…and Doppio was a mess of a person, really, and…hoo, wow, those flutters were really going at it!

“I-I’d…rather with you, than anyone,” Doppio murmured, swallowing hard. Forcing himself to look up at Arven and…

It wasn’t fair, how pretty he was.

Scooting a little closer, Doppio flushed more and fidgeted, glancing around. “...um…if you’re…sure?”

Arven’s eyes turned into saucers, incredibly alarmed as Doppio scooted closer… before leaning closer to him. Still staring at the floor, his heart thumping in his chest. Was he sure?? Was he actually doing this??? Don’t make the squeaky noise, don’t make the squeaky noise!

“I-I mean?” Arven squeaked– darnit!!-- before clearing his throat again, “If… if you’re sure? Then, uh, then…”

Arven glanced up, glanced down… awkwardly putting down the plate beside himself. He wasn’t sure if he’d need his hands, but it felt like he should be prepared. Just in case.

Arven finally brought himself to look at Doppio. He had… really pretty eyes… “...u-um… I, uh… I don’t know if I’m a good kisser,” Arven confessed to him quietly. Heart pounding.

Doppio froze at the alarmed look on Arven’s face, the expression mirrored on his own for a moment before Arven moved. …he didn’t…want to put Arven on the spot, if he was just…being a good friend! Because he was! And wanting to help Doppio figure it out, but…but if he…didn’t care either way? And was just making sure? Um…

…Arven’s lips weren’t bitten at all. They looked…nice. They said nice things all the time, so it seemed natural that they’d look nice too. …soft. Fuller on the bottom, seemed like they’d be nice to…

Doppio leaned in a little, but just…stayed there. Staring at Arven. “...then…this would be a…a-a way for you to find out something too…right? Just…something to help each other. Like we promised.”

Arven smiled. “...y-yeah. Like we promised.”

Arven stared. His mind buzzing a little.

Just do it Just do it Just do it Just do it– Aceto is really pretty. Aceto smells good. Aceto’s cool.

(Aceto totally likes you, dude.)

Arven leaned forward and kissed him.

It was quick, but it didn’t feel it. Arven was shocked by the warmth of him. The immediate, strange feeling of strange breath touching his mouth from the opposite end. Arven would have thought he would taste like what Doppio had just eaten, but he didn’t. Arven had no idea what that smell was. That taste. It was so… human. Arven couldn’t place it.

He liked it. And he gasped, immediately backing up from the peck and giving Doppio an alarmed, uncertain look. The question in his face. “?”

Doppio, for a fleeting moment, felt a rush of fear go through him. Just a desperate thought of, no, please, I don’t want to blink and miss this!

But there was no blink of time or peeling feelings, desperate, tight, glass-like things.

Instead, there was just…a press of soft warmth against his lips. Something so…present, for how soft it was, that smell of woodsy sage and something…Arven filling Doppio’s head more than any sort of potpourri. That warmth and closeness…

@~@

Doppio looked a bit dazed, to be honest, his cheeks a rosy pink as, unconsciously, he wetted his lips a little.

“...you are a good kisser.”

Arven gave Doppio a baffled look… before grinning wide. “Yeah?”

…and feeling bold, Arven leaned in and kissed him again.

HA HA HA HA HA HA °˖ ✧◝(○ ヮ ○)◜✧˖ ° HA HA HA HA HA HA

THE SHIP HAS SAILED

And Arven jolted, a sudden exploding noise… but it was distant, and when he looked up from the kiss, they weren’t sitting in the hall. He and Doppio were sitting on a field, on a cool summer night, and fireworks were going off above them. Bright, loud bursts of color and spectacle, each one followed by the whistle of another one going up as the wind blew gently through their hair. The air fresh and floral with distant smoke.

“Wow…” Arven whispered, caught up in the view. Absentmindedly reaching out to grab Doppio’s hand.

…Doppio couldn’t even think of any other comparison, because right then…

He wasn’t sure if he’d ever been happier. As Arven kissed him again, Doppio leaned in more, a hand raising…

Before he jumped, blush ramping up and an embarrassed reprimand on his lips for the familiar, musical laugh, but…

“Oh…” Doppio’s eyes were wide as he took in the dream Amaina made for them, bright lights twinkling across the sky, the light wind feeling nice against his flushed skin…but neither were much of an influence towards his decision to gently lace his fingers with Arven’s. Watching the view in its full glory, before everything led back to Arven.

His eye twinkling against the fireworks, hair ruffling in the wind and giving Doppio occasional glimpses of his full face. And Doppio couldn’t resist leaning in once more, whispering, “bello,” against Arven’s lips.

Arven smiled into the kiss, leaning in to meet it. The pacing of his heart matching the eruption of fireworks. Doppio was a very good kisser… and the second Arven was ready to take a breath? He’d tell him so.

Any minute.

How was it that kissing felt like…this? How were people not constantly kissing all the time, if this was something available? How could anyone find it within themselves to

(be bored, disgusted, find only dirt beneath their hands and hate it)

Do anything but hold a callused hand in theirs and press against warm, soft lips? It almost felt like some of the fireworks were under his skin, for how pleasant sparks danced along his bones and heated his belly and--

“Aw crud, BOYS?! ARVEN? DO--oh!”

Lake looked on, a surprised, delighted look on her face as she closed the door more behind her, calling back, “They’re okay, just sitting out here! …drink more water!”

Doppio jumped almost a foot, which was very impressive from a sitting, leaning position.

“H-honestly, what is with those two?” Arven stammered, touching the tips of his fingers to his bottom lip, almost like he could hold the feeling of what Doppio’s lips had felt like against them. “Can’t they mind their own business?”

The hill had, mostly, disappeared when Lake had startled them. It was odd. They were sitting in the hallway, able to see their immediate surroundings, and the silhouettes of the rest of the hallway farther, but it was like being surrounded by a panoramic art display. The green hillsides, the fireworks, the flowers all in the distance. One step in their reality, one step in Amaina’s dream.

Arven sat next to Doppio, uncertain what to do now. Lake’s interruption forcing him to stop and think about what they were doing. Were they… making out?

…okay, yes, they had been making out. But, uh… uh… what did that… mean?

Arven felt nervous. More nervous than he had in the middle of the kiss, which had been fun. Fun and exciting and warm and filling his stomach with an ever tightening electric feeling. And now that pleasurable warmth was twisting into anxious nerves, so tight that Arven wrapped his arms around his stomach, glancing at Doppio before staring at his knees.

Doppio had said he was a good kisser.

Had Doppio liked it?

Was he still never going to date?

…Did Arven… want to…?

Arven wanted to ask him what they were doing. How Doppio felt. What all this meant… but when he opened his mouth, he stammered out, “You smell really good.”

With a little sigh, pressing his hand to his chest, Doppio calmed down from the incredibly sudden and unfair jumpscare. Just breathing for a moment before he shook his head with a small scoff, observing the dual-layered reality around them with pink cheeks. Considering Lake hadn’t immediately shouted about them…about what they were doing (which was kissing, they were kissing, Arven had kissed him and Doppio kissed back), Doppio…kind of wanted to say she was minding her own business, but…

“Kaito said something about it to me,” he grumbled, glancing between delicate flowers growing out of a weaved hall runner, “Don’t…really remember it, but…think he said they were both messed up or something. Not gonna argue that…”

…he kind of wanted to kiss Arven again. But with the interruption…something about the moment felt…off-kilter. Awkward. Like Doppio would look back at Arven and receive that sort of broad, sheepish grin that Arven gave him when he didn’t believe him, but wanted to give Doppio the benefit of the doubt.

…like he’d ask what Doppio thought of the experiment and just…be done with that.

…but…he’d kissed him twice. And kissed back when Doppio did it, so… And…how did Doppio feel about the experiment? …well, he liked it. A lot. Being so close to someone, and that someone specifically being Arven, and feeling like…

Doppio swallowed and shifted, his knees up as he leaned against the wall. Suddenly more aware of how…lightweight the fabric of his pajama bottoms were. And…

Doppio looked back over at Arven, blinking in surprise before, more surprising to himself, he flushed deeper and let out a flustered chuckle. “Th-thanks? Um…it’s just the…hotel soap. Probably, uh…good quality stuff. Um…” Biting his lip, and feeling a squirm in his stomach at the thought that Arven’s lips had just been there a moment ago, Doppio looked away, flushing more. “...you smell nice too. Like…always. Like…sage and walking through a forest.”

“I do??” Arven said, giving Doppio a genuinely bewildered look… before grabbing the collar of his button up and bringing it up to his nose, sniffing it, before giving his shirt an equally bewildered look. Putting his hand back down, Arven stared at his legs, his face feeling hot, almost painfully so, as he tried, “You smell like… uh… you smell like… not just the soap. I mean, the soap too, but there’s another smell. It’s like…”

Arven tried to think of it. “...you ever smell someone who’s been out in the sun for a while? Not sweat, but like, that… that hot skin??” Arven’s voice went a little high, realizing as he heard himself that maybe that wasn’t as, uh, flattering as ‘walking through a forest’ as he continued, “Smell? When the sun’s baked your skin?”

“...that,” Arven ended limply. “You smell like that. It’s nice.”

Amaina rolled her eyes. Smooooooth, baby senpai. Smooth.

Doppio didn’t see the first look, but Arven sniffing his collar was attention-getting enough that he had to send a baffled look back. Why was Arven confused?! Did he not notice? Then…did that mean that it wasn’t soap or…something? Did Arven just smell like that naturally?!? What the hell!

…certainly more impressive and more pleasing than… Doppio just gave Arven a sort of blank, confused look before blushing and looking away again. “Oh, uh… I’m…glad you, er… I’m glad it’s nice to you? We kinda were out for most of the day, so…I guess that makes…sense?” …though he was pretty covered up, and while it had been a nice day…it was still the middle of fall and not really…baking weather.

Well, except for, like, actual cooking, baking, which…Doppio could do now! Which would be nice!

Uh…

Doppio licked his lips again before fitting the bottom one between his teeth, its natural, anxious spot, shifting a little on the ground trying to look natural and not…uh…

He stared blankly for a long few moments before blurting. “You weren’t just doing that to be a good friend, right?!”

Was there a right answer to that!??

Did Doppio want him to say yes so that he didn’t have to deal with the awkwardness?? Or did Doppio want him to say no to… to…??

“...no?” Arven said, though alarm bells went off in his head because no???? Was it no?? If he hadn’t just done it to be a good friend then why had he– “You are COVERED in freckles!”

Arven stared at the middle distance– Amaina had let the illusion fall away completely, leaving them in the hall– opening up his hands, closing them tightly, opening them up, closing them tightly, “Like, they’re everywhere?? Like sometimes I just find myself staring at them, like, making little lines in my head, connecting them together, like little, uh, you know that game?? Connect the dots??? Only you would have so many tiny little lines because your face is covered in freckles, like, everywhere, and I just really like looking at them and sometimes I feel really weird at how much I just find myself staring at them!”

No?

Doppio let out a little sound that might’ve been a sigh of relief--and was, actually--though he didn’t look even the slightest bit more relaxed after hearing Arven’s answer. So…so! So, Arven was a good friend, but that wasn’t the only reason he’d…they’d…they’d agreed to kiss each other. To…try out their first kiss (kisses) with each other to…

…w-what was the other reason then?!?!?

Was--

Doppio’s gaze snapped back to Arven, staring at him bewildered and more flustered by the word. He slowly brought up a self-conscious hand to uselessly half-hide his face (...that Arven liked looking at?), which was even more useless since…it wasn’t just his face that was covered with freckles. Nodding slowly to confirm that he knew the game Arven was talking about, well…he really did know that game, since in still, boring moments, and, well, Doppio usually had a pen on him, so… Apparently he could get real close to a near straight line perfectly around his waist just above his belly button.

(...would…Arven be interested ever seeing it? Since…he liked to…)

“I have to constantly yell at myself to stop staring at you and not be creepy because I think you’re really beautiful and I’d just stare…constantly?” Doppio said quickly, very purposefully not looking at Arven as he said that, though who knew how long that would last, with everything Arven had been saying. “I-I’ve never seen a shade of blue like your eyes are? O-or green, teal…um. They’re really lovely.”

He could feel his heart pounding fiercely in his chest.

“...can I still sleep with you tonight?”

Arven ran his hands nervously over his bangs, repositioning them over his burn nervously as Doppio complimented his eye?? Well, he supposed just depending on the lighting his eye was more green or more blue…

Wasn’t it too soon for that!?!!?

Arven turned bright red, making a small, high, ‘eeeeeeeep’ sound, his mouth tightly closed, his eye practically bulging out of his skull, before his brain clued him in that Doppio meant literally sleeping next to each other. Not, uh… not anything else! Which they weren’t ready for! It was too soon! Arven wasn’t even sure how?? Like, how??

Ahhhhhhh???

“Ha ha ha, only if I get to kiss you again!” Arven grinned crookedly, before his eyebrows shot straight up, hearing himself– he had been trying to make a joke, but he was still thinking about the ‘other stuff’ and it had colored the joke into a weird direction– before correcting urgently, “Not really, I’m just kidding, you can totally sleep with me for free, you don’t need to kiss me to get to sleep with me, but I won’t say no to it ha ha ha!!”

Someone shut him up!! Ahhhhhhh!!!

Amaina munched on popcorn. What a show.

At the sound Arven made, Doppio…

…

Lit up fiercely, making a garbled, choking noise and aimlessly waved his hands a little, desperately trying to correct himself, if only his words would stop having an overzealous yet amateur jousting contest in his mouth. And that was even before Arven’s…

Joke? Conditions? JOKE?

Feeling too aware of his body and his clothes, Doppio fidgeted against the wall, before taking a tiny, desperate gasp that sounded far too loud in his ears. And probably in the hall at large. “I…”

His voice dying, Doppio cleared it before trying again, though it still came out soft. “...I’d like to? S-sometime? Again. With you…if you…wanted to too? It was…” what are you doing what are you doing let go of your shirt “Nice. And…um…”

“Oh, good! Good! We’re on the same page then! That’s good! Glad we got that cleared up!” Arven said, wrapping his arms around his stomach, staring at the opposite wall. “Good!”

… OoO how soon is sometime?

Arven gave the little fake angel a bewildered look. She stared back at them.

…O.o Like is sometime soon oooooooor??

Arven glared at her, his heart pounding in his chest… before he glanced nervously at Doppio. “...um.” Arven said, “...I think I’m going to kiss you again. Okay?”

Same page? …then that was good! Then that meant that…Arven wanted to kiss him again too. And…it wasn’t just because they were friends, which just meant that he wanted to kiss him because he wanted to kiss him and that was…good!

Doppio glanced at Amaina, something surprised in his expression, like he had forgotten she was there. He…didn’t really just want to follow the whims of un angelo, but… (she did have fun ideas)

Glancing once at the door to their inn room, Doppio gave Arven a small nod, leaning closer to him again. “Okay.”

Arven couldn’t help it. A little wobbly grin spread across his face, a little genuinely surprised at how excited he was as Doppio nodded. “Yeah?” he asked, leaning close back. “...okay.”

Behind the door, Kaito kept leaning against the door to listen, pulling back, pacing the room, leaning against the door to listen, before pacing again, muttering to himself… before he turned to Lake and whispered furiously, “I should break it up! I know Arven’s type, he’s gonna push it too far! Doppio’s not ready for stuff like that! He’s gonna get a complex!!”

Don’t let the exclamation marks fool you. He was whispering this. Glancing at the door, then Lake, then the door, gritting his teeth, before whispering furiously, “We gotta keep them on separate beds. Separate rooms!”

On one hand, Lake wanted to give the teens their privacy, let them figure this thing out between themselves without an audience.

On the other, Doppio was a potential assassination target, and likely so was Arven by proxy, so Lake wasn’t going to let their privacy (in a moderately public space like a hallway) be total privacy.

Also, she was nosy and they were very sweet.

“Have you been listening to them at all?” Lake rolled her eyes, letting herself lean away from the door a little as things went quiet again. “Ven-Ven just asked permission to kiss, which is very cool, and he sounded like he’d handle a pit of snakes better than Doppio asking if they could sleep together again. I doubt either of them even know anything to push to.”

Sighing softly, she gave Kaito a stern look as she whispered back. “Also, we’re keeping watch over both of them tonight, so one room. And you an’ Doppio just had a near-death experience! I’m not gonna separate them from the person they find the most comfort in, after something like that.”

Leveling a more amused look at the prince, Lake smirked. “They were just barely pecking each other too, from what I saw. It’ll be fine, ya prude.”

“Who’s a prude!? I’m not a prude! There is no one more sex-positive than I am!” Kaito whisper-shouted, coming back to the door to listen at it again– there were now little giggles. The boys likely laughing in between pecks of kisses now, a little flustered and overwhelmed with each other– before pulling himself away from the door and pacing the room again. “...but I bet you Arven has a high libido! I can tell, the hound dogs can smell each other,” Kaito growled, gripping his hands into fists as he paced, “If either of them is gonna end up pushing it too far, too fast, it’s gonna be him, and I don’t want Doppio getting hurt from it! He’s so thin, and I’m not entirely convinced he even knows what sex is. I should have been more explicit, why did I get so bashful, now he doesn’t know what he’s up against… I should talk to Arven. It’s important to be patient! Has anyone ever told him it’s important to be patient!?”

Kaito stopped, brow furrowed, before clapping his hand together, looking determined. “Pamphlets. I should make a pamphlet. What to do, and more important, what not to do.”

That did pull Lake’s attention from the door more. For a moment, she just looked at Kaito, before sighing, running a rough hand through her hair before she stood up fully, meeting Kaito at his paces and holding his shoulders. “Okay, dude? I know you know it’s bullshit that anyone can tell anything sexually about a person through sight. Unless it’s those handkerchief code things. But it’s very uncool to speculate about a 15-year-old’s sex drive.”

Fixing him with a serious look, Lake spoke bluntly. “...don’t project. Yourself onto Arven, or Kokichi onto Doppio. They’re different people.” And then she let him go, letting her more usual, casual tone return. “Neither of them really did answer if they had someone to talk to about all this… Geez.”

Crossing her arms, Lake closed her eyes as she started pacing, though slower than Kaito’s had been, more thoughtful than agitated. Lake…still didn’t know exactly what was up with Arven’s mom, but…well. Okay. For this purpose…two kids without responsible guardians in their lives, just getting into, most likely, their first relationship. They both seemed rather shy…but Lake knew that that didn’t mean they wouldn’t try anything out together. Really, it would probably mean neither of them would be brave enough to ask someone else for help when they were unsure.

And that was where an adult should step in.

“...you up for talking to them tomorrow?” Lake peeked her good eye open. “We’ll have enough time. And…I think we’ve all been through enough today. Gives us time to think of what to say too.”

Kaito wilted a little, his shoulders slumping as he nodded. Yeah, he knew what he was doing… but gah! The kids could end up hurting each other, and if they did, that shit was going to stain their lives forever, and he wasn’t just being mean to Arven, he was trying to help him, making a misstep like that was a hard thing to live with–

Projecting. He was projecting. Calm down, Kaito.

Fuck, he was tired.

Sighing, Kaito rubbed the back of his neck, chewing on the inside of his cheek… before he nodded. “Look, I’m gonna try to be less crazy tomorrow, okay? I’m all, like, wired today. Shit, at least I’m getting all these nerves out now, while they’re not right in front of me…”

Kaito gave Lake a wary look. Calling Kaito projecting Kokichi onto Doppio was not… not inaccurate. He knew what he was doing… but how could he not? A lonely, isolated kid with an obsession with his job and a self-destructive tendency who was stepping into the world of romance for the first time with no knowledge and no backup… this early stage was important! It was gonna shape Doppio’s romantic and sexual life for the rest of his life! And Arven! Arven…

Well, Arven was in the exact same boat, really. Probably. Lake was right. Kaito had to stop projecting himself onto Arven. Arven was just a kid, and he wasn’t the same kind of kid Kaito had been.

“Alright! I will calm the fuck down by the time we talk to them tomorrow, and we’ll give them a good, healthy talk that won’t be freaky or weird and will at the very least let them know that we’re there for them and they’re not totally adrift!”

“...man, are they still kissing out there?” Kaito asked, giving the door a curious look. “Awwww… they really do like each other.”

Giving Kaito another long look, Lake turned out of her pace path and looped an arm around Kaito’s shoulders. Hugging him tight for a long moment. “You’re not crazy, man. Yeah, we have a responsibility to be the adults around these two little dorks, but…that doesn’t mean that nothing affects us, yeah? It doesn’t mean today hasn’t been hard, and that hard days don’t take a toll.”

Letting him go, Lake gave him a concerned look. “...really, I’ve been tryin’ not to freak the kids out more, but…you sure you’re okay? I didn’t just barely pass first aid or nothin’, but I know I’m no doc and…you took the brunt of the fall. I know you said you were good when we got to town but…I can still go track down a healer, it’s not too late.”

Glancing at the door, Lake snorted. “...I could at least get ya more ice for the sorer parts. And as much as I’d like ‘em to have their fun…we should probably corral the boys in. It’s been a long day.”

Sorer parts?

Oh, right! The fall! Well, not that Kaito had forgotten. It was also just a reminder of why he felt so strung out. He had fallen and, even if magically aided, rapidly healed. And he still hadn’t eaten! And had thrown up a lot! He was tired.

But he wasn’t gonna sleep that night. Even if he had wanted to, he wouldn’t be able to do it. He was too nervous, really. Nervous about getting the boys home, nervous about what ‘home’ was actually going to be, nervous about dealing with their abusers. He’d never be able to sleep like this. It’d be nothing but nightmares and midnight pacing.

“I am pretty sore,” Kaito mostly lied– his muscles were a little stiff, but otherwise he was okay– as he spun his shoulders a little, “But I’ll be okay, when I get home tomorrow I’ll put on some bruising cream. And the bruises can hold just fine for a day, I’ll be fine. Thanks though.”

“And I’ll be the bad guy and tell the boys it’s time to stop making out.” Kaito snorted, heading to the door, “I’ve got this!”

Opening the door, Kaito peeked his head out. “Ey! No more shenanigans! Think you guys can just poison me and then make out into the sunset!? Get back in here, you’re getting ready for bed!”

Lake gave Kaito one more worried look, but…well! If he said he was okay, and Lake couldn’t catch onto anything wrong…then he was probably okay for the time being. Which was good. You couldn’t save everyone, but damn did Lake try, and after chasing Doppio and Arven out to the countryside to save the little knuckleheads from themselves (and Doppio’s boss)...it would’ve been devastating to lose either Doppio or Kaito. Goddess forbid both.

And if it would’ve been devastating for her, Lake couldn’t think of how awful it’d be for Kokichi. For Shuuichi and Maki and Tim, and even if she’d only know it years down the line in stories, Miyako too.

They had been insanely lucky that her bid to slow their momentum had worked, and that Kaito and Doppio were both still walking afterward. That Kaito could fret and Doppio could kiss Arven in the hallway. Lake would make sure that luck was respected, and she’d get them the rest of the way home too.

Squeaking, Doppio looked over with a less impressive, but no less pulse-spiking startle, before he sent Kaito a withering look. …if not for his bright red face, and the fact he was still tenderly holding Arven’s hand. “Are you giving us a bedtime?!”

Arven blinked, looking a little dazed. Were they not kissing anymore? He had really felt like he was starting to get a rhythm. Though, after a moment he matched Doppio’s glare, keeping a hold on Doppio’s hand as he said, “You can’t do that. Besides, it’s like 9! Who goes to bed at 9??”

“You two do,” Kaito said, before reaching over and grasping both of them by the back of their collars, pulling them up. “Come on, you’re taking the bed at the back of the room. And I will be awake, so like I said! No shenanigans!”

“What are ‘shenanigans’!?” Arven demanded, squirming in Kaito’s grip before becoming deadweight, basically daring his clothes to rip as he made it as hard as possible for Kaito to pull him into the room.

“I refuse to define it! I’ll know it when I see it, and you’ll know it when you’re tempted to do it! So don’t!” Kaito insisted, dragging them in.

…for just a moment, Doppio’s shoulders tensed as Kaito reached around the back of his head, his eyes widening with a spark of fear before they went blank…before he scoffed, knocking his head against Kaito’s hand in defiance, but getting up easily. And, uh…holding down his pajama top with his free hand, trying to make sure even Kaito’s grip on the collar wasn’t going to expose any skin.

In all honesty, while he’d be quite content to keep sitting in the hall and kissing Arven--he had found that the little moments of Arven exhaling through his nose made his skin tingle in a way he liked very much--...Doppio was still exhausted. And while 9 was early…he didn’t think he’d have much of an issue falling asleep.

Still, couldn’t let Kaito just be right.

“You’re such a weirdo,” he groused, avoiding Lake’s amused look at the two of them being hauled in. “If we’re gonna sleep, what the hell else are we gonna do?! It’s not…” Doppio went quiet before his eyes widened. “Oh shoot. Uh…”

He sent a pleading look to Arven. “...when was the last time I updated my notebook?”

Arven, still trying to be limp in Kaito’s grip, lifted his head to match Doppio’s gaze. “Oh, uh, I think you jotted something down after we rolled down the hill for a while? Oh!” Arven suddenly scrambled to his feet, urgently saying, “You should update it now! Now seems like a good time!”

Kaito rolled his eyes a little, before dumping both of them onto the bed, crossing his arms as he gave them both a hard look… before he huffed. Reaching over to ruffle both of their heads. “Update your notebook, use the bathroom, and then seriously, go to bed. Tomorrow’s going to be long, okay? I want you both to be rested for it. Everything’s gonna be easier with a full night's sleep! And you both have the rest of your life to make googly eyes at each other.” Kaito grinned, before looking to Lake. “You too. I’m gonna need you wide awake tomorrow, Lake, better only one of us isn’t on their A-game tomorrow. Get some rest, okay?”

Giving Kaito a sour look and futilely running his fingers through his hair to try and get it back in some modicum of order, Doppio quickly searched through his bag and retrieved his notebook. A…a lot had happened, but, if nothing else, there was something very important that Doppio wanted to make sure he wouldn’t forget.

After his latest entry, Doppio wrote about how he and Arven had been found by Kaito and Lake (guard, green hair, X eye scar) and were being taken back to Usott, how they were currently in a hotel in Corbra, how…how he’d fallen out of a tree and Kaito had risked his life to save him…

But…

Doppio chewed his lip, debating. It was…important to put the most important things to him at the front of his notebook. If he was ever in…one of his more disoriented states, the things at the front of his notebook were undoubtedly the first things Doppio would find. And this was important!

…but it was also what…other people would look at first, and though he never wanted anyone else to look inside…

Huffing at himself, pink-cheeked, Doppio turned to the first page, and for the second time that day, added something new.

Arven and you kiss. You like him a lot.

And, closing it up, he headed to the bathroom to prepare for the night.

“Don’t worry about me, Kai-guy,” Lake grinned, giving him a thumbs up. “I’ll be on my S-game, like always! Ain’t nothin’ to fear, tonight or tomorrow.”

“S-game? Like…. Super-duper game?” Kaito guessed, tilting his head slightly, genuinely confused. “...sexy game?”

“For her, it’d mean ‘specialty’ or ‘superior’,” Arven said, pointing to Lake, before pointing to Kaito, “For you? It’d mean ‘stupid’ or ‘dumbass’.”

“Dumbass doesn’t start with an ‘S’!” Kaito snapped, before gesturing to the plates of food, “Also, what did you not spike, you delinquent? I need to eat!”

“I didn’t spike anything! You clearly can’t even handle flavoring! Next you’re gonna say salt is too spicy!”

“You little runt, say that to my face!”

“Is that your face? I could have sworn that was your ass! Was wondering why you weren’t brave enough to face me!”

Kaito paused, considering that… before he snickered, nodding, “Okay, that was pretty good. Now, shut up and go to bed already.”

“Wow, that’s disgusting Kaito,” came a slightly echoed voice from the bathroom. “You don’t have the S-to-F scale in Luminary, and apparently you encourage people to sleep without brushing their teeth. ….also if you just eat the outside of the popcorn chicken it should be fine.”

Snorting, Lake chuckled and shook her head a little. “Suppose I shouldn’t be surprised you had the supplies for something like that, but I am! Well, more for the rest of us later, I guess.”

“You need anything before bed?” Lake asked Arven, though she figured since he’d responded before, Doppio could still hear. “I’m prolly gonna be up for a bit, so I can take Chief out if he needs a constitutional during the night.”

“What, I’m supposed to eat popcorn chicken like an apple!? Have either of you ever seen me!? I need more food than that!” Kaito ranted and raved, as Arven nodded at Lake.

“Yes, thank you. He doesn’t usually need to at night, but it’s strange circumstances, so if he paws at the door he probably needs to at the very least look around to soothe his nerves, if not actually tinkle,” Arven explained, as Chief snuffled in his dog bed, having been asleep for a minute now.

“Another nervous pacer, huh?” Kaito grumbled, rubbing the back of his neck, “Anyway, you heard Doppio. Go brush your teeth! Wanna know a real quick way to lose your crush? Smelling! Hygiene is important!”

“You keep saying that.” Arven rolled his eyes, getting up and heading to the bathroom.

“Because it’s super true!”

Eventually teeth were brushed and clothes were changed, Kaito ate and Lake tidied up the food left over (not a lot, but mainly things that were too spicy for Kaito that the rest of them hadn’t demolished earlier), and…eventually everyone was in bed. The boys sharing one at the back of the room, Lake having bullied Kaito into the other (quoting him directly about needing a real bed, even if he wasn’t sleeping), and her pulling out the futon in the couch and settling back.

Over the night, Lake and Kaito had kept each other company, whispering small conversations, but eventually, she did take his offer to get some real sleep at around 3 in the morning, and then it was just him.

And then…something changed. And for someone like Kaito, especially strung out as he was, it would be something obvious.

Instead of the sounds of two people and a dog sleeping, along with Kaito’s own breath, there was suddenly an added sound of some heavier breathing. Little gasps, obviously stifled, and some shifting coming from the boys’ bed.

Kaito blinked sleepily, his gaze shifting over to the other side of the room from where he was leaning against the headboard, the room silver silhouettes to his long developed night vision by this point.

Bad ‘Kichi noises…

Only it wasn’t. Kaito cleared his throat a little, before getting up, glancing around quickly to make sure he wasn’t missing any danger before moving quietly around the room, trying not to wake anyone as he went to the boys’ bedside.

Kaito glanced on the other side of the bed– Arven had apparently at some point in the night turned on his side and ended up bodily clutching his pillow, wrapped around it tightly. The whimpering wasn’t coming from him, so…

Kaito squatted next to the bed on Doppio’s side. Peeking at where Doppio’s face was. “...?”

It was hard to see in the dim light, but the shine of tear tracks down Doppio’s face would be visible. Or…down to his cheeks at least, as he’d clenched his hands over his mouth tightly, presumably what was aiding the stifled sound to his quick, uneven breathing.

Doppio had had his eyes closed, but as Kaito came to the side he squinted them open. Taking a few muffled half-sobs before he loosened his hands a little, whispering, “Sorry, s-sorry, I’m sorry, I’ll be quiet.”

Kaito’s features softened at Doppio’s apologies, glancing around at the quiet of the room. Lake asleep on the futon, Chief snoring in his dog bed, Arven clutched around his pillow.

Kaito wanted to let Doppio cry, but he didn’t want the kid to wake everyone up either. Mostly because he wanted to protect him from the embarrassment of that. But, this was no good way to work through a night terror…

Reaching over to carefully run a hand over Doppio’s temple and through his hair, Kaito then put a finger to his mouth, before grinning slightly as he whispered/half mouthed, “Come take a walk with me?”

For a moment, Doppio’s eyes widened in fear and dread. But…

(...but he’d never been hit for crying before. Just ignored. On one of the first occasions he could remember, told to be quiet, that he was making a nuisance, and so…ever since Doppio had tried to be silent. Keep all the tears and…everything, to himself.)

(So…there really wasn’t a reason for him to be afraid, even…forgetting that it was Kaito telling him to come along, for a second.)

Glancing nervously at the room, Doppio sat himself up and took the hairtie on the table next to the bed, sloppily tying his hair back before sliding out of bed. His teeth clamped down hard on his lip, even as his jaw trembled and tears kept rolling down his cheeks.

“There we go, real quick,” Kaito whispered, placing a hand on Doppio’s back, leading him to the door. Glancing behind him one more time, he noticed Chief looking up, watching them leave, and Kaito felt a little better to see it as he opened the door, leading Doppio out. If Chief was awake, then they could stray a little farther, the dog would bark if anyone came in.

Closing the door quietly behind him, Kaito looked up and down the hall, before murmuring as he took Doppio by the arm and led him forward, “Just a little longer, I’m sorry. Just a bit longer and you can be as loud as you want, okay? Come on…”

They were on the first floor, so thankfully it didn’t take long to step out of the building and out into the garden. And looking around, Kaito sighed a little, before pulling Doppio in, holding him as he said, “I’m sorry, you’re okay to cry. I just didn’t want you to have to answer to anyone else about it. What woke you up, kid?”

Why did he always end up outside in his pajamas? At this point Doppio should just stop changing before bed. …though, ew. Maybe it didn’t actually mean anything, but the thought of wearing clothes that long to bed…

…he didn’t understand, Kaito telling him he could be loud.

Once they stopped, Doppio just put his hands over his mouth again and shook his head a little, though…it was a little easier to breathe. Having to get up and walk, feeling the night air…having someone else there. But…still…

…his tears were useless, and shouldn’t make a sound. They were just…bothersome.

A shudder went through Doppio’s chest as he stifled another sob. “Sorry,” he whispered again, “Didn’t mean to b-bother you…”

“Who’s bothered?” Kaito asked, tightening his hold as he rubbed Doppio’s back some more. “You’re not a bother. I just didn’t want anyone else bothering you. Well, except for me, but that’s what happens when you let me see you cry. It makes me want to bother you. See what’s wrong, try to help… just how it is. Now we both gotta live with it.”

Kaito shifted, giving himself space to look down at Doppio, able to feel his arms pressed against his chest as he crossed them over his own mouth. Smothering the noise. “You don’t have to do that for my sake, if that’s why you’re doing it…”

Part of Doppio wanted to argue that he hadn’t let Kaito see him cry. Doppio had just…been in bed, and Kaito came over and…and bullied himself in, like always. But…he didn’t really have that argument in him, right then.

Shaking his head a little, it took another few false starts of Doppio clamping down on any noise before he spoke up again. “S’annoying ‘n…u-unnecessary… Not supposed t-to… Sorry.”

Removing one hand to roughly rub at his eyes, Doppio shook his head again before whispering, “I’ve ruined everything…”

“Nothing to apologize for,” Kaito murmured, pulling him in tight again. Man, the kid was small. Sturdy though. He didn’t feel like he’d break in Kaito’s hands, so Kaito didn’t hold back in holding him tightly, trying to be a wall around him as he said softly, “What do you think you ruined?”

“Everything,” Doppio whimpered, choking on the end of the word. The slight calm he’d found in leaving the room crumbling down again as Kaito held him tight. (...almost right. …better than right?)

Just crying quietly for a moment, he stuttered, “I-I didn’t want to, to go h-home, when you f-found me at the cafe, I-I was k-kinda avoiding it, b-because I suck, but…but…” A sharp sniffle as he tucked his head down. “...I can’t go back… I’ve betrayed Boss a-and you’re gonna put me in the system and everything…everything’s…”

Kaito’s eyes widened, gripping him harder for a second, a brush of fury running through him. At the way Doppio had said it, like Kaito was going to put him away somewhere, like was going to abandon him–

Gentle. Remember. Doppio needed someone to be gentle.

Burying the fury, Kaito let out a small breath, before laughing lightly, placing a hand carefully on the back of Doppio’s head and lightly scratching his skull as he said lightly, “You don’t suck, first of all. And honestly, I don’t like to call what you did ‘betraying’ anyone either. It was… self defense. You can’t blame someone for flinching or running or even fighting back, if you’re about to hurt them. It’s just natural. It’s not their fault. It’s not your fault.”

“And I’m not…” Kaito grit his teeth, feeling a little sick, “...putting you anywhere. I want to protect you, whatever that means, and if that means protecting you from my own worst instincts trying to protect you, then we’ll figure it out, okay? Whatever happens next, it’s not going to be out of your control. I just don’t want you running back to your own death, that’s really it. Well, no, I also want you to be happy and healthy and to give you a bright future and for you to have a really good home life, but…”

“You can’t have those things if you don’t have some agency in your life.” Kaito sighed, “No one likes being helpless. So, that’s a part of it, for me. Protecting you means you’re not helpless. Not to me, not to anyone. We’re gonna figure out what’s happening to you with you, okay… nothing’s ruined.”

As much as it had been a comfort… Doppio was suddenly reminded of coming home. After days of being ignored, Boss asking him to sit with him, asking about his day and the animals he saw and the people he talked to and…and petting his head, just like what Kaito was doing now. And it was too much.

For the second time in only a matter of hours, Doppio cried into Kaito’s chest, sagging in his arms.

“It is my fault!” Doppio sobbed, voice muffled and garbled. “I shouldn’t’ve taken a breath or fought back! If I’d just taken it, it wouldn’t have taken an hour! And I shouldn’t’ve told Arven anything!”

Shivering, Doppio shook his head more. “If my name’s in the system I’m trackable, a-and Boss wouldn’t want me anyway! I’m useless! I’ve made myself useless…”

“Everything’s ruined,” he sobbed. “I want to go home…”

“...an hour?” Kaito whispered, “...he drowned you for an hour?”

“.......” Kaito closed his eyes, face tight with pain as he whispered, “Oh, Doppio… how did you even survive that… That’s not an attack, that’s torture… he tortured you.”

“It’s my fault,” Doppio whimpered. “I’m supposed to be there for him and I wasn’t there…”

His heart clenching with betrayal and disgust, words he’d buried bubbled up, unable to stay stifled. “I came home and the floor was flooded… I thought he was dead… I thought I’d left him to die…”

“It’s not your fault,” Katio said sternly, eyes still closed, “Doppio, I know we don’t actually know how old you are. You could be younger, fuck, you could be my age, older, it’s not impossible. Some people are just small… but with your memory issues? With how isolated you are?”

“You’re not in a position where you can take care of someone else. You need too much help right now to be responsible for someone else. Someday you’ll be in a position where you can support someone else, but now? You shouldn’t be the one who has to keep someone from dying. That’s not on you.”

“And as much as I fucking hate this guy?” Kaito growled, “Because I do…I still mean what I told you before. About how this could end up being good for him? If this is the kind of person you think leaving alone would mean he’d come to harm? Then he needs more help than just you. You did your best, but more is needed. And people like, uh… Lake and my husband and the people who work for them? They can make sure he gets it. We can help him.”

And keep him the hell away from Doppio.

“Shut up,” Doppio growled, though…maybe it was telling that he didn’t shove Kaito away. Telling of what, may be more unclear, but it definitely seemed to be a sign of something. “I was good at my job… I-I was great! I-it didn’t matter if…if I can’t remember anything, and I don’t understand things…I was great! I…” Doppio choked, sobbing, “I was exceptional.”

“Boss and I were fine…until I met you.”

…as much as Doppio had betrayed Boss already…the next words stuck in his throat, and he could only sniff, “...and you know that’s not what I mean, saying I was worried he was dead…”

(...even if…he had worried a little. Boss’s mercurial whims--grand plans, of course, but still looking like whims to Doppio’s simple, uninformed, narrow view--sometimes…not seeming particularly…self-preservation-y. At times.)

“You’re still exceptional,” Kaito said, not as worried about the accusation now as he might have been even ten minutes ago. The fucker had drowned Doppio for an hour. Kaito hadn’t been wrong to bully his way into the situation.

“And I don’t know if that’s what you meant.” Kaito frowned, staring down at Doppio as he shifted back a little, trying to catch his eyes. “Because you know what a guy who tortures the person he lives with says to me? He’s someone who doesn’t have a hold of his emotions. He’s someone who could do anything for any reason. He’s not reliable. Not like you.”

Doppio could only shake his head, trembling in Kaito’s arms. “Boss always has a reason… You’ve never met him, you don’t know him…” And because of Doppio…there was now a non-impossible chance he would. Because Doppio had ruined everything and now…now people were looking at Boss.

But…also, Kaito wasn’t getting it and…

Doppio sniffled. “...I-I told you danger would…might? Be c-coming for me… But other danger was always coming for B-Boss, because…he’s Boss! And I… I’ve put him in danger… I was supposed to keep him safe a-and be the person he could always rely on and n-never worry about betraying him and…I have. And it’s my fault…”

“It’s not,” Kaito said, “And I’ll keep telling you that until you realize that it’s true. And then after that too. It wasn’t your fault. Hell, if you don’t want to blame him? You can blame me. You’re right, none of this would have happened if you hadn’t met me. You didn’t let anyone down, we all pushed you into actions; me, your boss, everyone. The only person who really gave you a choice in anything was Arven, since I’m assuming he didn’t drag you out here by force.”

“And it’s good that you have someone like that,” Kaito said softly. “You deserve a life full of people like Arven, Doppio. You’ll have it someday too. You just have to get through this hard part first, and someday you’ll be like me, and you’ll be surrounded by people who want to give you choices. Who want to help you. Who will fight others to make sure you can have it. And it’s so much better, on this side of it, Doppio… it’s worth the struggle of letting go, to get away from people who’d torture you.”

It didn’t feel any better to blame Kaito. Yeah, Doppio was still mad at Kaito for a lot of things, but even blaming him for the things that genuinely were his fault…

…so what, then? Kaito had screwed a lot of things up for him, but…he was still there. He had bought him food after finding him passed out in an alley, and prevented Arven from calling the guards when they met, and gave him hugs and told him it was okay to need hugs, and promised that healers wouldn’t hurt him, and read to him, and…and was here now. Holding him and telling him it was okay to cry as loud as he wanted and…telling Doppio that it wasn’t his fault.

Kaito was there. And Doppio couldn’t…

Doppio’s shoulders slumped a bit at the mention of Arven. Because…with everything, even with Kaito being there despite everything…maybe if it was just that, Doppio could’ve…recognized the bad situation and gotten out. It would’ve been messy, but…he could’ve figured out a way.

…but because of Arven he’d stayed. Because of Arven, Doppio hadn’t been able to commit to going back home to…to his own death. Because of Arven, Doppio hadn’t been able to ask him to just forget him.

…and Doppio couldn’t even consider all those bad things. Because with Arven it was like…like…

…Arven was a beautiful thing Doppio had seen and…and he couldn’t go back to how things were before, now that he knew. And that…

Pressing against Kaito, Doppio’s breaths calmed a bit, though a new wave of tears spilled over. “...Arven said that…sometimes…we just can’t help but love the people who raised us. But that doesn’t mean we like them. So…sometimes you just have to pretend for a while against that love until it’s true.”

“...but it wasn’t torture, and I wasn’t miserable, and…I like Boss too,” Doppio whispered. “Even if you guys keep saying different. He wouldn’t even want me now but…I don’t know if I can let go… I love him…”

“...” Kaito wrapped his arms more around Doppio, the hold more of a bear hug now than a tight hug. Kaito bending down slightly to accommodate for Doppio’s smaller size. “...I know.”

“I know how you feel,” Kaito whispered, “I get it, I really do, kid. I believe you, you weren’t miserable. Sometimes even being in a situation like that doesn’t make you miserable.”

“But it only wasn’t miserable because you worked hard to be happy,” Kaito said, furrowing his brow, “I’m certain of that. You found ways and reasons to be happy. You saw the bright side of awful things. You were happy because you saw he was happy, and sometimes that had to be enough. I’m sure it felt good plenty of times.”

“But that wasn’t happiness on your own terms. It was happiness on his. You finding your happiness despite your life being used for someone else's convenience. You deserve better than that kind of happiness. Fucking anyone does… you’re no damn exception.”

Arven and Kaito both had just…kept saying that it was horrible. That Boss sucked and Doppio’s life was awful and, hey, weren’t things so much better now?! Now that Doppio had betrayed his purpose and been abandoned and…gave up his entire life? Isn’t that wonderful?!?

He couldn’t…really hold it against them, but it was a point that Doppio was determined to keep fighting. But…Kaito explaining that…he knew? And it didn’t even sound like his Kaito-nonsense. Doppio…really had found so many small moments of peace and happiness, and…and it was the best when Boss was happy, even if…he didn’t really know how to feel himself.

…his…life being used for someone else’s convenience…

Hands away from his mouth, Doppio couldn’t move them much in the bear hug, but he still clung to Kaito’s shirt the bit he could. Sniffling softly, “...I, Aceto Doppio, am more than what people need…”

“...even more than what Boss needed.”

“Oh?” Kaito grinned, “Are you? Maybe I misheard you, you should say it again so I know what’s up. You’re more than what?”

Squeezing his eyes shut and gritting his teeth, Doppio let go of a huff against Kaito’s chest. “I…I’m more than what people need! No matter who they are!”

“Ha ha ha!” Kaito laughed, ruffling Doppio’s hair before leaning down and wrapping his arms harder around Doppio, picking him up and swaying him back and forth a little before putting him down, placing his hand on the top of Doppio’s head as he grinned down at him. “Well, shit! If you’re gonna sound that confident about it, I guess I’m just gonna have to believe you! More than what he needs, more than what I need, more than what anyone needs. Aceto Doppio is important and awesome and excellent, and everyone needs to respect that!”

“Eep!” Doppio squeaked. Even clinging to Kaito’s shirt with white knuckles, having his arms scrunched against his chest didn’t inspire much confidence for stability as Kaito flung him around. …it did seem to crack his back, though, so…that was kind of nice. It was tiny, compared to everything else going on, but his thighs and lower back hadn’t exactly been happy riding slumped on a horse for several hours that day.

Tears stopped and face flushing red, Doppio had to look away in the face of that…that frankly exaggerated praise Kaito was giving him, though…it didn’t hide the small, pleased smile he also got from it.

“...I think you almost said my name right that time.”

Kaito blinked down at Doppio, looking confused. “I didn’t say it right? Say it again… Aketo? No, no, okay, I hear it… Ashito. Ashito, right? Harder emphasis on the ‘shi’? Ashito… am I close?”

Doppio looked back, giving Kaito a baffled look. “...how do you always get worse the more you say it? Ugh…it’s Aceto. A-’t∫e-to. …though you are right about stressing the middle.” He normally got a little more embarrassed about it, when the heavier parts of his accent came out, but Doppio didn’t break stride as he corrected Kaito.

“A-theto?” Kaito tried, “A-theeeee-to. Theto… Theto’s a nice name, you sure you don’t want to make ‘Theto’ your name?” Kaito grinned, before laughing a little, “I don’t know why I struggle with certain names and words. They just sorta mush together in my ears. It just sounds like mumbling when you say the middle bit. My husband, Shuichi? Told me years ago that I say his name too short. I still have no idea what he’s talking about, as far as I can tell we’re saying the same thing. Shuuuuuichi. Shuichi. Shuuuuichi.”

Kaito huffed, shrugging. “Still can’t hear it. He gave up correcting me. But! I’ll keep trying with your name! Actheto!” Kaito grinned, “Eh? Eeeeeh? Closer??”

“No?” Doppio scoffed, squinting at Kaito. “Where are you getting a þ sound? That’s not what I said. …and I’m not changing my name! I like it!” And…Arven thought it was cool… “This is just why I ask people to call me by my last name!”

Sighing as Kaito tried a few more times, Doppio rubbed his forehead. “...look, if you need to say my first name, just say it like a-CHEY-to. People are more used to the Common and Traditional Dicean ちえ sound so…just use that. It’s close enough.”

“A-chay-yo,” Kaito murmured, “A-cheyto… a-chey-to… Aceto?” Kaito finally tried, frowning at the sound. Not sure if that was right. “...Aceto… Ashito… no, no, A-CHEY-to.”

“...” Kaito grinned, looking pleased as he asked, “Do you want me to call you A-chey-to? Like Arven does?”

Doppio just rolled his eyes and waited out Kaito butchering his name. …getting close, once or twice but, like he’d commented, immediately screwing it up again.

But when Kaito asked to use it… Doppio lit up red, sputtering at him. “N-no! I told you before, just call me Doppio!”

“Awwww, alright~” Kaito laughed, reaching up to ruffle Doppio’s hair again, “I see how it is, that’s an Arven privilege. I get it, no worries, Doppio.”

Scratching the back of Doppio’s hair a little, Kaito gave him a soft look. “...it’s always okay if you feel bad about all of this again, Doppio. Or if you find yourself doubting what you just said, or find yourself crying like that again? That’s okay, you’re allowed. And more importantly, you can always come to me about it, okay? You don’t have to wait for me to bully my way in, you can always just demand it of me. You’re my sidekick. I have a responsibility to come when you call.”

Doppio gave Kaito a disbelieving look, unsure if he’d really concede to Doppio’s preferences…but it was the right name he ended with so… Hopefully Doppio wouldn’t have to be subjected to more weird slurs and slides of his name any time soon.

…though it had been a good distraction from…everything.

He sighed softly, looking down. Eyes aching a bit from how much he’d cried that day, and while he had genuinely gotten some sleep…it definitely wasn’t enough. But…he did feel better. A little, at least.

“...thanks, Kaito,” Doppio murmured, nodding slightly before, briefly, giving the larger man a hug. Rubbing one of his swollen, irritated eyes, he sighed. “...when are we heading out tomorrow? Is it worth trying to go back to sleep?”

Kaito glanced up at the sky, before reasoning, “Sure, four more hours is worth it, and I bet you’ll conk out the second your head hits the pillow. Though…” Kaito put his hands on his hips after giving Doppio one more tight hug, before finally letting the kid pull away as he looked around. “I’m up anyway, I’m gonna take a quick, cautionary look around before heading back to the room, okay? You go back without me, I just want to make sure we’re all good. Won’t take me more than ten minutes.”

Probably. He was a very efficient sleeper.

Though, he gave Kaito a worried yet…informed look. “...I’ll wake up Miss Lake if it takes more than ten minutes. Don’t…try to get in the way, if you find something, okay? Trouble will…probably be more armed than you.”

But he did accept heading back to the room on his own. Nodding, Doppio turned to leave…before hesitating. Shuffling in place nervously before shooting Kaito a shy look. “...um…yesterday, when Arven and I slept together, he…um… Would…it be weird if I…? Um… Nevermind. I’ll just go to bed. Goodnight.”

“Heeeey, no no no, you can’t leave me on that note.” Kaito huffed, putting his hands back on his hips. “Come back here, what was the question?”

Doppio had tried to be on his way again, but sheepishly turned back. Shifting his weight as he gnawed on his cheek. “...I asked him if I could hold his hand before we went to sleep?” ‘Asked’ as in, tapped Arven’s hand under the blankets and shot him a meaningful look while Lake and Kaito had been arguing about the couch.

“But, uh…I guess we moved while we were sleeping. So, I was…wondering if it would…be weird if I tried to hold it again while he’s sleeping, but…” Doppio squinted at himself. “...no, that does sound weird. It’s different if stuff happens while we’re both asleep, but not if one of us is awake.”

“Oh, man, hmmm…” Kaito put his chin on his fist, thinking about it. “...honestly? I’d say trust your instinct. If it doesn’t feel like you’re in a place in your relationship yet where you’re not sure you touching him while he’s asleep would be appreciated, then don’t. But! Definitely ask him about it tomorrow, if he gives you permission, you won’t have to worry about overstepping next time.”

Kaito grinned, raising an eyebrow. “Thoooough, if you want to be held by him? You cooould pull that pillow out of his grip. He’s a clinger, he’ll cling to the next solid thing around, which will be you. Kokichi’s the same way, it’s very cute… Does any of that help?”

That…actually sounded like good advice. Of all the iffy or solid advice Kaito may or may not give, Doppio kinda figured he’d have relationship stuff down, being married to two guys and all, but…that sounded really reasonable. And his addendum didn’t really sound like a swing into creepiness either. Crafty, sure, but…not bad.

And…it had been really nice, waking up with Arven’s arms around him…

…maybe too nice for being in a room with other people.

“I…think so,” Doppio nodded slowly. “Um…thanks.”

Once again, he turned to head back to the hotel, giving Kaito a small wave. “Ten minutes.”

“Ten minutes!” Kaito said cheerfully, waving Doppio off, watching to make sure he was in the building.

… Kaito popped his joints slightly, looking around warily.

…… that bush had, uh… little snappable branches. Maybe that’d be enough.

Heading over to the bush, Kaito dug his hand into the bush, looking for a decent part of it. Near the base, he grinned as he felt a slightly solid piece, and while it didn’t crack as much as he would have liked it to, it did snap a little, before he managed to twist it off, stepping back from the bush with a small little whittle.

He swung it experimentally. Once. Twice.

It made a small whistling sound.

Wow… didn’t that take him back.

“...moTHER FUCKER!” Kaito shouted, swinging the whittle onto the bush, beating against the leaves as his eyes narrowed down into pinpricks, a ringing in his ears turning into a high, deafening whine as he continued to beat the bush. “FUCKER FUCKER FUCKING ASSHOLE!”

The attack on the bush didn’t last very long, but it felt like a while for Kaito, before the attack felt like too little, and he drew his arm back and threw the stick as far as he could, gritting his hands into fists and with a sudden, snarling laugh, said, “There! How about that?! Bark bark, you FUCKER!”

And his skin felt hot right until it was cold, a sweat breaking out as he panted, the anger bleeding out all at once, his eyes reddening as Kaito brought his hand up and bit at the thumb joint. Kaito staring at the ground with wobbling eyes, trying to pull it together before he actually started crying. Crying would make him too tired. Pull it together.

… Kaito hadn’t liked it.

Nothing had made it more obvious to Kaito, now, how unhappy he had been, how scary it had been, than trying to argue against Doppio’s views of his own life. It made Kaito feel crazy. He kept thinking about the fire. He kept thinking about the whittle. The bucket that they had never actually done anything with, but how fucking scared he had been, his imagination going wild as he waited for something. Waited to drown…

Kaito sniffled, before wiping his eyes. Alright, alright, pull it together, you big asshole… head back before Lake’s sent to calm you down again. Come on…

Looking around, Kaito sighed, before heading inside.

Arven huffed softly, rubbing his face into his pillow as he blinked sleepily even with his closed eyes… Something felt weird… His bottom half felt warmer than his top half. And soft? Not like Chief’s fur, if Chief was sleeping on top of him.

…and he could feel a stare boring into his face.

Opening his eyes, Arven glanced up, shooting Kaito a tense, bewildered look, as Kaito stared sternly down at him. “...what?” Arven whispered, clutching his pillow tighter.

Kaito glanced meaningfully down.

Arven looked down at his legs, realizing his body was draped around the bed at an angle… and that his legs had wrapped tightly around a waist. Doppio’s waist.

“Eeeeep.” Arven squeaked, peeking fretfully over his pillow to see Doppio on the other side, before trying to shuffle his legs away from Doppio, and realized, “....eeeeeeeee–”

“Mmmhm.” Kaito hummed, giving Arven a dry look, before sternly pointing to the bathroom. “Now.”

Arven scrambled out of bed, heading to the bathroom. When the door closed, Kaito grinned brightly before saying, “Alright, guys! Wakey, wakey! It’s a bright, beautiful new day, and we have a trip ahead of us! Gotta go while the sun is rising and the air is–”

BAM!

Patter-patter-patter.

Kaito sighed, running his hand over his face. “...well. At least the plants are happy.”

He had thought about it, when he first came back to the room. Arven didn’t so much as twitch when Doppio sat back on their bed--Chief had, when he’d opened the door, and Doppio had given him some pets for his attention--so…he probably could’ve moved the pillow fine. But he’d chickened out, and instead just…shuffled himself over to Arven’s back once he heard Kaito return to the room and just…hoped.

All those morning shenanigans Doppio slept through, until he jolted awake at the bang of thunder, one arm automatically reaching under his pillow--and coming up with nothing--while the other (his right) was up in a defensive motion…before Doppio blinked, looking around blearily.

…no Arven in sight.

…he tried not to be disappointed.

“Ooh, those are some moves, Dippin’ Dots!” Lake whistled, just about done packing up the futon. Though, she looked over at the window with a hum. “...that does pose a problem…”

“Hey, Kai-guy, I know they got a complimentary breakfast here. Why don’t you and the boys go eat while I set about finding us some travel options?” Though, Lake paused, casting a glance to the bathroom door. “...though, we should prolly talk first. Before any of us leave.”

Kaito smirked, before heading to the bathroom door. Mentally counting down, five, four, three, two– BANG BANG BANG, “Aaarven~” Kaito called in, fighting the urge to snicker to himself, entirely certain that hadn’t been an ideal moment to be jumpscared. “When you have a minute, kid, we want to talk to you!”

There was a string of curses, a flush, a quick hand-washing, before he opened the door, glaring at Kaito with his face flushed red. “What?”

Kaito smirked– wanna tell Doppio he was ruining the kid’s life on purpose, huh?-- before gesturing to the rest of the room. “Come on, Lake and I want to talk to you guys about some stuff. Then breakfast!”

“Don’t gotta hurry that much,” Lake snickered, though she did send Kaito a somewhat dry look. They were all 15 once, guy, c’mon. But, plopping herself down on the arm of the couch, she watched as Doppio yawned, struggling to pull a hairtie out of messy pink tangles (...hadn’t he gone to sleep with it down?) before sighing.

“...alright, I know neither of you wanna hear something like this, but I’m gonna ask you two to stay close to me an’ Kaito today, okay?” Lake requested, her voice light, but without some of her more overt joking. “Don’t go off on your own, even when we get back to Usott Castle.”

“Ya prolly don’t remember, Doppio,” she nodded, “But, Arven, Mr. Nidai, that guy that asked me to look at something yesterday? Well, after talkin’ with the Corbra force, that ‘somethin’ is something that could cause you two a lotta trouble. I don’t wanna freak you out, but there’s safety in numbers, and I’m officially in charge of bringing you two back safe and sound.”

Doppio had paused, hairtie still snagged, though he didn’t pay it mind, just looking at Lake with a pinched expression. “...you’re not telling us everything.”

She met the look without hesitation. “Do you want me to?”

Doppio looked away.

Arven frowned, looking in confusion between Doppio and Lake, before saying, “...I’d want to know.”

“And, we’ll tell you.” Kaito sighed, “We’re not trying to keep secrets anymore, we’re just trying to make sure everyone’s safe. And honestly, you both will be able to protect yourselves better if you know.”

Arven frowned… before looking quizzically at Doppio. “...we want to know, right?”

Doppio grimaced, choosing another spot to look away to.

Sighing, Lake got off the couch and crouched in front of him, giving Doppio a softer look. “Kaito’s right, you know. It’s easier to protect yourself from something you know about, rather than just…everything, always.”

Just for a moment, he glanced at Arven. Lake knew…through guard stuff, probably. Kaito had known enough to put the pieces together. But Arven… If he… But Doppio couldn’t…

Biting his lip, he nodded slightly, and that was enough for Lake. Standing, she ruffled his hair a little before turning back to the others. “Mr. Nidai wasn’t the only person following you two. He intercepted, we found out later, a contract hitman.”

She tried not to pause too long for Doppio’s flinch. “...it’s unclear whether the person that hired them would want to try again, but we can’t assume they won’t. So, for the safety of your lives, I’m asking you two to keep close…okay?”

Doppio nodded, eyes scrunched closed.

“A HITMAN!?” Arven shouted, far more shocked than Doppio, though he did immediately look at Doppio, fretting as he said, “He sent a HITMAN after you!?”

Kaito frowned, putting up his hands in a small, surrender motion as he said, “Hey, hey, I get it, that’s alarming, Arven. There’s nothing wrong with being scar–”

“Like hell I’m gonna let any hitman put a hand on Doppio!” Arven shouted, looking frustrated as he gripped his hands into fists. “Let them try it! I won’t let anyone get through!”

Kaito couldn’t help the twitch of his lips up into a smile. Cute… but also a problem, as Kaito insisted, “Great, I’m glad you’re feeling protective, but. The best way to protect Doppio? Is to accept protection. Listen to Lake, follow her orders, let the rest of us do our jobs when it comes to you guys. If something gets through Mr. Nidai, Maki-roll, me and Lake, the guards, the staff… all of that? You two protecting each other is the last resort. We don’t want it coming to that.”

Arven tsked, crossing his arms as he said, “A hitman… a real hitman? Who’d want to kill Doppio? That’s insane…”

…okay. He wasn’t sure if Lake just…didn’t know, or…she was still trying to be kind. Either way…

Doppio looked up, his heart both sinking and feeling warmed by Arven’s declaration of protection…but oh god he needed to protect him. If…if Arven even…

“...lotta people, I think,” Doppio quietly mumbled, taking a shaky breath before giving Arven and Kaito uneasy looks. “...people…people don’t try to…commit murders at the castle. ‘S too difficult. But…he might…I don’t…”

Doppio looked away, anxiously scratching the swirl of scarring flesh by his left wrist. “...your friend was right that…I’ll just bring trouble, if I’m at the castle…”

“Maybe, but that meaning that you should be somewhere else is a load of bull,” Lake shrugged. “There’s a reason the holding rooms are there too, yanno? We’re prepared to protect some real high-profile folks. So don’t worry about that side of things, okay? We just gotta get ya there first.”

“Oh, yeah, murders, kidnappings, it’s reeeeaaal tough to do that sort of stuff at the castle,” Kaito mused, “Trust me, I tried. Super didn’t work.”

“...you trie–”

“But! Amusing anecdotes aside!” Kaito grinned cheerfully, “ My point is, that the castle is safe, and letting Lake and the staff do their stuff is even safer. So, that’s one part of what we want to talk about!”

“...there’s another thing.” Kaito sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “...Doppio. We want to talk to you about your work. But Arven doesn’t need to be here for that conversation, if you don’t want to have it in front of him. I know it’s not fair to even say that much in front of him, but my hopes we could talk about on the road are… a bit dashed,” Kaito said, as thunder cracked outside, “So, what we can do right now is send Arven to the bathroom or to wait in the hall, if that’s what you want. But we have to talk about the realities of your work.”

Lake sighed softly as Doppio’s expression went stony.

“...I’m not a snitch.”

And the fact that he was saying that much already said a whole lot that she bet he never would’ve considered saying a few days ago. From what she’d heard from Daichi, the hitman had been tight lipped too. Willing to concede their own job for a lighter sentence, considering how they’d been caught, but distinctly unwilling to talk about who had contracted them.

“...we can’t force you to tell us,” she said softly, “But it would help in keeping you safe. You know other people have talked safely, right?”

Doppio just glared at her, clenching his shaking fists in his lap, hoping to conceal the movement. Oh, he knew very well that some people went to the guards… He knew that none in Passione had ever done it safely.

Kaito tsked, “I don’t, personally, care if whatever you say helps anyone catch anyone you’ve worked with. I only care about you and Arven and my people. And I trust that my people can stay safe if your boss wants to start trouble over this. It’s just a matter of time, with that guy…”

Shaking his head, Kaito said softer, “No, what I mean about talking about your job, is what that’ll mean for you. Specifically. You’re just a kid, you’re not responsible for any crimes they tasked you to commit, but… it’s still going to affect you. It’s going to make the law more aware of what you do, the risks you face… no one knows anything yet, not really. But if you start preparing what you want to say now, we can help mediate exactly what those consequences would be.”

Doppio shook his head slowly. If Boss thought he was…worth more than dirt, and worth starting trouble over? …then they were all dead. The only hope Doppio had was…keeping quiet. Keeping at least one damn promise he’d made, and hoping that maybe that would mean something to Boss when he’d broken everything else.

Again, his eyes flicked to Arven, insecurity breaking through the stone before Doppio bit his lip and looked back down. Flickers of fear shining through.

…Arven had stuck through so much. Way more than he ever signed up for, declaring their friendship. …if he knew…

“...I really did mostly cook and clean,” Doppio mumbled.

Lake sighed softly and squeezed his shoulder for a moment. “...think about it, okay? I’ll go see about our travel options, you guys get dressed and eat, I’ll meetcha in the lobby.”

Arven didn’t doubt Doppio’s words. Not for a second. He really wasn’t sure what Kaito and Lake were accusing Doppio of, but he didn’t do it. He cooked and cleaned. End of story.

“Alright,” Kaito agreed, standing up, “You heard the lady. Let’s pull it together. Real clothes, you guys, come on, on the double.”

As everyone got dressed and cleaned, Arven was finishing feeding Chief when he saw Doppio come close. Petting Chief’s head a bit, Arven asked Doppio quietly, “Did any of that change anything? Are we still going back?”

Doppio’s face crumpled a little. “...I’m sorry. This…this is what I meant, when I-I said that he knows everything… Maybe…maybe we could’ve hidden out in a cave, but…practically anywhere we’d be sitting ducks, a-and I never meant to put you in danger like this and… I’m sorry.”

He had no right to ask, but…

Doppio blanched, grimacing. “...please don’t hate me.”

Arven gave Doppio a startled look at that last part, confusion lining his features. “...I wouldn’t hate you?”

And, fretfully looking back at the bathroom, where Kaito was inside doing his hair for, honestly, waaaay too long now, and glancing at the front door where Lake had left, Arven leaned in. “...I’m going to kiss you,” he warned, “...okay?”

Doppio’s heart lurched and he felt, infuriatingly, tears burn in his eyes. “I think I’ve killed people.”

Arven stilled.

…he leaned back. Looking more uncertainly at Doppio. Scratching the side of his neck a tad fitfully as he frowned, trying to think about it. Not to decide how he felt, but to literally think about it at all. He had no idea where to begin, with something like that.

“...you don’t know for certain?” Arven asked quietly.

Doppio jerkily shrugged, still pale and bracing himself for rejection. “...black out, wake up covered in blood next to a corpse. ‘S…’s how my arm got fucked up, I think.”

Arven looked down at the ground. Not sure what to think about that either. Doppio some sort of… killer? He had a temper, sure, sometimes, but…

Arven scooted closer to Doppio. Sitting up on his knees, he reached out to clumsily take Doppio’s face in his hands, turning him to look at Arven. Arven staring at him, studying his features.

“...you don’t look like a killer,” Arven frowned, “You just look like Aceto. I don’t know if a guy with that many freckles can kill someone. Look, they’re even on your ears. That’s too cute to be a killer. It wouldn’t make any sense.”

“...if you don’t remember it happening?” Arven said, “I don’t think I could believe you could do that. At least not unless you, ya know… had to. You don’t seem that cruel, to me.”

…it wasn’t fair. Arven being so cute, and calling him cute, and just…

Doppio’s eyes watered. “...I know he sent me out t-to kill people, sometimes… And I know I would’ve. Me not remembering doesn’t…make it so it didn’t happen.”

Arven couldn’t help the small bit of disappointment at that. His shoulders falling a little. He still didn’t really know how to feel about all of that. Killing was… inhuman. Something only the worst of the worst did. Everyone in Dicea knew that there had to be something deeply wrong with you, to be willing to kill. Not unforgivable, but certainly… undesirable.

Doppio didn’t remember killing. But he knew he did it and believed he could have, even if he did remember.

What did it say about Arven? If Doppio told him he was a killer, and Arven still wanted to kiss him? Because he did. He wanted to more and more, as he saw the tears in Doppio’s eyes and the brace for rejection in his body. Arven didn’t want to let Doppio down. But Doppio had done the worst thing you could possibly do… he had taken away people's lives…

“...are you going to keep doing it?” Arven finally asked. His voice soft and uncertain. Still rapidly trying to come to grips with all of this.

Doppio had never really had to think about…the ethics, he supposed, of his job. It was what Boss told him to do, so…he’d done it! And any consequences or ramifications were other people’s problems. The kinds of complex things that Boss considered, but were too complicated for Doppio so…he just trusted in doing what he was told.

…but he knew killing someone wasn’t a good thing. It was messy and required a lot of work to deal with afterward, and it was much better to have more people than not.

And…

Doppio shook his head a little to Arven’s question. For one, he’d quit his job, so…he never needed to again, but…also…

“...feel sick, when it happened,” Doppio whispered, an amount of shame and…something almost empty in his expression. “I don’t like it… I don’t want to.”

Something flickered through his expression, briefly. “...won’t let anyone hurt you. But…” Something unsure, and a little afraid, now, as Doppio looked at one of his hands. “...I think I know…maybe a better way.”

“...I think…” Arven put his hands on Doppio’s shoulders, “...that’s good enough for me. And I don’t know what that says about me, but… I think that’s just going to be true. A true thing about me. It’s… enough that you won’t do it again.”

Arven knew he’d want to think about it more, later. It was the first time in his life where his ethics– ethics he hadn’t even really known he had, just beliefs he had been raised into that he had always accepted as a given of his reality– had been tested. And he wasn’t sure if he had ‘passed’. Or what that meant he really believed. Or if he even agreed with his beliefs that, when challenged, he didn’t actually fully understand what they were.

But he knew he liked Doppio. And with Doppio, it was enough to believe he wouldn’t kill again.

“That’s good,” Arven said, “...I’m still going to kiss you.”

Doppio didn’t really think that Arven was going to…push him away or, fuck, choke him out or anything, so he wasn’t really alarmed by the hands on his shoulders, but…but he certainly wasn’t expecting Arven to…just… Accept it?

…was that something people accepted?

…Kaito had mauled someone last year, and Prince Kokichi was a well-known pacifist. They were deeply, happily married. Kaito’s best friend and mother of his child had a job like his.

…maybe it was just something people accepted.

Still, Doppio could only look at Arven in astonishment before he nodded, managing a small, wobbly smile before he leaned forward, pressing his lips to Arven’s.

…he still wasn’t sure about telling Kaito and Lake, or anyone else. But…but he had Arven, and…at the end of it all? That’s all Doppio really wanted.

Arven smiled into the kiss, and admittedly, some of his concerns did melt away as he focused on just kissing Doppio. Sure, there was a lot going on, and more that he needed to think about, but… well, if he was going to kiss Doppio? Why not just kiss Doppio? Kissing Doppio was absolutely worth his full attention.

In the bathroom, Kaito leaned against the wall, staring at the ceiling. He hadn’t wanted to interrupt the tense whisper of conversation. He hadn’t heard exactly what they had said, but he could guess based on the tones. It had been something serious.

But now there was just silence, and if Kaito opened up the door… yep. Little kissing sounds. Huffing a little, Kaito headed out. “What’d I say about shenanigans!? Come on, breakfast, let’s go!”

Jolting a little, Doppio glared at Kaito--oh hell no, he did not want this to be a thing, Kaito and Lake continually interrupting--before sighing, giving Arven a small, grateful look and brushing his hand against his. “Breakfast?”

Doppio wasn’t…particularly hungry after all that, but…

…

…well, actually, no. He was. He often waited a lot longer for breakfast, on the many days he joined The Boss, but…maybe it was because they were traveling. Maybe it was because he wasn’t cooking, and couldn’t snack during that process. Maybe it was like Lake kept hinting, about his and Arven’s appetites.

But they’d be on the road again soon--probably--and Doppio didn’t want to miss out on a meal.

“...what do you think Miss Lake’s plan is? I’m…not that enthused to walk a city over during a thunderstorm, if we get a vote.”

“I’m hoping for a carriage, honestly,” Kaito said, leading the boys out before heading in the vague direction he thought the lobby was supposed to be–

“Why are you going that way?” Arven asked.

Kaito immediately turned on his heels, giving Arven a pat on the shoulder as he passed them, heading the other direction. “A carriage with, ideally? Some other poor bastard driving. Somehow I don’t think we’re gonna get that, but oh well. You two are lucky, you’re gonna be all nice and cozy and bored inside. Lake and I? We’re gonna end up soaked.”

“Unnlesssss?” Kaito looked over his shoulder, grinning, “Either of you wanna learn how to drive a carriage? You were getting a hang of the horse yesterday, Arven!”

“No thanks to you. At least Lake was willing to show me.” Arven huffed, “And while it’s raining? You can drive, your majesty.”

“Majesty?” Kaito chuckled, “Nope. Try again.”

“...excellency?” Arven tried.

“That’s a judge. No, what you’re looking for is ‘your grace’. Majesty means head of the royal household, but, like, that’s more an ‘official, specific occasion’ sort of thing. Like if you’re introducing the king or queen to foreign dignitaries, so they know exactly who they’re talking to. Otherwise, ‘your grace’ is considered a pretty universal way of addressing a higher ranking noble, up to and including the royal family.”

“That’s too much to remember. I can see why the boss doesn’t bother with all of that,” Arven said, “He’s just another boss, after all. Anything else is too haughty.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re way too late to try to shock or insult me with that, kid. I am weeeelll past that bit of culture shock,” Kaito said, sniffing the air and grinning. “Ooh, pancakes.”

Doppio gave Kaito a sour look, still a little put out at being interrupted. “Or you and Lake could drive. Better to have a driver and a lookout in poor weather. Since you’ve decided to protect us, ‘n all.”

…and that would leave him and Arven together. Alone.

Just preferable, really.

Raising an eyebrow, Doppio hummed at the culture lesson. “Wouldn’t really consider any royalty ‘graceful’ either…but at least that’s actually, like…a tangible compliment, rather than ‘highness’. Can’t believe the ego on the person that coined that one.”

Perking as the scent of food became noticeable, Doppio peeked over at the buffet table filled with breakfast foods with interest. And…honestly, a bit of longing. Sighing, he nudged Arven’s shoulder a bit. “...I wanna make you breakfast again, when we get the chance. Know I owe you a lot after all this…”

“I know how you can pay me back really easy.” Arven grinned, nudging him back a little… before, turning a bit red, he leaned in very quickly and pecked the side of Doppio’s mouth before hurrying forward, heading to the buffet.

Kaito narrowed his eyes, only just noticing from the corner of his eyes Arven move quickly, and the look on Doppio’s face enough of a tell, as he muttered, “What did I say? No shenanigans. Honestly.”

It really was a tell, Doppio turning pink and his eyes widening, before a flustered, smitten smile wobbled up. Though, it quickly disappeared, Doppio shooting him a dirty look. “What, your husbands never k-kiss you or anything? Not my problem you’re a loser.”

And with a stuck out tongue, Doppio followed Arven, picking out breakfast.

Kaito pouted. “...husbands kiss me plenty, thank you very much… they initiate kisses on their own all the time, thank you… get double the amount of kisses…”

Still pouting and muttering to himself, Kaito followed them to the buffet.

Kaito sat down with the boys, and while he planned to talk to them about what the day was going to look like, eating one bite of pancake reminded him that he hadn’t eaten much since breakfast the morning before, and he started to inhale his food. Loading up his plates and barely taking a breath between bites, to the point where a few times he had to thump his chest, his face turning blue as his body reminded him that oxygen was a priority.

Arven had been chatting with Doppio about the food, musing over recipes, before getting caught up watching Kaito keep upping the ante, going back again and again for more food from the buffet, his feverish pace not easing for a second. “...do you eat like that all the time?” Arven asked, “How are you not huge?”

“ e’h ahm ‘uhe,” Kaito said around a mouthful of food, forcing it down his throat as he thumped his chest a few times before managing to swallow, saying again, “I am huge. You want to be as big as me? Eat a lot, eat healthy, and work out.”

It was…kind of surreal. Doppio kept his usual pace, but watching Kaito inhale and devour… There was still something almost primal about it, but…different from how Boss ate. And Doppio knew for a fact this wasn’t how Kaito ate all the time, even if he was pretty quick about it usually. But, still…

Doppio grimaced a bit in disgust as Kaito spoke with his mouth open--another difference--before shaking his head. “I think I’ll keep enjoying actually tasting my food, rather than eating like you.” He looked Kaito up and down. “...rather not be that huge either, so…thanks for telling me what not to do, I guess.”

“Ah, good, you’re eating!” a familiar voice chirped, Lake setting an umbrella by the hanging rack at the front of the lobby before joining them, a little damp but not terribly. “Not too late to make you guys wait around for me eating, yeah?”

“Nah, grab a plate, Lake, I need one more anyway,” Kaito said, grabbing his plate to refill it, “I think I was actually starving, honestly. Just stopped feeling it. Probably from recovering…”

Kaito paused, glancing down at Doppio curiously. “...you weren’t feeling ravenous? After the fall?”

Lake nodded. “Makes sense, makes sense. Need a lotta fuel to fuel patchin’ up something like that.”

Looking up, Doppio…hesitated, looking a little overwhelmed for a moment before he just shrugged. “Like, right after? Not really. But dinner was very welcome,” he gave Lake a grateful nod. “But that’s just kinda normal. Even… Uh, yeah.”

Glancing to the side, he shrugged. “Think you broke most of my fall, so there wasn’t really much to recover.”

“Lucky for us, eh?” Lake gently laughed, patting Doppio’s back before she left to get food, Doppio just shrugging a little again.

“Well, half luck, half you breaking our fall,” Kaito said, walking with Lake to the buffet. As they got some distance from the table, he said to her, “Honestly, I’m glad. Even with me acting as a buffer between him and the ground, Doppio could have seriously gotten hurt just knocking against me. I mean, it wasn’t a big enough fall for me to explode into pieces, but if it was, the bone shards alone…”

Kaito paused, before stopping and laughing, “Ew, gross. Sorry, that was a weird mental image. And I wasn’t high enough for that to be a possibility. Still, glad you intervened. Coulda…” Kaito grinned. “Chipped some bones, at least.”

Lake laughed softly. “Luck all around, really. There are a million ways that could’ve gone worse, and we’re just lucky to have ended up with the version of you a little black and blue and him a little shaken. Still,” she sent Kaito a side-glance, “As your security detail for the next handful of hours? I’m gonna recommend you check in with Doc Kimura, or someone in the med bay later. Just ‘cause you’re feelin’ alright doesn’t mean you didn’t chip a bone or somethin’.”

“Oh, speakin’ of security though!” she hummed, loading up a plate, “I’ll tell the boys too, but I snagged us a carriage back. Mr. Nidai’s riding with us, and a rookie from the Corbran force is comin’ along with reports for Captain Kaname, so he’s comin’ too…and also to bring the carriage back. Total shuffle game with the horses and carriage, I’ll tell ya, but thankfully we get some leniency with emergency supplies for guard matters.”

“Oh, that’s perfect! Good, I was a little worried our solution was gonna be, like, ‘raincoats’... or more likely us needing to stay here for another day,” Kaito said, filling up his plate as they headed back, “And I’m sorry, but this place is not up to my standards. There’s not even a hot tub! Or a heated indoor pool. Or an underwater luxury hot springs…”

Kaito hummed as he sat down, chewing on a strawberry before laughing again. “I think I’m just venting my desire for a hot bath. Doesn’t warm water sound amazing right now? Maybe my husbands will have mercy on me when we get back tonight and will let me take a bath. Well, even if they need to take a break from baby-duty, Miyako could bathe with me. Maybe being happy to see me will negate bath hatred. Man, that girl does not like her baths.”

“So we are getting to the castle tonight?” Arven asked.

“Mmhm! Lake has a carriage! And an escort~” Kaito grinned, “and you guys will also be escorted by Mr. Nidai, along with the guardsman she’s bringing. Between the four of us? Man, I wish someone would attack us. Make it easy on us, give us more people to pull intel from.”

“Aw, c’mon!” Lake laughed. “I think that mirrored ceiling is pretty nifty! This is actually a place Koko-Kichi recommended to me, you know? Along with about five dozen other people, ha!”

Digging into breakfast, Lake shook her head a little. “Poor Mi-Mi. Hopefully it’s not thundering at home too--Kokichi was talkin’ about how she’s not much of a fan of those either. Nothing wet for the little princess!”

Doppio looked up as Kaito explained their plans for getting home, though he grimaced, rubbing his wrist. “...you really don’t. Best case would be the weather being the biggest hindrance getting back to Usott.”

Kaito gave Lake a slightly dry look at the mention of the ceiling mirror. Which would be nifty… if Kaito had any of his husbands here. And privacy. And also partners who wouldn’t literally burst into flames at the idea of using a ceiling mirror for its intended purpose. Yeah, that’d be a fun new way to traumatize the loves of his life, no doubt. Sigh.

But his mood lifted considerably, hearing Miyako be called a princess. Practically rosy as he nodded, confirming her fussiness. Though, at Doppio’s warning, Kaito scoffed, “You’re underestimating us, kid. You know, this might come as a shock, but me and my family were considered pretty damn intimidating, back in Luminary. Mr. Nidai, Maki, Shuichi, a few family members you haven’t met yet… if you found out you were picking a fight with us? You ran.”

Kaito stopped to slurp down some grits all at once, gulping it down, putting the bowl down, trying to speak, turning blue, and then thumping his chest some more until the food finally went down, gasping… before pointing to Lake, “And she’s a badass. This is someone who can handle herself. I’ve seen Lake fight when her heart wasn’t in it and she was just fucking around, and she put me on my ass. I’d be intimidated to see her in a real fight.”

“Maybe you’re just a bad fighter,” Arven pointed out. “Not that I doubt Lake is a good fighter. But her beating you doesn’t necessarily mean anything.”

Arven had been trying to dig at Kaito and was a little surprised when the man just chuckled, digging into a sausage next as he said, “I’m not the best fighter, especially in comparison to everyone else. But I had my moments.”

“I put my heart into it! Just for a different purpose than what you thought we were doing--miscommunication and all that!”

Though, Doppio just sighed. He did trust Kaito when he talked about his family being good fighters and the castle being secure--it was why he wasn’t more of a complete anxious mess. But that wasn’t really…the point. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a fight you’d win handily,” he shook his head a little. “The best outcome still is to go unnoticed, or to have no one coming after you at all.”

He just looked at Kaito for a moment. Wondering what those moments really were, if they were the things Boss had talked about. But…he just looked down instead of asking about any of it. Not really…wanting to hear about Kaito bragging about murder, or his efficiency at mauling people that disagreed with him.

The best way to win a fight was to not get in one at all.

Kaito chuckled, saying around the sausage, “You and my ‘Kichi would adore each other. I can’t wait to introduce you. I bet he’ll fawn over you.”

“WHO’S FAWNING OVER WHO?”

Kaito jolted as a sudden, massive hand slapped against his back mid-bite, causing Kaito to take a much bigger bite of his sausage than he had intended. As he gagged around the sausage, Nekomaru laughed boisterously above him, shaking Kaito a little by the shoulder as he gagged, “STILL CAN’T HANDLE YOUR FOOD, HUH KID? HONESTLY, IT’S LUCKY YOU’VE GOT US HERE TO LOOK AFTER YOU. WHY ARE YOU REACHING FOR WATER, THAT’S NOT GONNA DISLODGE ANYTHING, IT'S JUST GONNA GO AROUND THE OBSTRUCTION?”

Kaito slammed his hand on the table rapidly. Uncle, uncle, uncle! Nekomaru laughed, slamming his hand onto Kaito’s back again, the sausage spitting out back onto his plate as Kaito gasped, the larger man sitting down next to him, laughing. “HONESTLY, HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TAUGHT YOU THE SELF-HEIMLICH MANEUVER? YOU STILL NEVER DO IT INSTINCTIVELY! I’LL TELL MY MAKI YOU NEED MORE TRAINING ON THAT, YOUR GRACE!”

“Th-thanks, Mr. Nidai.” Kaito gasped, grabbing the water and drinking it quickly.

“WE LEAVING AFTER BREAKFAST, GUARDSMAN?” Nekomaru asked Lake, “WE HAD A PEACEFUL NIGHT! WANT TO KEEP GOING WHILE WE’RE ON A ROLL!”

Doppio could only grimace. Was…there still a way to avoid the heir apparent after this? Surely Prince Kokichi wouldn’t be waiting right at the castle doors, so maybe he could--”A-Ah!”

Jumping at the sudden booms, Doppio fumbled with his glass, occupied not dropping it for about the same time Kaito spent choking. What?! Who?! Wha…

Doppio looked at the newcomer to the table with wide eyes. Well…from context clues he could figure this was the guy that Lake and the others said had been following him and Arven, but…

What the fuck was Luminary feeding its people??? This guy was enormous!

“That’s the plan, Mr. Nidai!” Lake gave him a thumbs up, before side-eying Kaito and Doppio for a second. Grinning wider afterward. “Glad it was that way on your front too. We’re just loadin’ up to make sure we can make the trip in one shot. Did you leave Guardsman Donner by the carriage?”

Chuckling softly, she ran a sheepish hand through her hair. “Honestly, I don’t really get a lotta superstitions, but I sure wouldn’t mind if those “storm charms” he showed us worked out. Kai-guy’s right that we can take on anything that comes at us! But it would be nice to have an uneventful trip back,” she nodded to Doppio.

“Storm charms?” Arven asked her, looking genuinely curious. “What, like, enchantment stones?’

“OOOOOOH, ANOTHER YOUNG MAN OF CULTURE!” Nekomaru beamed, looking with more interest at Arven now, “WHAT DO YOU KNOW OF ENCHANTMENTS, BOY?”

“What, I mean… in general? I know there’s legends of certain stones out there embedded with energies that, when used correctly, can have effects on living creatures. There’s even rumors of stones that can transform animals into more evolved versions of themselves, empowering them with abilities… n-not that I believe in any of that–”

“WHY THE HELL NOT? LOTS OF EVIDENCE IN THE WORLD FOR MAGICAL BULLSHIT LIKE THAT. WORLD’S FILLED WITH IT!” Nekomaru scoffed, reaching up his hand– Kaito quickly moved his food out of his mouth when he did– before slapping Kaito’s back some more, “RIGHT, YOUR GRACE? YOU’VE GOT SOME TRAVEL IN YOU NOW, YOU MUST HAVE SEEN SOMETHING BY NOW. CAN’T TRAVEL ANYWHERE WITHOUT STUMBLING ACROSS SOME DEMONIC EFFECTS!”

“Uuuuh… demonic? Nooooope,” Kaito said, sipping at his water, “Nope. No demonic stuff. All very normal and boring.”

“OH YEAH? EVERYTHING NORMAL? NOTHING UNUSUAL?” Nekomaru grinned, taking Kaito’s shoulder and shaking it some more.

“Yep! Nothing unexpected!”

“Hmmm,” Nekomaru squeezed Kaito’s shoulder, leaning in close, inspecting Kaito’s face. “...it’s good to see you’re not hurt, Prince Kaito. Fall like that? Worried about you. But you seem one hundred percent.”

“...Lake helped!” Kaito said, pointing to Lake, like he was telling on her, “She tackled me into a bag!”

Doppio looked over at Arven, eyes widening in interest and amazement. He figured there was a lot that they just had never talked about, like…discovery-wise, since if Arven had been able to get as niche as finding out about the Titan Herbs, he’d likely found out about a lot of other stuff too, but… Enchantment stones? Magic stones that could make new types of animals???

Wow… Maybe there really was something out there like Amaina’s many-eyed elephant.

Though, he could only scoff at Kaito, muttering, “You wouldn’t know anything magical if it crawled up your shirt.”

“Ha! Well, that was the plan,” Lake grinned sheepishly. “Call it luck or magic or what-have-you, at the end of the day it’s just a good thing we’re all still up and around, yeah? Alright, crew! We about ready to head out?”

Kaito glared at Doppio. The sass on this boy. Though, he didn’t have a lot of time to think of a good comeback to that, as he felt a hand on the back of his shirt collar, pulling him up as Nekomaru said, “YEP, WE’RE READY! COME ON, YOUR GRACE, WE’RE NOT ALL GONNA WAIT AROUND ON YOU! LET’S GET MOVING!”

“Wait, wait, let me at least put something in a baggy! I could still eat that sausage piece I coughed up! Mr. Nidai!” Kaito whined, before shouting, “I’ll use the voice on you dammit!”

“UH HUH. YOU GET RIGHT ON THAT,” Nekomaru said, grasping the back of Kaito’s neck and squeezing, not enough to cut air, but enough he knew it’d make Kaito’s voice rasp if he tried anything as he pulled him along. “COME ON, BOYS! GUARDSMAN! ANYONE TAKES TOO LONG, YOU”RE THE NEXT PERSON IN MY HEADLOCK!”

“...Okay, maybe it’s just because he’s not doing it to us, but I kind of love him,” Arven admitted.

Doppio snickered quietly, brushing the back of his hand against Arven’s as he walked with him towards the door. “I think you’re right, but…I dunno. Anyone who shuts down Kaito’s whining like that gets at least one pass from me, I think.”

…

He gave a small sigh, looking at the downpour outside, giving a small wave to who he could assume was the other guard, waving the group down from the driver’s perch on the carriage waiting for them. “...thanks for running away with me, even if we’re heading back immediately.”

Arven grinned shyly, hooking his pinky around Doppio’s, even as his face reddened at the bold move. “W-well, you know…it was fun. And we’ll always have the hills. It was nice, sleeping out in the stars with you.”

“...though, admittedly?” Arven looked grimly at the absolute downpour that they were about to run through to get to the carriage, reaching around his backpack to grab an umbrella concealed at the side, opening it up and adjusting it mostly over Doppio, “Glad we’re not sleeping in this. We’d have had to have been real lucky to find a cave in time.”

He glanced down, but the grin on Doppio’s face was wide as their pinkies linked. Though he did laugh softly. “True. It was bad enough last week; I barely thought we’d be able to make it to your house, and we were in the middle of the city then.”

“Man, you guys really are the cutest,” Lake laughed, before patting their shoulders. “But! You can keep talking inside. C’mon, c’mon, I’ll give ya a hand up. Hup!”

And, before they knew it, they were packed into the carriage and headed down the streets, rain pattering on the roof of the carriage, a rapid staccato to the low steady bass of distant thunder. Doppio hesitated for only two palpable seconds before pulling a stubborn, determined face and pulling the curtains open and securing them with a snap. Not much of a view outside, but…well, that depended on what you were looking for.

“So, who’s that guardsman driving, Lake?” Kaito asked her, as the carriage started moving, shooting a slightly worried look over his shoulder, where the front of the carriage was. “You think one of us should ride with him? Have an extra set of eyes in the rain?”

“NOT IT,” Nekomaru said, laughing as Chief sniffed at his crotch, before with no hesitation, jumping up onto Nekomaru’s lap. Nekomaru started to pet the dog, not surprised at all, even despite the dog’s massive size, as he said, “THIS IS MEANT TO BE MY VACATION, DAMMIT. NOT THAT YOU’D HAVE PAID ME EITHER WAY, BUT YA COULDN’T PAY ME TO SIT IN THAT RAIN RIGHT NOW, KID!”

Arven gave Nekomaru a curious look– he trusted his dog, and seeing Chief immediately want to cozy up to the man eased some of his nerves with the man– before asking, “What do you do for a living, uh… sorry, was it Mr. Nidai?”

“CALL ME NEKO!”

“Eh?” Kaito said dryly, giving Nekomaru a bewildered look, “What do you mean, ‘call me Neko’? I don’t even get to call you Nekomaru!”

“GIVE THE KID AN INCH, HE’LL TAKE A MILE.” Nekomaru scoffed, “GOTTA MAINTAIN A LAYER OF RESPECT BETWEEN YOU AND THE CHARGES, THAT’S A TIP FOR FREE. BUT ANYWAY, I’M AN ASSASSIN!”

Arven’s eyes widened, and he couldn’t help but glance at Doppio, before looking back to Nekomaru. “...really?”

“MMMMHM. THOUGH, I’M NOT WORKING RIGHT NOW. TURNS OUT THAT’S ILLEGAL HERE, SO IF ANYONE ASKS, I’M A LAYABOUT ENJOYING MY GOLDEN YEARS!”

“Wyatt Donner, been on the force for about six months now,” Lake nodded to Kaito, squeezing out her hair into a washcloth. “Captain Sawamura vouched that he’d be a good fit for this mission, though, and I trust the ol’ hardass on that. Plus, kid seemed pleased as punch to drive during a storm, so if someone’s gonna enjoy it?” She shrugged, happy to leave the matter be.

She was…less happy with the impression she got, that this was something of a trial mission for Wyatt getting his first inter-city mission, when it was also civilian protection, but…well, Daichi had vouched for the kid’s keen eye and combat skills, so she’d trust her fellow guard. Apparently he’d been on special assigned security duty when the royal family came to Corbra for Old Man Rivers’ funeral and had performed admirably then too.

Doppio blanched a little at the look Arven gave him, returning a mildly alarmed look back, though he just gave Mr. Nidai--Neko, he guessed, if that applied to him too--an uneasy look. “...so, uh…are you Luminary too, then? ‘Cause Dicean assassins don’t really…announce that, even if they’re not working.” His brows furrowed as he stared into space, muttering to himself. “...I guess international immunity covers that??? …didn’t pay attention to how visas work now…”

“WHAT ARE THEY GONNA DO? KICK ME OUT? ANYONE WHO HAS AN OFFICIAL REASON TO CARE THAT I’M A LUMINARY ASSASSIN BETTER DAMN WELL KNOW THAT ABOUT ME ALREADY, IF I’M LITERALLY STAYING AT THE CASTLE. AND EVERYONE ELSE NEVER KNOWS HOW TO REACT WHEN I TELL THEM, AND USUALLY JUST NODS ALONG. IT’S FUN, WATCHING THE STRAIN IN THEIR FACES AS THEY TRY TO FIGURE OUT HOW SERIOUS I AM! REAL TREAT!” Nekomaru laughed.

“Could you not try to freak out the kids?” Kaito sighed, giving Nekomaru an annoyed look, before turning to the boys and saying, “Mr. Nidai isn’t going to hurt anyone here. He’s not under any orders, and he’s never been the type to just hurt people, just because. Being an assassin is a job, not a personality. You don’t have to be afraid of him.”

Arven nodded slowly at that. Yeah… yeah, that made sense…

Doppio gave Kaito a dry look. It was a job…but certain personalities tended to seek out that kind of job, in Doppio’s experience. But, he also knew that his experience wasn’t everything, and…well, he could hazard a guess that maybe in Luminary, people didn’t seek out being an assassin.

Either way, Mr. Nidai was already nicer than a lot of other hitmen and fixers Doppio had met, so…he was good in his books. Even if he was really loud.

Jerking his head to Kaito and Lake, Doppio huffed. “Well, they said you stopped an actual on-duty assassin, so barring some of the worst mind games ever? Like…duh.” Blushing a bit, Doppio gave Mr. Nidai a greeting nod. “...nice to meet you.”

…properly, since…judging by what Lake said, he’d been too busy hysterically crying to even notice the giant man was around, the first time.

“AW, LOOK AT YOU! I BET YOU’RE A LITTLE SLUGGER! LET ME SEE YOUR BICEPS, COME ‘ERE!” Nekomaru said, stretching over Chief to try to grasp Doppio’s arm.

Kaito reached over, grasping Nekomaru’s wrist, before saying brightly up to him, “Let’s not just grab Doppio. He’s not a ‘just grab him’ guy.”

“You literally do that all the time,” Arven pointed out.

“I didn’t know he wasn’t a ‘just grab him’ kinda guy! Now it’s too late and he knows I’ll just snatch him, so…” Kaito shrugged.

“WELL, THEN JUST PULL UP YOUR SLEEVE AND FLEX FOR ME! AND SPREAD YOUR FINGERS AROUND, LET’S SEE YOUR GRIP!”

Doppio hadn’t immediately shrunk away from Mr. Nidai reaching forward, but he did start to wither and melt against the carriage seat as the conversation continued. Glaring at Kaito, he huffed, “I literally told you when we met, and your answer was just,” Doppio lowered his voice a bit, though put a whimsical, clownish rhythm to his tone, “‘I can’t pay attention to anything, not even my own body, so I’ll just do it and it’s up to you to tell me off, Ace’.”

“...and I’m not disrobing or…whatever,” he pouted.

Lake snorted, raising an eyebrow. “Ace’? Gotta say, that’s not really a nickname that comes to mind.”

“Oh shit, did I really say that?” Kaito grinned, “How’d you even remember that? Holy shit, did you put that in your journal?”

“LET’S SEE… YOU’RE ON THE SKINNIER SIDE, SMALLER…” Nekomaru hummed, looking Doppio up and down some more, before saying, “THE SAFE ANSWER WOULD BE DAGGERS, BUT I THINK I’D ACTUALLY TEST YOU WITH SOME ROPEWORK. YOU HAVE A CRAFTY LOOK IN YOUR EYES, I BET TRAPS AND BINDINGS WOULD BE YOUR SPECIALTY.”

“Mr. Nidai likes to imagine how he’d train people to be assassins,” Kaito explained, lighting up a little as he said, “He was the only one who told me I’d be a natural at curved weapons.”

“YOU HAVE THAT NATURAL DANCE AND RHYTHM THAT MAKES THOSE THINGS EFFECTIVE. UNFORTUNATELY, THAT GENERAL OF YOURS WANTED TO TRAIN YOU INTO THE SAME SLOW, DUMBASS BROADSWORDS HE USED, SO THEY IGNORED MY SUGGESTIONS AND TRAINED HIM IN RAPIERS. JACKASS.”

Katio gave Nekomaru a tired look. “General Juzo was preparing me for specific roles in the military. Broadswords would have suited my station more. He wasn’t an idiot.”

Nekomaru tsked, looking unimpressed. “YOU DON’T TRAIN A CHARGE BY TRYING TO MAKE A LITTLE REPLICA YOU. YOU JUST MAKE THE BEST VERSION OF THEM! THAT MORON WANTED ANOTHER JUZO.”

“Alright, let’s talk about something else.” Kaito huffed, pointing to Arven, “How would you train him?”

“BICEPS ON HIM ARE OBVIOUS. LIFT YOUR LEGS, SEE IF YOU CAN TOUCH THE CEILING WITH YOUR TOES!”

Arven sweated a little, looking to Lake for help.

Doppio just glared at Kaito’s glee, before surprise took over his expression and he dug out his notebook, starting to fill in things from that morning. There wasn’t much, just that they were on the road back to Usott and…well, a Luminary assassin (but a friendly) was accompanying them too. Doppio didn’t think he’d freak out too badly, but…better safe than sorry.

…Doppio grimaced a little, shaking his head as he glanced to Arven for a moment. No…traps or daggers or…whatever for him. Not anymore.

Laughing, Lake gave Arven a fond, proud look. “I bet’cha could, Ven-Ven! Just might need help with balance, if anything. But! Let’s leave the assessments for while we’re not in a moving carriage.”

“...actually, there was something Kai-guy and I wanted to talk about with you two, while we’ve got a few hours of sitting around,” Lake nodded, before she grinned brighter at Nekomaru. “And, hey! As Mak-Attack’s old man, feel free to chime in too, Mr. Nidai!”

“But!” she declared, sitting tall, somehow her crossed arms looking menacing. “Since you dodged all my questions earlier, you brought the wrath of concerned adults upon yourselves! Doppio! Arven! We’re giving you a sex talk!”

Doppio paused in his writing, looked up, and gave her a disgusted, horrified look. “...no.”

“HA HA HA HA HA!” Nekomaru cackled, before grinning at the boys, “BET YOU WISH WE WERE STILL TALKING ABOUT TRAINING ASSESSMENT NOW, HUH?? SO, WHAT’S THE ISSUE? NO ONE TOLD THEM ABOUT THE OL’ PUSH AND PULL?”

“We are… not sure,” Kaito admitted, “Though, I’m actually more concerned about making sure they know hygiene.”

“What is your obsession with hygiene!?” Arven shouted, looking scandalized, wondering idly if he could throw himself out of the carriage.

“Literally some of the worst experiences of my life were shitty lays who smelled and had weird crusty stuff on them! You don’t want to be the crusty smelly lay, I am telling you!”

“Ah! Chief! Attack!”

Chief huffed a little cheerful bark, his tail wagging.

Doppio just groaned, burying his face in his hands and Lake… Lake gave Kaito a middling look before she sighed, calming at least a little before she spoke to the boys again. “Ideally? This’ll be a true conversation, not a lecture, you know? So…any time you have questions, or need clarification, or even if you wanna cut in and say you already know the next part?” she chuckled, “Do that! But, there is somethin’ I’m gonna stress first.”

Some of that hard look returned, and even not looking Doppio could tell she was waiting for him to peek out to speak again.

“Consent. If someone says ‘stop’, you stop. Not ‘going slower’, or asking a bunch of questions before you do--you stop. And not just for a sexual act too--you’re kissing, or hugging, or anything; someone says stop, you stop. Even if they said yes before.”

“And if someone is asleep, or drunk, or high, or panicked or…in any way you can recognize them being out of it? That’s a no. And if someone says no, you don’t push that boundary. Unless you get a ‘yes’ that’s informed, clear-headed, enthusiastic, and coherent, it’s a no, and nothing happens.”

She gave them both an intense look. “Understand?”

Doppio glanced at Arven, suddenly feeling…really relieved he’d talked himself out of doing…really anything the night before. “...understood.”

Arven nodded, this lecture something he had gotten before in one of his earlier classes. Basically every health class mentioned it again at some point. It was a lesson he was used to.

Kaito also nodded along… before nudging Nekomaru when he chuckled in a way Kaito recognized as ‘mean’. “Shut up, be a good example,” Kaito whispered.

“Is this why you stopped drinking? The hubby won’t lay ya?” Nekomaru snickered, whispering back.

Kaito nudged him harder, though his ears’ tips went a little red. Nekomaru not entirely right… but not entirely wrong either. “So!” Kaito said, trying to ignore Nekomaru’s continued snickers, “Let’s go over some scenarios. Like, it’s one thing to know ‘enthusiastic consent’, but in the moment can kinda be a little tough to judge. Now, let’s say you have an enthusiastic yes, but the other person, saaaaay, doesn’t know what to do? And is looking at you to lead! What do you do?”

Arven blinked. “...what do you mean?”

“How was that question not clear? Someone asks you to decide how things go! How do you navigate that?”

Arven frowned… before shrugging. “Um… you…–”

“That’s right! Communicate!” Kaito said, thumping his fist into his palm. “No one person should be making all the decisions! You have a whole ass conversation about what’s gonna happen first!”

Lake nodded, satisfied. Was it a kind of basic, ‘no duh’ point to make? Yeah, kinda, and for Arven, at least, Lake figured it was something he’d probably heard a million times by now. But it wouldn’t do the boys any favors to make assumptions, and…well, in the case that one of them knew something, but the other didn’t? At least she hadn’t singled one of them out, in this conversation that was already going to be mortifying to them.

Rolling her eyes a little, Lake tapped her boot against Kaito’s. “Such a good point, you should take it yourself, bro-bro. Let ‘em answer. Though…it is the answer to a lot of things,” she chuckled. “A good rule of thumb is, if you’re not sure of something? Talk it out. If someone doesn’t answer or tries to rush you along, that’s generally a sign that they’re not a person you want to trust with your body anyway.”

“Can all other answers just be to leave?” Doppio grumbled, staring at the carriage wall with a red face.

“Nah, not really,” Kaito said, rubbing the back of his neck, “See, here’s another thing about sex that I don’t think people talk about enough… People get real stupid on horny brain. Like, ‘see someone’s crusty dick and smell something vile and still stick around to let them put their stinky, nasty hands on you–’”

“ALLLLLRIGHT, ALRIGHT, WE GET IT, THEY STUNK. TALK TO YOUR DOZEN THERAPISTS ABOUT IT,” Nekomaru said, flicking Kaito’s head, ignoring Kaito’s annoyed, exaggerated ‘ouch!’ before addressing the boys, “HE’S GOT A POINT THOUGH. IT’S HARDER TO SAY NO ONCE THINGS HAVE GOTTEN TO THAT POINT, EVEN IF EVERYONE INVOLVED IS ACTIVELY TRYING TO BE CONSIDERATE. PEOPLE GET EMBARRASSED, THEY DON’T WANT TO LOOK OVERLY SENSITIVE, THEY DON’T WANT TO HURT THE PARTNER’S FEELINGS. OR, LIKE THE PRINCE HERE SAID, YOU’RE SO INVESTED IN THE MOMENT THAT YOU IGNORE A BUNCH OF WARNING SIGNS YOU SHOULDN’T. IT’S NOT EASY TO SAY NO, USUALLY BECAUSE THERE WAS SOMETHING YOU LIKED ABOUT THE PERSON YOU’RE SAYING NO TO IN THE FIRST PLACE.”

“Yeah, exactly!” Kaito said, grinning.

“So, what did you like about stinky guy?” Arven asked.

“Oh, damn, which one? That shit happened more than once,” Kaito said grimly, “Fucking assholes. Could have at least washed themselves in the bathroom real quick, just, get a wet hand towel, give yourself a damn courtesy wipe.”

Doppio had been about to say something like, ‘you’ve never seen how quickly I can leave a situation’, but…well, it was a good thing Nekomaru interrupted, because the teen was already gagging, looking green around the gills as he put his wrist to his mouth. He still thought that it would be very easy to say no to things…

(...but his track record, at least with one person, would beg to differ.)

“Aw, deep breaths, buddy,” Lake chuckled sympathetically, leaning forward to pat Doppio’s shoulder before she hummed. “If Kai-guy’s determined on the hygiene stuff, though…well, that’s a point. This might be something they’ll encourage in your class this year, Arven, but…have you guys ever been tested for TIV or other STIs? Generally, it’s a good idea to get tested every time before you’re with someone new, but it’s helpful to know first-thing, since some are illnesses that people are born with.”

Doppio’s gaze shifted, and he gave Lake a confused look. “...for what?”

“Transferable Immunodeficiency Virus, and Sexually Transmitted Illnesses,” Lake explained, doing her best to be neutral giving the information. “You can get tested super easily with standard blood tests.”

From green to white, Doppio balked. “...that’s a thing???”

“Oh, boy, is it,” Kaito said grimly, “It’s the biggest buzzkill for my types, let me tell you what. Thankfully, in Luminary, you can carry a card saying the last time you got tested and what you’ve got. And if you’re not carrying it, that’s usually the red flag you need to run. You can get it from the priestesses who run the tests… oh! Ya know, I may still have mine…”

Kaito, lighting up a little, pulled open his waist purse, shuffling through it excitedly. Nekomaru rolled his eyes as Kaito searched. “YOU DON’T CARRY THE THINGS ALL THE TIME, YOU USUALLY DO IT IF YOU’RE TRYING FOR A RANDOM HOOKUP. DICEA GOT ANYTHING LIKE THAT?”

“Ah! Found it!” Kaito said excitedly, bringing up a small card, before showing Lake the back of it as he smirked. “See all the tallies? Me and the other pub crawlers like to compete. I won a lot of them, but damn, Bunny really lived up to her nickname. She was a formidable opponent. Aw, I miss her. I hope she’s keeping up the city crawl tradition, that’s coming up any day now.” Kaito grinned, looking down at the card fondly, clearly reminiscing.

“Kinda,” Lake shrugged. “We have immunization cards, though I know folks don’t really think much of carrying them, if they don’t just keep ‘em in a wallet or something permanently. Mostly helpful for proving you got the year’s flu shot, or you’re up to date on, like, tetanus ‘n stuff, but STI tests are on it too.”

Leaning over, Lake took a look at Kaito’s card, her eyebrows shooting up in shock, and it was enough to make Doppio groan, curling up in his seat and giving Arven a miserable look. “...you think we stand a chance throwing ourselves out the door?”

“Mmmhm~” Kaito hummed, straightening his shoulders and lifting his head, grinning proudly as he explained, “I was a hot commodity, once upon a time. People would fight over me. Literally. I remember there was this one night where they set up a spar tournament style–”

“I think I’ve been dissociating for, I don’t know… an hour? Have we been talking about this for an hour? Two hours?” Arven whispered back, staring at the floor. “If you told me it’s been a whole day, I’d believe you.”

“DON’T LET HIS EGO GET THE BEST OF YOU. PEOPLE JUST HAD A THING ABOUT THE MOMOTA NAME,” Nekomaru said, reaching around Kaito’s neck and, with a pull, putting him in a headlock, covering his mouth with his bicep. “ALRIGHT, BACK TO THE SEX TALK. YOU TWO KNOW HOW TO PUT A CONDOM ON? IT’S NOT ONE SIZE FITS ALL.”

“Maybe it’s been a year?” Arven whispered, “I could believe it’s been a year.”

Lake chuckled through a sigh, shaking her head. “Man, if Kokichi didn’t straight out tell me? I’d be fightin’ you makin’ sure you got tested before marrying him. You really do have some wild stories about everything.”

Doppio just groaned again, melting against Arven’s shoulder and covering his face. Horrible as it all was, he…really should just leave well alone. Part of him didn’t want to actually say it, considering how shocked Arven had looked before, but…everything Kaito was saying? And now knowing that there were specifically sex-based diseases? Doppio kind of never wanted to have sex in his life.

…but there was still a part of him that was…a little curious, despite the deep, soul-crushing embarrassment.

So, still covering his face, he whispered to Arven, “...what’s a condom?”

Arven stared at Doppio. “...??”

And, waiting a beat for the joke, and realizing that there wasn’t one coming, he stared at Doppio a beat longer… before suddenly turning to the adults and saying stiffly, “Actually, you know, I never paid much attention in health class… Could you explain what sex is? Like, uh… the basics? I mean, I know the dick is involved! But, uh, that was as much as I ever paid attention!”

“YOU SERIOUS, KID?” Nekomaru asked, scratching the inside of his left ear, his right arm still keeping Kaito in a silencing headlock, regardless of how Kaito squirmed. “DAMN, DICEA REALLY DROPPING THE BALL WITH YOU KIDS. ALRIGHT, SOMEONE PASS ME A PEN AND PAPER, IT’S QUICKER JUST TO SHOW YA. THAT’S HOW I EXPLAINED IT TO MY MAKI! AND I JUST WANNA SAY, BETWEEN HER AND KYOKO’S KID? MINE DIDN’T ACCIDENTALLY GET KNOCKED UP!”

Nekomaru looked down at his arm. “BITING IT ISN’T GONNA HELP, YOUR GRACE. JUST TICKLES! WHERE’S MY PAPER AND PEN!?”

Doppio gave Arven a surprised look just above his fingers, while something briefly sad went across Lake’s face. But as Doppio immediately moved to hold his notebook closer, she just gave the boys a small grin.

“Doesn’t have to involve a dick. In the simplest terms? Sex is just purposeful stimulation of genitals between more than one person. Can be with hands, or mouths, or sex toys, or other genitals. It’s, uh…well this is something of a guess and a simplification in one, but…you two have dicks?”

Doppio gave a short, confused nod, not really having expected this in a sex talk.

Nodding herself at their answers, she gave a sheepish shrug. “Then, for you, penetrative sex--that is, not just rubbing--is gonna look like putting your dick in someone’s vag, or someone’s anus, or getting something put up your own anus. Always with more lube that you think you need, by the--”

While Lake had started on another tangent, she was quickly cut off by a loud, horrified, “WHAT?!” from Doppio as he stared on in disgust.

“NOPE. HITTING THE ARM ISN’T GONNA HELP EITHER, PRINCE KAITO,” Nekomaru scolded, ignoring him as Kaito tried punching his arm to get free next, “AND SEE? YOU’VE GONE AND FREAKED HIM OUT. IF YOU JUST DREW SOME STICK FIGURES IN VARIOUS POSITIONS, BY THE TIME THEY’VE FIGURED OUT WHAT PART IS WHAT, THEY’VE ALREADY STARTED TO ACCEPT IT!”

“Oh! Okay! Thank you!” Arven said desperately, starting to sweat, glancing at Doppio, “...I mean… that sounds a little gross. Sure. But, uh… b-but people do that all the time, right? For fun and love and stuff… it’s not, uh… bad? I think? I mean…”

Arven squirmed in his seat a little, saying softly, “...I’ll probably do it, someday. I think? Um… in general.”

Doppio had been half-joking before, about jumping out of the carriage, because, well, one, it was really dangerous, and two, literally everyone else in the carriage would manhandle him before he could even open the door.

But now, he was seriously considering it.

…in butts??? But…but that was where you shit! Pretty much everything down there was pretty gross, but, well, okay, Doppio could accept that maybe it just…felt different! In the moment! But…in your ass?!?! With the shit?!

No no no nope, he was not going to entertain even a bit of this anymore, nope, HELLO HELLO he’d like to leave, please! Get out get out get ou--

Doppio blinked, recognizing an…odd tone in Arven’s voice. And he turned to his friend frowning, about to ask, but

Then

Everything started swaying

Like he’d stopped, but also had continued with the carriage, seeing the rain but also the interior, like multiple realities had split (letting him leave) and

With one of the last bursts of coherency he could manage, Doppio quickly grabbed Arven’s arm before his gaze visibly unfocused to the rest of the occupants.

“A-Aceto? Are you okay!?” Arven asked, grabbing Doppio’s arm back, before giving the adults a frustrated, nervous look, “You broke Aceto!”

“AH, AIN’T BROKEN, HE’S JUST HAVING A SPELL–OW! You little–”

Kaito had managed to squirm his head around so that he was facing Nekomaru’s chest, before biting hard on that, a sensation that was a little less familiar to Nekomaru than being bitten on the arm. Scrambling away, practically pushing Lake into the other side of the carriage as he brought a leg up to shove Nekomaru back, Kaito said to Arven, “Everything’s fine! But you check his breathing first, okay?! It’s easy, just put the bottom of your palm near his mouth, wait for a puff of air. He’s probably breathing fine, it’s more a just in case thing!”

“U-uh, uh, uh, okay?” Arven said, bringing his hand up to Doppio’s mouth… “Okay, he’s breathing?? Now what??”

“Well now we– BACK OFF, OLD MAN– now we just check his pulse real quick! If it’s racing too high, we’ll do some breathing techniques to help! If it’s normal, then he’s having what I like to call a depressive episode~ annnnd at that point you just gotta speak softly and wait!” Kaito grinned, putting two fingers on his own neck and saying, “Check there. It’ll be obvious if it’s too high, if you have to question it, it’s not!”

Arven whispered to Doppio, “Hey, I’m going to just dip your sweater neck down a little to check your pulse, okay? Um… just for a second…”

Arven tried a spot… frowned and adjusted… tried the previous spot again…

“...what do I do if he doesn’t have a– oh! Okay, I felt it.” Arven frowned, waiting. “...it’s, uh… is it okay if it’s really slow?”

Recovering from Kaito’s shove, Lake quickly looked Doppio over as much as she could without actually approaching him--Kaito was partially describing a panic attack, and the last thing she needed to do was set Doppio off more while they were in close quarters--though Arven’s assessment made her frown.

“...how slow?” she asked, before taking a pocket watch out, double-checking it before giving Arven a nod. “Could you count the beats? I’ll tell you when to stop.”

…

…this kind of darkness wasn’t…right. Why…? This wasn’t… Someone was…(supposed to take him out, if he asked) but…there wasn’t…anything? Here? Not like the other nothing…

Doppio remained limp and unmoving against Arven’s hands, eyes half-lidded and completely glazed over by this point.

Arven counted for her.

All three of the adults knew damn well better. Nekomaru gently pushed Chief off of himself, before muttering, “Hold on, let me check.” Shooing Arven back a bit, before pressing Doppio’s neck himself.

…Nekomaru squinted at Doppio.

…before leaning back to sit down again. “Hmmm… whelp.” Nekomaru said, “Either the kid’s in fantastic shape, or dead. And since he’s blinking, my guess is fantastic shape. Used to think my Maki’s heart beat was slow. That is slow.”

Kaito hesitated, looking around– he wasn’t sure what he was looking for. Amaina-chan?-- before saying, “That doesn’t matter right now. He’s awake, and he’s not having a full on heart attack, so… let’s all put on our best soft tones. Everything’s fine. He’ll come back to us eventually. We just gotta do our best to not make it worse. Arven, you keep holding his arm since he grabbed you for support, but try not to touch him more than that until you see him start to react, okay? Touching during one of these episodes can often make it worse.”

“....ohhhh,” Kaito suddenly whispered, “Right. Kid’s got a… like… cleanliness thing.”

Lake scratched her cheek, looking a bit unsure. Well…at least they’d gotten through some of the more important stuff. “Doc Kimura didn’t say anything about him…havin’ a heart murmur or anything, right? Though I did hear y’all went to the med bay for a panic thing, the other day too…” She shook her head, tousling her hair. Ehh, she wasn’t a doctor. Whatever was going on with Doppio, she’d leave to the experts.

She sent Kaito a look. “...that’s some damn severe germaphobe stuff, if it can knock him right into a dissociative episode.”

Kaito shrugged. “Well, ya know. Sex is gross. I mean… probably? I feel like I read that somewhere, once,” he said, smirking a little, though he kept his eyes on Doppio, keeping tabs. “When I first met him, my friend Souda bit a bar stool leg? Doppio had a conniption. I’m not sure what he said, but I’m pretty sure it was the first time he ever threatened my life. Aw, memories~ one second you’re trying to encourage them to gamble and drink, the next second you’re giving them The Talk. Life comes at ya fast, huh?”

“Do I still have to ‘back off’?” Nekomaru said, leaning against the other side of the carriage looking grumpy.

“Oh?” Kaito looked uncomprehending at Nekomaru, before realizing, “Oh! Disregard all orders! Sorry, didn’t realize, total accident.”

“Um…” Arven frowned at Doppio, before saying softly to him, “...we don’t… have to talk about it again. Ever.”

“Woah, woah, hold on there, Arven,” Kaito interrupted, brows furrowed, “Taking discussions off the table entirely isn’t communication, it’s just kow-towing and avoiding conflict or discomfort. Trust me, kid, that’s not how you want this relationship to go. Don’t start that shit early, it’s a tougher habit to break than you’d think.”

Arven had no idea if he and Doppio were in a relationship. Yes? Was it okay to assume yes? He had no idea. He just wanted Doppio to come back, so he muttered, “You back off. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, gross,” Lake softly hummed. “Well, I can understand that more. …don’t encourage minors to gamble and drink though.” Said one of the more notorious members of the castle residents that facilitated underage drinking.

It…took a little bit, but Doppio started to blink. He had been blinking the whole time, as Nekomaru had pointed out, but they started coming a little faster, more purposeful. His gaze moving, if not quite focused as his breathing picked up. A few small flinches, before his nose scrunched, Doppio blinking, looking at his…free? Hand, before tentatively touching his face in confusion…

Before he slowly looked up and noticed the other occupants of the carriage.

And he turned pink, looking away.

Kaito grinned. “Hey kid! Hey, got a question for ya. Do you think the inside of this carriage is more red, or maroon? I know some people would argue those colors are just too close to tell, but I love the color maroon, and I’m trying to decide if this counts. What do you think? How’d you describe it?”

To Doppio’s credit, his wince at Kaito’s voice was pretty muted. Even if that wouldn’t matter against people who were paying a whole lot of attention to him. But…well, they were stuck together in this carriage for a few more hours either way, and while Doppio recognized what Kaito was doing…

“It,,,” Doppio blinked, frowning at the barely there rasp of his voice before he cleared his throat. His voice still a little too airy, and more quiet than he intended, but there. “...could be burgundy, but…s’hard to tell-hu-hmm!- w-with the weave since…since it puts more shadow in ‘n…makes it darker…”

“Oooooh, burgundy.” Kaito nodded, looking around the carriage with a new appreciation. “I could see that, totally. Yeah, the storm outside isn’t helping, with the whole ‘lighting’ thing either. Though, man,” Kaito grinned, closing his eyes, “Listen to that rain… I love that sound. I swear, I could happily fall asleep to it.”

The rain pattered and thumped against the walls of the carriage, small tinkling sounds from where it hit the glass of the window, which seemed magnified in the silence. Chief, having settled at everyone’s feet, was snoring as well, the dog having seen no reason to stay awake. The carriage vibrating with the feeling of the wheels against the muddy pathways.

“...you okay, Aceto?” Arven quietly asked. Still worriedly looking at him.

“They did include some travel blankets along with standard supplies,” Lake offered a grey, fuzzy mass with a gentle grin. “We’ve still got a ways if ya wanna take advantage of it.”

…it was painfully obvious. But Doppio still silently accepted the blanket, glancing over at Arven and giving him a short nod before he unfurled the blanket and threw it over his head, pulling his legs up to his chest under it.

And after a moment, holding the side of the blanket Arven was on up. An invitation inside.

Arven didn’t hesitate, curling inside and leaning against Doppio in the darkness of the blanket. Meanwhile, Kaito scoffed, rolling his shoulders a little as he said softly to Lake, “Oh, sure, give up the blanket to the kids that slept all night. What’s a guy gotta do to get some sleep around you people–gah!”

Nekomaru threw an arm around Kaito, pulling him into his side and ignoring his squirming as he said to Lake, “I don’t know how much sleep you got either, guardsman, but if you wanted more you’re welcome to it. I’m up anyway, I can keep watch. Will you stop squirming, your grace? Go to sleep before I make you sleep.”

In the blanket, Arven whispered, “Sorry.”

Lake rolled her eyes and threw the other blanket she’d found at Kaito before she gave Nekomaru a grateful look. “Got enough, but I won’t say no to bein’ better prepared when we arrive if you’re offerin’. Though I wouldn’t be put out if you wanted some rest yourself, sir.”

She glanced to the blanket fort on the other side of the carriage. “...it’s gonna be a long day.”

Doppio just shook his head a little before offering Arven a small smile. Whispering back, “Can I kiss you?”

Nekomaru waved Lake off, wordlessly insisting she sleep. He was used to long days. He hadn’t even grazed tired yet, though slowly Kaito stopped squirming, laying against him and blinking heavily, idly clutching at the blanket thrown at him.

Arven felt like he must be glowing in the dark, for how red he felt as he whispered back, “Yeah? If you still want to? O-okay?”

And the two leaned close… before bonking each other's noses. Misjudging in the darkness. “Ngh.”

“Pff! Heh…” Doppio huffed out a soft laugh, before reaching up and, with an incredibly gentle touch, finding Arven’s jaw, and letting that help his spacial sense as he leaned in, just giving Arven a small peck. Because he did still want to…but even with the blanket, he was a little too aware that they weren’t alone.

“...it’s not you,” he whispered after the kiss, just…keeping the tips of his fingers against Arven’s jaw. “I’m sorry… I wanted them to shut up, but…not you. I wanted to talk with you but…”

Doppio chewed on his lip. “...it was like getting…pulled underwater. I couldn’t stop it.”

Arven gave a weak laugh, before admitting, “Maybe this is me being too sensitive on your behalf, but I don’t like the idea of you being pulled underwater in any sense. I’m sorry. I’m sure saying I wanted to do stuff like that was what freaked you out.”

“...it’s not like I want to do it now,” Arven said, frowning, “Honestly, I wouldn’t even know how, and I think trying to would scare me. And I’ve never thought that hard about sex in a general sort of way… it was just always something that, in the back of my head, I thought I’d do someday. As a given. No strong desire, just, ya know… I don’t know.”

“...I guess I’m just saying it's not something you have to think about any time soon,” Arven said softly, “There’s no pressure coming from my end. I like just kissing you.”

Doppio sighed softly and let out a weak snort, stroking a finger down Arven’s jaw. It was pretty obvious that Arven had sideburns, but touching like this, Doppio could feel the slight fuzz of facial hair growing in. “...yeah, sorry. It’s just…hard to explain…”

Another sigh, and Doppio leaned in again, but just to press his forehead to Arven’s, closing his eyes. “...I don’t know… I’ve never really thought about it at all.” He did know that, yanno, sex was a thing. Maybe that he’d even do it someday, though he hadn’t given any thought to potentially having a relationship either. Just being close to Arven…sounded nice. But…

“...I like kissing you too,” Doppio whispered, smiling. “...wanna just…figure things out as we go?” He snorted softly. “...communicate an’ all?”

Arven leaned into the touch, bringing up a hand to place his fingers gently on the back of Doppio’s hand as he closed his eyes. “Yeah… we’ll do that.”

“........and, look, if we ever do touch each other like that? I will do more than a courtesy wipe. We can spray me down with a hose and cover me in nice smelling oil,” Arven said grimly, looking determined, “I am not gonna smell, alright? Just saying.”

Doppio giggled softly, blushing a little at the sound, before he heated up more. As much as he enjoyed this position, uh…well, he really didn’t want the others to hear… Leaning forward, Doppio whispered as quietly as he could in Arven’s ear, “...I don’t…think you’re gross. I really like you, Arven.”

“Yeah?” Arven felt his skin tingle where Doppio whispered into his ear, his breath warm against his skin. “I really like you too, Aceto.”

Kaito blinked heavily, now wrapped in a blanket and leaning entirely against Nekomaru, who had an arm wrapped around him, watching the blanket. “...cute.”

“...oh no,” Kaito pouted, eyes suddenly wobbling, “I miss my husbands.”

Nekomaru rolled his eyes. “It’s been literally a day.”

“And I miss my baby… and my older baby… and his baby friends… and my god baby… my Makiiiii-roooollll… your daughter is such an asshole.” Kaito blinked sleepily. “I love her so much.”

“You’re lucky I don’t tear an ear off, your grace,” Nekomaru said plainly.

“I know.” Kaito wobbled, still blinking heavily. “...I want your conditioning to go away soon. I really didn’t mean to do it, even if I threatened to.”

“Next time I’ll just pop you in the vocal chords, make you mute for the next few hours.”

“That’s fair,” Kaito said softly, “Maki’s done that a few times.”

“Who do you think taught her to do it for that specific reason?”

“You raised such a beautiful, wonderful woman… I love her.” Kaito pouted, looking lost and distant. “She’s not second best to me.”

“Yeah? Well you keep that to yourself when she finally starts bringing that Elia girl around. Don’t mess things up for her. Finally found herself a decent, pretty little thing who seems to have her shit together. Don’t add your Momota-shaped baggage.”

“Mmm,” Kaito hummed, closing his eyes, “...I practiced the moves you showed me on curved blades. Right till the end. I was practicing with curved weapons days before we made it to the capital. I never forgot the stuff you taught me.”

“Yeah?” Nekomaru chuckled, “Want to see how you measure up against me now?”

“You’ll kick my ass,” Kaito grinned, “But kinda, yeah. Though I’m a year out of practice with everything, so, just saying. Just putting that out there. I’m just saying… I know I disappointed you. In a lot of ways–hrgh.”

“Stop talking like this is some sort of goodbye.” Nekomaru huffed, covering up Kaito’s mouth. “What, you think I’m heading back to Luminary just to let some moron get a lucky shot? I’m coming back for my baby girl’s bonding ceremony, whenever that happens to be, with whoever. Then I’ll come back again for the damn spas they have around here. Then again because I’m bored and feel like it. Honestly, the nerve of you kids. Like I survived this long by fluke. Don’t disrespect me again.”

Moving his hand away, Kaito nodded. “Yes, Mr. Nidai.”

“Good… also, just remember you offered when I get you into a spar tomorrow. About to remind you why you can’t take a year off.”

“Okay, but don’t tell my smaller husband, it’ll make him worry.” Kaito pouted, before pointing sleepily to Lake, “Don’t tell on me, gonna get my ass kicked tomorrow.”

“You get checked out by a doc today, make sure all your bones are intact, and I won’t say nothin’,” Lake hummed, stretched out along the wall of the carriage, her cape pulled over herself like a blanket. “Careful of his hips, Mr. Nidai--pretty sure I hit one straight on.”

“...think Koko-Kichi’s prolly gonna be too busy if you wanna take advantage of that timing, though,” she nodded to herself. “All this, and your birthday in two weeks? Surprised he isn’t bouncin’ off the walls in frantic energy yet.”

Kaito hummed a little, resting against Nekomaru’s arm. “Oh yeah, that’s coming up, isn’t it? Atua’s week… gotta reach out to the temple. Gotta…” Kaito yawned, “Get everything ready. My husband’s put so much time and effort into my present. Can’t…” Kaito blinked, “...wait to use it…”

Blink… blink…

…squint. “Someone hand me something to throw, they’ve been under that blanket too long.”

There was a bit of shuffling, before a freckled hand came out from the side of the blanket, flipping Kaito off, followed by a soft, muffled, “We’re sleeping, fuck off.”

“No shenanigans. I haven’t taught you about condoms… and eye infections.” Kaito frowned, squinting. “Wash your hands.”

Arven put his hand up on the other side of the blanket, flipping him off too.

“Ingrates.” Kaito muttered. “I was never like that.”

“That’s cause you were a wuss.” Nekomaru laughed, “I like these kids. They’ve got spunk. They’ll be okay.”

Damn, did Wyatt love storms! The world never felt more alive than it did filled with atmosphere and electricity. Filled him to the brim with energy and life, right to his fingertips!

Not everyone thought so, and he didn’t blame the folks for wanting to stay in the carriage for the trip over to the city. And those kids had really been through enough already… Wyatt had seen crime through petty thieves and drunkards and even political scheming, but…a real life hitman? That was something new.

Just meant that he and the real life Super-Heroine of Justice Lake Meo (!!!!) had to be on point! No other boogeymen would dare lay a hand on those in their protection!

Wyatt smirked, spotting a quickly moving figure coming in from the west. Trusting the horses for a few seconds (and the storm charms he’d tied to their hitch, courtesy of Gram-Gram Donner), Wyatt turned in his perch and tilted his head up to the rain for an exhilarating moment.

Feeling the life of the world fill him up.

And, pointing a finger gun at the moving figure, he let it out. A strike of lightning shooting down right on target, and if Wyatt pretended, he could hear the distant horse whinnying in alarm, as he watched it rear and take off in the opposite direction.

Ha! His aim was getting better!

Kaito was, honestly, knocked out for most the trip back. He woke up a few times, watched Nekomaru teach Arven and Doppio how to play poker hold’em and then promptly try to swindle the kids out of all their pocket change. Kaito knew he’d be no help so he just stayed out of it, but thankfully Lake, it turned out, was either practiced or a natural at it, because she managed to get all the money back from Nekomaru, and then gave it back to the kids.

He woke up again when someone shoved food under his nose, but Kaito only nibbled at it before going back to sleep, still full from gorging himself at breakfast. Kaito’s body now fully in the throes of recovering from what the last few days had done to it. The food he had eaten fuel for his body to recover the calories he had burned, and the sleep letting his body use those new calories to repair him.

So he nibbled a little, took a breath, and went back to sleep.

When he woke up the final time, he was laid out on the floor of the carriage, his body pressed against Chief’s, who was curled with him. Funnily enough, Kaito hadn’t actually spent that much time around dogs, personally. Every now and again a friend or a partner would have a dog that Katio would see if he slept over, but he didn’t tend to get overly friendly or familiar with them. Chase being the big exception, and Chase being small and obsessed with Timothy not giving Kaito a ton of opportunities to touch her very much beyond the odd pats.

All this to prelude Kaito blinking in confusion and thinking, man… dogs kinda smell, huh? He’s soft though…

And Kaito would have contently gone back to sleep, had Nekomaru not nudged him with his foot. “We’re here, your grace. Stop spooning the dog.”

“Hm?” Kaito hummed… “Oh!”

Sitting up, looking out the window excitedly, Kaito said, “We’re here! Hell yeah! Back home!!”

Doppio was never taking card advice from Amaina again. Though…she had seemed to have a lot of fun playing…

Not that that was…really what Doppio was thinking about, as he looked up at the looming shape of the castle through the carriage window. He knew he’d lost his actual chance ages ago, but…there was really no going back now huh? No Boss, no living as a runaway… Now…he was going to walk into the castle and have a lot of nosy adults say a bunch of bullshit at him and put his name in files and…

“Hey, it’ll be alright,” Lake gently encouraged, squeezing Doppio’s shoulder and breaking him out of his reverie. “We just want ya to be safe, Doppio, and this isn’t a prison. It’s gonna be okay.”

He sent her an uneasy look, but exited the carriage anyway, standing next to Arven under an umbrella some…other guard, he supposed, was holding out for them.

Kokichi had conceded to not actually waiting outside, but he rocked on his heels in the entry hall, eagerly waiting with a few bundles in his arms. They were here!

Arven wasn’t as wary of the castle as Doppio was, but he still sighed when they stepped out of the carriage, glancing at Doppio over and over again to try to assess how he was feeling. He stayed close to him, wanting to be a comforting presence. His own wariness increasing with Doppio’s, entirely out of solidarity, as he stood against the castle like a man heading to battle.

And then Kaito jumped excitedly in front of them, looking back and going, “Hey, come on, can we hurry? I’m full of energy and want to see my family! Let’s go, let’s gooooo, I’ve had to spend two whole days watching teenagers be mushy and gross, I want my adult kisses!!”

“Who’s gross!? We’re not gross! If anything, old people kissing is gross!” Arven balked.

Kaito sniffed, looking distinctly unimpressed. “When you’re my age? You’ll get it. Teenagers are goofy. All uncomfortable in their own skins, going through puberty. Don’t worry~ you’ll both be grown and hot like me someday. Ya know…” Kaito waved his hand vaguely, sounding unconvincing, “someday. Definitely eat more vegetables, the both of you. It’s all uphill from here!”

Nekomaru nudged Lake, muttering to her, “This dumbass going around talking about being ‘grown’ at 23. The hell is he talking about?”

Flushing, Doppio grimaced and made a face at Kaito. …maybe him, but…Arven wasn’t goofy. He was really pretty and strong and cool… Unlike Kaito who was definitely goofy.

…but there really wasn’t any point in delaying it, unless he wanted to get another cold.

Snickering, Lake gave Nekomaru a grin and a shrug. “Let him pretend--he has the rest of his life to ‘be grown’. Not like the kids would listen to anyone making that point.”

It wasn’t far to walk, but eventually they did make it out of the rain and into the castle and…

“Kai-chan! Lake-nee! Mr. Nidai!” Kokichi brightly cheered, dashing forward before he turned a sweet, relieved smile on the boys. “I’m so happy you two are alright, gave us quite the scare, you know? I’m glad to see you again, Arven, and to finally meet you, Doppio. I’m Kokichi, Kai-chan’s husband.”

Doppio barely had time to pale, and no time to panic meeting the heir apparent, before the, wow, he really was a tiny guy, huh, offered up one of the bundles in his arms.

“Yanno, I really wasn’t planning on it being so thematic for today, but that’s just how it turned out.” Kokichi laughed softly, before giving Doppio an almost painfully kind, sympathetic smile. “...I can understand how hard it is, being here. Leaving everything behind. And I know this doesn’t make up for even a fraction, but…I hope it’s a small comfort, until we can set you up more properly.”

Doppio unfurled the bundle awkwardly, turning it over in his hands, before his eyes widened a bit. It was a bright green raincoat, decorated to look like a frog.

“Ah, and I felt kinda bad leaving you out, Arven, so…this one’s for you!” Kokichi passed over his other bundle, containing a tie with a more subdued vine and leaf pattern in yellows and greens, and a shoulder/strap mounted flashlight.

…Doppio felt frozen. …the heir apparent…got him a raincoat?

Kaito lit up when he saw Kokichi, bouncing on his toes a little, though he held back as he saw Kokichi approach the boys with arms full of bundles. Arven picked up his, looking a little taken off guard as he considered the beautiful tie and the practical flashlight, seemingly at a loss for words. Both the boys being silent, Kaito decided to step in, throwing his arms around his husband and saying, “Aw, babe! Look at those! Where did you get those!? Awwww, they’re perfect for them, that’s so awesome! …ohmygod,” Kaito murmured, suddenly fixating on Doppio, “Now you have an animal onesie too. The collection is almost complete.”

Maki, who had been waiting by the door, came in behind them, heading to Nekomaru. She didn’t ask anything, just looked at him expectantly.

“Intercepted an attack, if you’re curious if you wasted your old man’s time,” Nekomaru said, his voice low so he wouldn’t be overheard as he beamed down at her. “Got some info. Got some allies. Pretty relaxing trip, overall. Now please tell me you’ve been bending over backwards trying to make it up to Miss Kirigiri for delaying our trip back, or she’s gonna be mocking me for raising a brat the whole way home.”

“I haven’t seen much of her,” Maki admitted.

“Dammit, where’d I go so wrong? You and I will both go apologize to her then. Honestly, little love, it’s like you’ve lost every manner I ever managed to cram into your skull.”

Maki seemed to consider that, before bowing. “Thank you for going.”

“Well, that’s something at least.” Nekomaru said, patting her head before bowing slightly back. “Anyway, come with me to do my report with Guardsman Lake. You need to stay caught up.”

Grinning widely, Kokichi threw his arms around Kaito in turn (now that they were empty), hugging him tightly. “Welcome home, love~ I, ah, heh,” Kokichi laughed sheepishly. “I had a little spare time yesterday, and, well… Just thought it’d be something nice, is all.”

“...um…th-thank you…” Doppio said at last, still feeling…off-balance. The heir apparent was supposed to be super scary…wasn’t he? “Um… How…”

“You like it?” Kokichi asked hopefully. “I’m a little worried I was too on the nose--Kai-chan mentioned you liked frogs, and, well, I like my frog boots ‘n all, but it’s not like I know your shoe size; and I guess I don’t know your coat size either, but I felt like I could get close based on Kai-chan’s descriptions, and…you like it?”

(...he didn’t…hate his black raincoat. It did its job, and that was all Doppio could ask for, really. But he had always wished for something more…)

(...the heir apparent had frog rainboots?)

“I-it’s nice, thank you,” Doppio nodded, holding the coat to his chest.

“Great!” Kokichi grinned, before giving him an apologetic look. “...and I know it doesn’t make up for it, but… A different,” he stressed, “CPS agent is here to talk to you, when you’re ready. They took up the case again, and…well, you’re in government custody until the case’s closed.”

“Doppio, you’re welcome to stay with us, in a sense, for the time being,” Kokichi said softly. “I know this guy won’t leave you alone,” he nudged Kaito fondly, “But…you do have some choices in this. So if you’d prefer to be looked after a government agent…?”

Looking a little overwhelmed, Doppio shook his head vehemently at that. “N-no! I, uh… That’d… I-if I could stay, um, here, I…”

Kokichi nodded graciously before turning to Arven. “And I’m sure the Guardforce has some sort of deal cookin’ up for you, but the offer is extended to you too, Arven.”

Arven considered that. He had a whole house to stay in, but… “I want to stay with Aceto.”

“Not the same room,” Kaito said immediately.

“W-why not!? Boss, deal with your husband! Tell him we’re allowed to share a room!’ Arven demanded, looking to Kokichi as he took Doppio’s hand, before pointing accusatory at Kaito. “He’s so weird about it!”

“You want weird? I’ll show you weird. About to put a damn chastity curtain up between you two. You can talk to each other via phone,” Kaito said, squinting at them… before looking to Kokichi and saying ‘quietly’, “Though, honestly, it might be wise to give them a room together for right now. Easier to keep them safe if they’re together…… but give them damn bunk-beds. Really thin bunk-beds… nah, that won’t stop anyone, wouldn’t have stopped me.” Kaito pouted.

Kokichi just barely held in a snort at Kaito’s immediate condition, but his amusement was cut short by surprise as Arven called him ‘Boss’, just blinking for a moment before he looked at the teen’s linked hands. He’d seen before, but…

Kokichi smiled softly and squeezed his husband in a side-hug, nodding. “I mean, I’d assume one of you would end up sneaking out to visit the other anyway. It’d mean less panic on our end if you’re both where we expect you to be.”

A little more seriously, he offered them a small smile. “I’ll get a room set up for you two, one of the double suites. And once they’re done with the briefing, probably, you can talk to Lake or another guard about getting stuff from your house, Arven. But…as people under government protection? We’re not just idly trusting the walls here… So people are prolly gonna bug ya if they notice any weird noises, okay?”

In the face of the prince’s small smirk, Doppio flushed, looking away, though he only held Arven’s hand tighter. “...if…we’re allowed more supplies? I mentioned to Kaito but, um…I’d like some more…clothes.” Doppio blushed a little more, finding himself too embarrassed to talk about underwear in front of the heir apparent.

Though Kokichi wasn’t phased by his embarrassment, and his expression only softened. “Of course. Anything you need, CPS is obliged to provide, within reason. Ideally, you could get your own belongings back soon, but…do you think you’d be up to shopping later? Or you could make a list and someone could go out for you?”

Getting a little overwhelmed again, Doppio just shrugged.

Kaito’s eyes widened with delight. “Oh, oh! We could get you more cute sweaters, Doppio! Come on, I totally nailed it with my last outfit, right? Soft, covering, nice colors! Oh, babe, did I ever show you the pajamas I got him? They have this cute pink tadpole-looking thing on them, tell me, is Doppio not just a cute pink tadpole-looking guy! Doppio, Doppio, where’d you put the pajama shirt, I wanna show my husband!”

Kaito, for all of his worrying and whining and wincing when it came to talking about his husbands, was notably lighter around Kokichi. There was an ease to his movement that even he wasn’t really aware of, when he was around Kokichi, and a fixedness in his expression. Even when he was talking to Doppio and Arven, his eyes kept going back to Kokichi, if not directly looking at him than glancing at him, like he was constantly assessing his expression or admiring him. Kaito’s attention constantly orbiting him, like Kokichi was the most fascinating thing in the world.

Maybe it was just because the rest of Kaito’s loved ones weren’t there to divide his attention, but Arven couldn’t help but feel like that sort of fixed focus hadn’t been there even for Miyako. Adoration and tons of attention, yes, an almost constant idle fussing with her body, adjusting her to be more comfortable or playing with her or soothing her. But that sort of attention wasn’t what Arven was seeing in Kaito now, with the heir apparent.

It occurred to Arven that he had maybe never?? Seen someone this blatantly smitten with someone before.

“They were fine, I guess,” Doppio mumbled, only able to half-stutter and half-heartedly glare at Kaito, standing firm against, n-no! He wasn’t gonna dig out his pajamas just to show your husband! Sh-shu…f-fine, sure, um…

“Oh! It’s an axolotl!” Kokichi recognized, giving all parties a bright look. “Aw, those are cute… But please don’t feel beholden to only wear them, Doppio, ask for anything you need, really!”

And for all of Kaito’s glances, Kokichi kept touching his husband back. Gentle leans into his side, half-hugs around his arm, placing soothing hands on his back… While he didn’t do it as often, more focused on the boys, every time Kokichi did look up at Kaito? It was like he was looking at his whole world.

But the rest of the world did move on.

“Kai-chan, Shuu-chan and Mi-Mi are waiting to see you~” Kokichi giggled, patting Kaito’s back before nodding to the boys. “Wanna come with me to see how quickly we can get a room set up for you? Or do you think you’re up for business?”

Again, Doppio barely shrugged, his eyes having been fixed to the floor for the past eight or so minutes, just…checked out.

…what had Boss meant? Prince Kokichi was…nice. Painfully nice. So…why?

Kaito, as excited as he was to head upstairs, kiss his husband and daughter, and hopefully, take a bath god damn he still wanted that bath… hesitated to leave. Giving the boys small, concerned looks, reluctant to leave them alone. Looking to Kokichi, he frowned, something soft and uncertain in his voice. “You’re gonna make sure they’re good? I can run around if you need any messages sent?”

Taking one of Kaito’s hands, Kokichi kissed his wrist, looking at him adoringly, yes…but also with a firm, confident conviction. “I’ll prolly come talk to you soon, if Maki-chan doesn’t beat me to it. But I’ll take care of them--they’re my people! And stuff like this is why I took the oath. I just wanna make sure you’re taken care of too.”

Kaito nodded, and while there was still a little tension in him, he clearly wasn’t willing to argue that. Just said, “Alright. Don’t hesitate to call on me, if me and Miya are soaking in a bath, we will come running as little nude soapy bath buddies, kay?” Kaito grinned, leaning down to steal a quick kiss from his husband… before turning stern eyes to the boys.

“Don’t give him any problems. Listen to what he says, and don’t sass him the way you do me. Trust me, Kokichi Ouma is not the guy you want to mess around on. No one’s gonna rescue you from whatever speech he’s gonna give you. You don’t want a speech,” Kaito said sternly… before brightening up. “I’ll check in on you guys soon, okay? Call for me if you need anything! Soapy nudey baby time, we will slide down the banisters faster than half the people in this castle can jump floors! Not as fast as the other half though, those guys are crazy, it’s like they have steel knees.”

Giving the group a small wave, one final glance at Kokichi, Kaito headed upstairs.

“...is he just, I don’t know… on something?” Arven asked.

Doppio flinched a little and…it didn’t escape Kokichi’s notice. But, well…

Kokichi laughed softly, watching his husband go fondly. “No, he’s just like that. I know it can be a little much, but the other half of the time? He’s really wonderful, huh?”

“Alright!” Kokichi hummed, taking stock of the teenagers, and seeing Doppio still pretty out of it… “Let’s get you set up with a room, so you can put your things down. Are you guys hungry, thirsty? You can leave the boring stuff with me, if you wanna take a load off in the dining hall.”

As it processed in Doppio’s head, he wilted a little. Squeezing Arven’s hand like a lifeline, albeit one that wasn’t trying to crush his hand. …it had been days since he’d cooked… Properly, anyway. He’d never gone this long without checking in on the local marketplace, scoping out sales and what was something just fresh off the vine or…whatever equivalent for what it was. Without flipping through his cookbook, getting excited to try out a new recipe.

…how much food did Boss have left?

Why was Prince Ouma nice?

They had eaten not that long ago, but Doppio was so quiet in front of the heir apparent that Arven decided, “We’ll wait in the dining hall boss, thank you. It’s been two days of being cramped in small spaces with people, it’ll be nice to have just an open spot to hang out in for a while. We can have tea.”

Arven looked to Doppio, asking, “Right? That’s alright?”

“I bet,” Kokichi laughed softly. “Still, lemme walk you, and I’ll point out people you can go to if you need help, alright?” Sighing, he rolled his eyes a little. “I’m sorry if this seems excessive and a little patronizing, but…well. It’s better safe than sorry, when it comes to your safety, and I know how it is with assassins. Hopefully we’ll be able to get you guys back to something more normal soon.”

It took a long few moments before Doppio nodded, and then Kokichi led the way, taking them to the dining hall and pointing out the head chef and the guard on duty just outside the doors, and…with another smile, he left them be.

And in another long moment…Doppio groaned and thunked his head on the table they’d claimed. Lifting it barely just to thunk again for good measure. “...sorry.”

“That’s okay,” Arven said, resting his chin on his arms, looking curiously at Doppio on the other side of the table. “What’s the matter? I know you’re bummed to be back here, but… you got really quiet when the heir apparent started talking to us. Do you not like him?”

“I’ve never met him,” Doppio mumbled, sighing before he brought his arms up to cross under his head, looking at Arven sideways. “...by design. I don’t…” His eyebrows drew in worriedly. “...I can’t remember, but… Boss told me to avoid him at all costs. And…I’ve always heard about how terrifying he is…a-and not just from Boss, just from people, and even Kaito…”

“...he seems really nice?” he said softly, voice turning up in confusion. “...he…got us presents. I don’t…get it. But…with him talking about me having to talk to CPS again, and all that…I dunno. S’like my head just filled with buzzing and I couldn’t think.”

“...you’ve met him before?”

“In person only once before, briefly,” Arven admitted, twiddling his thumbs together. “But over correspondence, he helped me when I reached out to him about getting my spelunking license approved. Technically I was too young to qualify without guardian permission, even if I passed all the other qualification standards, and, well… you know how it is with my mom. That was a dead-end.”

“So I reached out to him, asking him for help in handling the paperwork, since my guardian wasn’t in the area and wouldn’t be for a while. I was expecting him to suggest new forms I could check out, something like that, but he did so much more than that. He got in contact with a lawyer, who inspected me and then substituted as a temporary guardian in order to do the process for the paperwork. Her name was Yuta, I believe? Yasu? Something like that. And with that, everything was taken care of.”

Arven smiled. “He sent me another message, encouraging me to reach out to him if I needed anything else, wishing me luck on my expedition. He really went above and beyond… he cares about his people. Even the random teenagers chasing after legends.”

“Also,” Arven picked up his presents, looking them over, “He’s got great taste in ties, apparently. And this is a really good flashlight. Top-tier.”

While he still felt tense and…cloudy, for lack of a better descriptor, Doppio smiled softly as Arven told his story. He believed that Arven could’ve probably done it without a license, but…it was probably safer with that accountability. And…Prince Ouma had made it happen. Not just pointing out an avenue, but pushing one open himself.

…more than just…shoving someone at a program that’d overlook them…

Doppio sighed softly, glancing down at the raincoat in his lap. “...you really think Kaito talked about us that much? It…really looks like this’ll fit me too. Good guess.” Another sigh, and Doppio closed his eyes before opening them half-lidded. Scratching a bit at his wrist. “...do…you think I should… Actually talk to CPS?”

“I do, actually,” Arven said blankly, “In case you didn’t notice, that guy is obsessed with us. He chased us two towns down. I still don’t even know how he found us.”

Scratching his chin, Arven hesitated. Thinking seriously about the question… “Aceto, honestly? We’ve come all the way back here… I think by this point, we have to acknowledge if we’re half-assing accepting help or half-assing running for it. Either way, I don’t know if either’s gonna work by using half-measures… I think we just need to decide to put our whole ass into something. One or the other.”

“And I’ll whole-ass either one you want to do, Aceto,” Arven said seriously. “If we came all the way back here just to run again? That’s what we’ve done and what we’ll do. But if we’re actually going to stay here and work with the guards about this… then I want to do that whole-ass too.” Arven squeezed his hands into fists, a determined look in his eyes. “All one hundred percent of it.”

Doppio looked up, his gaze softening as he saw Arven’s determination. …he still didn’t really understand why Arven had looked at him and decided, yeah, this is the guy that’s worth standing by, even through…mystery injuries and CPS investigations and running away and…learning that he worked for a gang… But he couldn’t deny it. Doppio just…didn’t want to ask more from Arven, at this point.

…so what would be more?

Doppio tapped on the table, just staring at his fingers for a moment, before he spoke softly. “...I don’t think running will work… I’m not surprised that my boss found us, but…if even Kaito figured it out, I just… And I don’t want to spend my whole life avoiding cities.”

“...but I can’t tell them about my work,” he frowned. “And…and I don’t want them going after Boss. If… Maybe I-I could talk to him? And just… W-we could all agree to leave each other alone? I know people don’t just…leave my work, but…I’d keep quiet and…”

Doppio sighed, depressed and losing steam immediately. Feeling a hopeless flicker of…something in his chest that he really didn’t like. “...I’ll tell them what I can. Maybe…a restraining order will be enough…”

“...Aceto,” Arven said softly, “He sent a hitman after us. Mr. Nidai caught them. Lake gave them to the guards… it might be too late to keep the law off your ex-boss’s back. Unless they can’t prove the hitman was a hitman at all? Or I guess, can’t prove the hitman didn’t come from your ex-boss… I don’t know. I guess I really don’t know how the law works. It just seems like things might be a bit out of our hands, now, for what consequences your boss is going to face.”

“AAaaaaaaaarrrrrrgggggggghhh…” Doppio groaned, burying his face in his arms, shaking his body a little in his chair for effect. “I’m the worst employee ever… I’m never gonna get hired again… Gonna have all my wages seized… Gonna…have fucking Kaito fighting the adoption agency to adopt me…”

He sighed looking back up with a despondent look. “...I don’t think I can apply for independence… Even if we could prove that I’m older… Kaito went on this…whole thing, ‘bout how I’m too fucked up to be on my own… Whole thing is just…gonna be people moving me around, even if they say different and…fuck. That might be best ‘cause…what the hell am I gonna do?! I don’t know what to do! I just wanna buy too many apples ‘cause they’re in season and on sale and make enough cinnamon apple compote to send me into a food coma for five days…”

Arven looked pained, wishing he knew what Doppio was gonna do too. Already idly going over plans to offer to let Doppio just live with him, dammit. They could forge his mother’s signature, how hard could it be to get Doppio adopted?

…okay, that’d add some weird sibling dynamics to their relationship but, whatever, at least Doppio would be able to live the kind of life he wanted.

But Arven wasn’t sure how realistic any of that was. He didn’t know what life looked like, for someone like Doppio, trapped between CPS and a hard place. And he didn’t know if it was wise to decide to stay in the city, but just try to live alongside the guy who had sent a hitman after them and had drowned Doppio.

“...wanna try to sneak out to the market?” Arven asked, “Buy a shit-ton of apples?”

Doppio blinked slowly. “...we’re gonna give half the castle a heart-attack, at this rate, if we go ‘missing’ again.” A small, tired smile crept up on his face. “...yeah, kinda.”

Arven grinned. “We won’t go out the front gate. Bet you anything we could jump the wall. We’ll go, get apples, come back. No one will even notice we’re missing.”

Looking down at Chief, Arven said, “We just need to get our room, we’ll leave Chief in it and if anyone knocks he’ll bark, so they’ll think we’re in there. All our bases covered.”

Doppio smiled down at Chief, reaching down an arm to scratch the dog’s ears. “Best boy, giving us a cover? That sounds-”

“Like one of my plans,” Kokichi giggled, looking incredibly amused, though he did offer an apologetic look when Doppio startled, almost falling out of his chair. “Ah, sorry. But while I would like to encourage teenage rebellion like that…you two are high-risk targets, right now.”

“Apples are still an option, though, if you wanna do some shopping?” Tilting his head, Kokichi offered the boys two keys, trying to be a little more gentle in the face of Doppio’s wide-eyed shock.

“Shit!” Arven jolted, almost falling out of his own chair too.

And, realizing the heir-apparent had apparently heard the whole thing, Arven stuttered out, “W-we weren’t going to, uh… uh, we were coming right back, and, uh…”

Realizing denying it was pointless, he glanced at Doppio, before asking, “...you’d take us shopping, boss?”

Man…had he looked like this too? Kokichi gave Arven an amused look. “It wouldn’t matter, you’d be in and out before anyone noticed? You know, I would be impressed if you could figure out the guard rotation before sundown.”

Shaking his head, Kokichi knelt, offering his hand to Chief to sniff. “I would! My bodyguard, Nazumi--she’s Lake’s roommate, actually--would come with us since,” Kokichi gave the boys an amused look, indicating to himself, “I’m not much of a fighter, surprise, surprise, but…everything else besides something coming to blows? I’d be enough of a chaperone.”

“...even if my husband would disagree and insist on coming instead,” Kokichi rolled his eyes, “But that’s just ‘cause he’s fond of ya. And I’m gonna make sure he gets to enjoy this bath he’s apparently been waiting for.”

Doppio looked down at the key Kokichi had handed over. Gnawing on his lip a little. “...the…agents and guards and people aren’t…waiting?”

Kokichi shrugged. “They can wait longer.”

So, to Arven’s endless surprise, the heir apparent of Dicea took them apple shopping.

Arven was dutifully looking over the apples with Doppio, checking them one by one, while a woman who had introduced herself as Nazumi stood nearby, watching the market around them. As Arven carried the apples that he and Doppio picked, he glanced nervously at the heir apparent, fussing with the handles of the bag.

“...I feel like I should apologize for dragging you out here, boss,” Arven admitted. “I’m sure you have important things to be doing.”

“You aren’t dragging me anywhere, and this is the important thing for me to do,” Kokichi said easily, idly people watching under his frog umbrella. Which had been a surprise to Doppio, enough to send him mumbling and looking at the ground again until they’d made it to the market, where a certain focus had overtaken his nerves. “My family’s taken care of so you two are my absolute priority. Whether that means juggling meetings or taking you out shopping.”

“Also…I don’t mind if you’re more comfortable with it, but you can just call me Kokichi, Arven,” Kokichi shrugged. “I’m not quite the boss yet.”

“Oh, uh.” Arven looked down, blushing a little. “Sorry. I thought that was how you referred to Oumas. Everyone calls the king ‘boss’, after all. But, sure, I can call you Kokichi.”

Looking to Doppio, who still hadn’t exactly loosened up around the heir-apparent, Arven tried to think of a way to lighten the mood… “Your daughter is very cute, Kokichi,” Arven decided, since that was a compliment and felt fairly safe, conversation-wise. “Prince Kaito brings her around a lot, she’s very patient. And she does that thing where she’ll, like… yell with him. That’s pretty cute.”

“You’re not wrong, but…well, I’m just a guy, yeah? And for you two, I just happen to be a guy who’s married to the guy that’s been bullying his protection and care onto ya. Honestly, you could probably call me ‘dickhead’ and I’d only pout a little…unless Kai-chan’s around.”

Pausing putting an apple in Arven’s bag, Doppio gave Kokichi a surprised glance. Kaito had said Kokichi backed him up against his bullying assertion. Maybe love wasn’t totally blind…

Lighting up, Kokichi grinned widely. “Isn’t she?! Aw, it’s the cutest--ask my husband and he’ll talk all day about how Mi-Mi’s a daddy, or dada, or auntie’s girl, but the real truth of it is they’re on a wavelength I can only compete with ‘cause she’s so little. She was all pouty last night, not getting to see him, and Shuu-chan and I were only barely acceptable,” Kokichi rolled his eyes with a laugh.

Pausing, Doppio shifted his weight a little before speaking…and closing his mouth, clearing his throat, and trying again. “She, uh… The outfits Kaito’s picked out for her are really cute… I…wasn’t really sure what a ‘penguin’ was, but her kigu was very sweet.”

Kokichi blinked in surprise before he gave Doppio a determined look. “Next time you feel up to it, we’re going to the aquarium. Penguins are the best, you’ll see. Plus…” Kokichi smirked a little, giving the boys a knowing look. “I’ll tell ya from experience, it’s a great date location.”

Doppio burned red and quickly busied himself paying for the apples.

Arven grinned, looking excited at the idea. “I’d love to do that. I bet we’d see some cool fish, Aceto. And if we ever went diving ourselves, we’d know what we were looking at.”

Arven wasn’t sure why he brought that up. But once he had said it out loud, he knew that was something he wanted to do with Doppio. He wanted to go on little adventures with him. He wanted to go diving, and show him caves, and climb mountains. He wanted to take up Amaina’s quest: he wanted to show Doppio all the beautiful things. Things that Arven had, admittedly, sometimes taken for granted for himself. Traveling, looking for the Titan Herbs… he had rarely stopped to really enjoy the cool places that search had taken him.

Looking at those places with Doppio felt like an entirely different experience. The same way it had been with the hills. When had Arven so much as bothered to enjoy the hillsides? Would he have tried to climb that tree or just glanced at it before moving on? He wasn’t sure. He suspected the answer was that without Doppio, he’d have barely even seen it.

Feeling pumped at the idea, Arven laughed a little. “I’m sure we couldn’t convince Prince Kaito not to come… uh! Not that we don’t like him,” Arven said, suddenly remembering that Kokichi was literally this guy’s husband. “He’s, um…” Arven tried to think of the right words, “...a lot. A whole lot. But, he has had his moments. He caught Aceto in the air. That was pretty impressive, honestly.”

“...it’d be neat,” Doppio said quietly, giving Arven a soft smile. Though, honestly, that much was just because of Arven’s enthusiasm. Going diving together… Doppio had never considered something like that. Sure, he knew how to swim, but…well, when in his job would he ever have needed to dive? And even thinking of running away together, Doppio had mostly been thinking of the sorts of caverns Arven had been telling him about.

But…the world was really big, and…even considering that to be an exciting thing to explore? It was overwhelming, thinking about all the options, and knowing there were even more he didn’t know about. And right then…things just felt big, and Doppio felt overwhelmed even thinking about words to say so…he just focused on the apples. Had apples? Good. Clothes next, if they were out anyway.

Kokichi snickered a bit, following Doppio’s lead farther into the market. “My Kai-chan is very impressive, and he’s definitely a lot. And you’re right, that he’d probably insist on going too. He’s a big fan of fish, did you know? Our therapist has a koi pond on her roof where we do sessions, and he adores getting to pet them.”

His expression calming a little, Kokichi glanced to Doppio and sighed. “...yeah, I heard about that when Lake called. I’m really grateful you all are alright… How are you holding up?”

Kokichi tried not to be disappointed when Doppio opened his mouth, only to immediately close it and shrug.

“He wasn’t really hurt, thankfully,” Arven said for him, entirely uncertain how to draw Doppio into this conversation. He had never seen Doppio this distant or stand-offish before. Maybe this was just how Doppio was around people he didn’t know? Sure, he hadn’t been that way around Arven, but between the fight and then Kaito strong-arming them into a friendship, maybe there hadn’t been a chance to. Though, he hadn’t been this way to Nekomaru or Lake either…

“Do you do any cooking, Kokichi?” Arven asked, hoping to draw Doppio out using a shared interest. “Doppio wants to make cinnamon-apple compote out of these. Have you ever made something like that?”

Kokichi gave Arven a sheepish look. “No, unfortunately. Kai-chan is really the chef among us, which is why I assume you guys clicked so well initially.” Rolling his eyes at himself, he chuckled, “We made cookies together for Remembrance this year? Pretty much the second time I’ve done any sort of meaningful cooking, and while they were delicious… Kai-chan loves telling people this part, but he was finishing up something, and I tried to get started on dishes, and I just soaked myself. Really not one of my strengths yet, cooking.”

“But a cinnamon-apple compote sounds amazing!” Kokichi praised, giving off a certain…drool-energy as he gave Doppio an encouraging nod. “Like apple pie filling, right?”

Doppio nodded, before huffing a little at himself, still not quite up to actually looking at Kokichi while he spoke. “...pretty much exactly. I… Um. Is? There a place I-I could cook? At the castle?”

“Yupp!” Kokichi chirped. “We have some, like…cooking classrooms, I suppose? Kai-chan’s told me they’re similar to the set up they have at the place he takes lessons, that you all were at before.”

Able to take that much relief, at least, Doppio nodded again, before there was a certain set to his jaw. “...I’m gonna make the compote. The…the agents ‘n people can talk to me there.”

Arven looked at Doppio, Kokichi, Doppio… before asking in a moment of inspiration, “Anything else interesting in the castle?”

Arven didn’t actually know how realistic Doppio’s idea that Kaito was about to fight the adoption agency to take him actually was– as much as Kaito referenced Timothy as his son, Arven had heard that the kid wasn’t actually Kaito’s adopted kid in any official way, overhearing gossip about Luminary’s odd last name practices and Kaito’s situation being used as an example– as Arven was pretty sure they didn’t let you adopt kids after you mauled a person. Maybe if Prince Kokichi did it? Arven didn’t know.

But. He knew Doppio was worried about what that future looked like. So, maybe if he had something to look forward to… Arven wracked his brain for everything he knew about the castle, as he asked, “Lots of clubs and classes use the castle as a place to facilitate their events, right? I know that my class once went there to learn some dance techniques… I wasn’t any good.” Arven admitted, shrugging a little, “Two left feet. But it was still cool we could do it at the castle.”

“Oh yeah? I’m glad you still got something out of it, even if dancing’s not your thing,” Kokichi cheered. “But…yeah, always a ton of stuff going on. Made it a lot of fun, being a nosy little gremlin growing up. And being a nosy gremlin now! I’ve been a bit busy lately, but I love taking the painting classes we host there, and…man, everything from biology labs to aerobics classes to choir clubs? Always something going on.”

“I do have a soft spot for the observatory, though, just for evergreen places. Kai-chan knows waaaaay more technical knowledge about space and the universe, but I’ve always loved the view up there, with the telescope and not,” Kokichi hummed.

Doppio glanced over at Arven curiously. Not a dancer either? As much as he did enjoy Amaina’s vigor for it…that was kind of a relief. Doppio supposed he liked listening to music well-enough, but he really did enjoy it just…actually listening, rather than moving. It would be…embarrassing, if Arven had some twinkle toes and had been looking forward to pulling Doppio into a dance.

Stopping them at a clothing store, Doppio hummed softly. “...Kaito did say something about wanting to look at the stars, I think, my first night at the castle… Um…your gardens are really nice. I’d always heard about them, but…never really had the chance. …and you have some really friendly stray cats around.”

Kokichi lit up. “Right?! Oh, and it’s probably not a good season, and don’t tell my husband, but I’ve always been able to find a bunch of garden snakes when it’s warm out! Rabbits too! Aw, Kai-chan told me it was an orange cat that came up to you, right? I’ve seen him around for a few years, he’s really a sweetie.”

Arven felt himself pump up at that, looking to Doppio as he encouraged, “Oh, yeah? I know a certain someone who’d loooove to go bother garden snakes and rabbits and stray cats. We should do that tomorrow, Aceto! We can take our time exploring the gardens, seeing what kind of wildlife around here we could catch and let go.”

And then, thinking about Kokichi’s caveat, as he asked ‘innocently’, “Why not tell Kaito about the garden snakes though? He doesn’t know they’re there?”

Kokichi gave Doppio a warm look. Kaito had said he was an animal lover.

Meanwhile, Doppio gave Arven a sheepish, though hesitantly excited look. “That sounds like fun, yeah. If it’s gonna rain all day, maybe we’ll be able to see worms or…maybe even some garden toads…”

Kokichi did an admirable job not wrinkling his nose at the mention of worms, though he gave Arven a small sigh. “I’m not sure, actually--I can’t remember if I or my dad might’ve told him stories about ‘em. But Kai-chan’s not a big fan of snakes. I’ve never seen him more conflicted than when we went to the Reptile Conservation to pick out my other husband’s snake; he has a…a ball python, I think Nini is? Total sweetheart. But Kai-chan hated the whole process, and only went through with it ‘cause he knew how happy Shuu-chan would be.”

Arven did put on a pretty good innocent face, but, well, even without his cheat code, Kokichi had been the master of those. Giving Arven a dry look, Kokichi poked his arm. “Don’t. Look, I’ve tried to prank Kai-chan with stuff he’s genuinely scared of before, and we almost started a forest fire for my efforts. Sorry, but I’ll ask you to get more creative.”

Doppio perked up from where he was trying to subtly select some underwear. “Oh! Reptile place! Kaito told me about that; I forgot! Arven, we should go there sometime!”

Arven put up his hands in surrender, laughing sheepishly, “Alright, alright, fine, no reptiles for the husband. Got it, hear you. Though, oh! Your other husband has a python??”

Arven reached out and poked Doppio’s arm– pointedly not looking at the underwear Doppio was considering and definitely not thinking about what Doppio would look like in them– as he asked, “After we’re done cooking today, maybe we can convince him to let us go look at his snake? Those things can get big, I’d love a chance to be draped in a snake.”

“...what other stuff is Kaito genuinely afraid of?” Arven asked innocently again, giving Kokichi a curious look, “Not just snakes? Or is this his weird ‘spice’ thing?”

Kokichi chuckled softly. “Ball pythons are a bit smaller than what you’re probably imagining, but Nini still has some serious drape skills. For sure, I’ll ask Shuu-chan if he’s up for introducing Nini to some new people today! He’s a very chill snake, but, still. Gotta be respectful of any animal’s boundaries.”

A little pink as he took his quarry to check out--if he didn’t look down he couldn’t think about what he was buying--Doppio gave Kokichi a look with newfound respect. …nice and kind to animals, huh?

As Doppio bought his briefs, Kokichi gave Arven a huffy look. Followed by a doubtful, curious one. “...I’m not just going to tell you so you can freak him out, you know. …and did you dare him to eat spicy food again? Honestly, after everything with Souda you’d think he’d learn by now…”

Doppio raised an eyebrow, leading them back out of the shop. “Did…he and Souda have a spicy food competition or something? And, uh…no. We didn’t dare him or anything…”

Arven’s quest to find new ways to prank Kaito had hit an unprecedented setback: the heir-apparent was protective, apparently. Or Kaito’s reactions really would edge the ‘dangerous’ territory, though Arven wasn’t sure what the harm in just making the guy scream was. Honestly, after all the ‘sex’ talk, Arven felt like he and Doppio were owed one good scream after finding a garden snake in a flower or bush they had pointed out or something. Nothing that would put the snake in danger of thrashing, just a moment of being startled by Sudden Snake.

Though, Arven coughed a little at the question about the spices. Briefly he considered lying, but somehow lying to the future ruler of Dicea felt… bad. So, scratching his chin instead, Arven said, “We may have played a small joke on him. He mentioned he didn’t like hot things, so we put a few hot chilis in some of the chicken we knew he was going to eat.”

Arven paused, before agreeing, “He really doesn’t like hot things, turns out.”

“Oh no,” Kokichi groaned, but maybe to Arven’s continued surprise, he chuckled through it as well. “Did he start throwing up too? My poor guy…”

Shaking his head, Kokichi sighed. “Yeah, he can’t handle any spice; my sister-in-law either. It was to my greatest delight that Shuu-chan got a taste for things hotter than black pepper during his pregnancy, and it stuck around. Like, sure, it’s no bother to me to point out spicy things, or double check to make sure there’s mild versions of meals we have, but…yanno?! Sometimes I just want something with a kick and I wanna enjoy it with someone!”

Doppio had been a little surprised by Kokichi’s good cheer considering what they’d pulled--why was he so nice--but…as the prince talked about sharing food with another person, he wilted, looking back at the ground. “...is…are milk ‘n…eggs uh…communal ingredients, I guess, or…should I pick some up?”

Kokichi’s smile faded as he gave Doppio a concerned look. “...it probably can’t hurt to pick some up.”

Arven was surprised at how well Kokichi took it, but laughed along with him, relaxing as he admitted, “He did, yeah. I felt a bit bad about that part of it. Really expected him to just drink some water or something.”

But as Doppio drooped, something withdrawing him again, Arven was a little lost as to what had happened. Unsure how to salvage the conversation, they went to get the milk and eggs, Arven insisting each time he could carry the groceries, though admittedly near the end he was struggling a little with the apples, eggs, and milk all at once. He didn’t want to admit he was struggling, but as his arms started to shake when heading back to the castle he finally admitted that he was in danger of dropping one of the bags, and the bags were distributed more evenly between the four of them– Nazumi having been the one to point out that Arven was about to crash any second there– the trip back to the castle going more smoothly after that.

As they walked, Arven asked, “I can understand wanting to share some spicier meals with someone and missing getting the chance to. It’s been a year now, right? Since the treaty wedding? I imagine you’ve had to give up a few things, living with Luminaries. Is it…” Arven tilted his head, having been trying to make small talk, but realizing this was something he was genuinely interested in knowing about, “...weird? Living with Luminaries? Prince Kaito’s been a strange introduction to that people, honestly. Are the others like him?”

“Well, some of it is just…being in a relationship, and learning to live closely with more people,” Kokichi hummed. “It’s different, to just being on your own, and I hadn’t really realized, or been ready for what that meant. To give up that kind of pure selfishness, you know?”

“But there has been a learning curve with cultural differences,” Kokichi huffed a light-hearted, but tired laugh. “And, well, if you’ve only knowingly met Kai-chan, as your introduction to a Luminous person? One of the more difficult things I realized was just how unique my family was, when it came to their experiences in Luminary. There are differences, but by and large, most Luminaries are just…people.”

Doppio gave a short nod to that, though he still hadn’t fully recovered from before.

Humming, Kokichi tilted his head, thinking of the best ways to explain his life with his new family. “The concept of hierarchy was a big point between us--there’s a super rigid class structure in Luminary, and people genuinely believe in it, and…even now it still kind of feels like one day someone’s gonna pull me aside and explain that it’s a big joke, you know? But…it’s not, and learning to understand how that affects my family’s worldviews has been a struggle. Ah, and that our countries’ rules of etiquette and respect are…almost literally reversed? Had a ton of misunderstandings about that…”

“Really? Learning to live with my family has just been an eye-opener into how little of the world I really knew,” Kokichi nodded, giving Arven a gentle look. “And I’m still learning, honestly. It’s taken a lot of patience and communication, but…if you have the willingness to practice those things? I’ve learned so many wonderful things about my family and their homeland too, more than just the differences. It’s been a privilege, getting to see the world from their eyes. Hopefully one that will be more common as our world gets more connected.”

Doppio nodded slowly, a little distracted. “Trains.”

Kokichi’s eyes widened a little in surprise before he smiled. “Trains, definitely.”

“Trains?” Arven asked.

Kokichi gave him the short explanation: a mode of transportation that would make getting across continent a journey of a matter of weeks rather than months, potentially even a matter of days, someday, once it was refined enough. Kokichi also pointed out how unlikely it was to happen in their lifetimes, though ‘Kaito got excited about the idea in a general sort of way’.

Arven had felt excited at first, but the realities of what an endeavor like that would require, even by his amateurish understanding of it, felt a little unrealistic as eventually Arven just nodded along. “That sounds like a very interesting concept. I don’t know if I’d want to visit Luminary, that sounds pretty intimidating, but if I really could travel that far, anywhere? There’s lots of places I’d like to see for myself. I hear the plant life in Danganronpa is robust, I’m sure there’s plenty of herbs I’d be fascinated by there.”

Seeing that Doppio still wasn’t feeling talkative, Arven risked being rude to the prince by slowing his pace, walking closer to Doppio now as he whispered, “Hey? What’s the matter? You’ve been down since the underwear section…” Arven grinned a little cheekily. “Didn’t like the selection?”

“Honestly I find Ronpan plant life to be intimidating on its own,” Kokichi sort of mumbled, before he offered up an encouraging smile. “I’ll admit the trade applications get my brain going, but…not speaking as the heir? That’s one of the things I find most exciting about the concept. Could you imagine, being able to go across the continent for a weekend trip?! It’s incredible.”

Kokichi didn’t mind Arven falling back--more than the crush and developments, Kokichi could see that the boys were close, and he didn’t want to get in the way of that--and he walked by Nazumi to chat as they headed back to the castle.

Doppio looked up as Arven came…back? To him? Though his cheeks burned at the way Arven decided to broach conversation. “They were fine. Just…happy to get some clothes that don’t stink, really…”

He sighed, looking away. “...feels dumb. Feels like we’ve talked about it, like, a million times, and I’ve talked about it with Kaito too and… I feel stupid, to just…bring it up again.” To still be feeling how he was feeling.

Ducking his head in shame, a bit, Doppio mumbled, “...Prince Kokichi…talking about sharing food with people… Miss cooking for Boss.”

Arven held back the sigh, though he felt it in his bones. He just… really didn’t understand why. Sure, he knew that Doppio’s boss was more a father than an actual boss, which complicated things, but… his dad was a dick. Arven couldn’t comprehend why Doppio would miss any of it. It sounded miserable to him.

Scratching his stomach a little, Arven tried, “You don’t have to feel stupid, but… is it just the act of cooking for someone? Because I’d happily eat anything you wanted to make me, if that helps? Just because you’re not working anymore doesn’t mean you’ll never cook again. I mean, that’s what we’re going to do now!” Arven grinned, trying to be uplifting. “I’m really looking forward to it!”

Doppio smiled softly and, after a moment of nervously looking around, gently pressed his shoulder to Arven’s, tilting his froggy-hooded head against his. “I think…it’ll feel better when I’m actually cooking, you know? And sharing it. Just…kinda bums me out right now ‘cause…I’m just thinking, and not doing…if that makes sense. But…”

Looking down for a bashful moment, Doppio blushed. “...thanks. I’d cook you anything you ever want…i-if you wanted that.”

“I would,” Arven said, hooking his pinky around Doppio’s. “And I’ll go hunt down any ingredients you could possibly want. Between the two of us, our meals are going to be fresh and awesome. If… if that’s something enticing to you?” Arven asked, suddenly looking sheepish. “I mean, obviously we could always go to the market for whatever you need, but… I really am good at foraging and gardening and all of that. If you wanted specific ingredients, fresh? You could tell me the night before and I’d have it ready in the morning.”

And it wouldn’t be as easy as just saying that, but Arven meant it. If Doppio wanted strawberries on his pancakes the next morning? Arven would go out and get to the hills and find strawberry patches and bring it back to proudly hand them over by daylight. He knew he’d do that because the thought of doing so made him happy. He honestly loved that mental image, bringing Doppio food to cook with. It gave a new perspective to his love of plants, something he had never even considered before: the use of his love of herbology as a provider, rather than just for research.

Doppio blushed a little more, but a grin grew on his face as he flexed his pinky, entwining it more purposefully with Arven’s. “You’d get the best ingredients. We could probably have critics begging us to open a restaurant, if we worked together. But I think I’d prefer just cooking for you.”

“A-and…”

Oh. Um. That was a little…

Swallowing nervously, Doppio glanced up at their escorts before leaning more towards Arven, whispering, “...I think I’d miss you if you were gone all night though. I-if we were staying together… I, um…”

It was a small grace, that having his hood up meant fewer people could see his scarlet face. “...I-I wanted to talk with you about it more, but, um… I was really happy, that morning in the hills when you hugged me in your sleep? I know I’m kinda…a dead fish, but, um…if…you wanted to? Could we…maybe, um. Start? The night like that some time?”

Arven burned bright red.

He and Doppio just walked together, both looking like they were having little mental explosions, steam radiating off of them due to the intensity of the heat they were giving off, on top of the rain. It took Arven a second to realize what Doppio had actually said, his brain short circuiting for a moment, before he sputtered, “U-uh, yeah! Yeah? Yes! I mean, if you want to? Not that I don’t want to! I mean, I want to if you want to, which you do, so… so that works!”

Arven sputtered some more, trying to figure out what the heck was happening… before he grinned wobbly. “...Kaito’s gonna call shenanigans if we sleep in the same bed together. We’re gonna have to be sneaky about it.”

(Kokichi and Nazumi shared a look, trying not to be obvious about snickering together. Aw.)

Doppio lit up, some of the happiest he had looked that day, though he rolled his eyes with a small sneer. “What’s he gonna do, tuck us in? Sit in the corner all night? If he’s actually taking his medication, I’ll guarantee I wake up before him, and I can just change beds if I hear him coming. It’s not like they’d keep us from locking the room, right?”

He soon calmed, though, and gave Arven a sweet, excited look. “...I’d really enjoy it.”

“Gods, do not give him that idea. I feel like he’d tuck us in just trying to intimidate us out of it,” Arven said dryly, though he laughed a little at Doppio’s solution, tickled pink by them.

Taking Doppio’s hand more fully into his own, he said softly, excited as well, “Me too. I’d really like it too.”

As they got back to the castle, both that warm excitement and Doppio’s depressed haze were nowhere to be found, instead replaced with an almost demanding anger as he set down their grocery items in the cooking classroom, and told Kokichi that he was going to do his interviews while he was cooking, or not at all. And…some of that was kind of disappointing, since it was always fun cooking with Arven…but Doppio had picked this recipe for a reason, when they had first been talking about it, and…

…there was no way he was going to get through telling the agents the truth any other way. Not if he was just…sitting across from them and talking.

So by the time he heard a knock on the door, and footsteps entering, Doppio was already decked out in a borrowed apron, furiously peeling apples with a paring knife. Stating firmly, “I’m cooking while we’re doing this, deal with it.”

Peach Shnops glanced at her partner, Aurange Juce, who just gave her a small shrug back. They didn’t usually send two CPS agents for interviews like this, but after the incident with Apple Leif, they had decided it was safer to have two sources of accountability to report back.

There were a lot of things that weren’t ‘normal’ about this interview already. For one, they had an audience. A, uh, sizable one. Prince Kokichi was there, as well as Guardsman Lake and another guard. On top of that, a boy named Arven was there, assisting Doppio in cooking, which made this kitchen more crowded and busy than these interviews usually were.

But, well, this was an unprecedented case. So, Peach put her hands together and smiled softly, her high, sweet voice chiming out, “That’s certainly not a problem. Though, we do need you to answer the questions as fully as possible, Aceto–”

“Call him Doppio,” Arven called over his shoulder, prepping the cookware.

“Is that what you would like to be called, young man?” Peach asked.

Doppio nodded tensely, the knife a comfortably whir in his hands, peels almost flying off in spiraled ribbons. It had made him happy to do, a sort of challenge and whimsy that really was just as efficient as peeling them any other way. “I prefer to be called by my last name, thank you.”

While her face didn’t betray much, Lake watched the boys with a certain amount of gentleness. There wasn’t a way this wouldn’t be a difficult process to get through, but if Doppio had found a way to distract himself enough to get through it…good. Even if knives and fire weren’t usually great things to have nearby during tense conversations.

Plopping one more peeled apple into the solution of cold water and lemon juice he’d filled a bowl with, Doppio huffed. “I’ll answer best I can, but I might just not have an answer to some things, and it’s not me lying. I have memory issues, and I only have consistent memories going back a couple years. So if you need more information than that…tough luck.”

Aurange nodded, flipping open his notebook and jotting something down, before asking, “The first thing we should clear up is confirming what’s been reported: Doppio, your last report with Child Protective Services was false, and that false statement was coerced by the CPS agent herself, Apple Leif. Is that correct?”

“And at this moment, do you feel that anyone in this room will harm you or someone you care for if you do not alter the truth in your statements?” Peach asked, “If you are forthcoming about who it is, everyone else in this room can and will take active steps to remove them and ensure both you and your loved ones’ safety. This is an environment where you have the advantage, Doppio, and it would be wise to take advantage.”

Doppio grit his teeth and flicked off a peel. His hands shaking just enough to mess up the spiral. Of all the fucking questions…

Breathe. Not that kind of anger, Aceto. You need to get through this, so don’t think. You’re peeling apples right now.

“No. I purposefully gave a false statement, but I believe Ms. Leif had similar goals to the reason why I was lying, so she didn’t bother doubting my word. While false, nothing in the report she gave was misrepresenting anything I said.”

One more apple in the bowl. There was gonna be so much fucking compote.

Despite his attempts, Doppio’s voice still came out a little strained. “Yes. Talking about this at all is going to bring harm t-to Boss, but that’s not what you’re talking about. But…but I don’t have a choice anymore. An investigation into him is…is out of my hands, now. No matter what I say.”

And while he tried to keep focused, Doppio looked up and made eye-contact with Lake, and she recognized the pleading gleam in his eyes. Nodding, she softly spoke up. “That’s right. Between your note and the investigation into Mr. Klaus, regardless of your own further involvement, we’re going to be investigating your Boss, Doppio. So…anything you say here is for your own sake, bud.”

Deep breaths. Keep peeling.

Peach and Aurange glanced at each other, Peach smiling with only a slight bead of sweat on her forehead while Aurange sighed, jotting a note down. Smiling soothingly, Peach said, “I know this can all seem overwhelming, Doppio, but it’ll be over soon. Just bare with us.”

“With that said: if you gave a false statement, Doppio, then why did you feel the need to do that, if no coercion was involved?”

Arven rolled his eyes as he washed the apples. Why even ask that? Doppio had just said, hadn’t he? That he didn’t want his boss to get investigated. These guys were wasting time.

It’d get done faster if they stopped trying to talk about how they understood this sucked.

“I didn’t want any investigation,” Doppio said bluntly, some ‘no shit’ tone edging into his voice, despite his struggles to distract himself. “If I could’ve gotten by with you all throwing that report in the recycling, and I could’ve just gone home with everyone forgetting about this, I would’ve.”

Kokichi gave the two agents a searching look. He supposed it was just to affirm and cover bases but…kids lied. People protected their abusers. It wasn’t such an outlandish thing, Doppio had done--it was only remarkable in that Apple Leif had played along and let it happen.

Peach smiled, nodding. “Of course. But, an investigation with nothing wrong might have actually been faster than lying altogether. I suppose what we’re asking, is did you have concerns about what we would find? Was there something in particular you felt like you needed to hide?”

“The reason the case was originally open was a report by Prince Kaito and Doctor Kimura that you had shown signs of being attacked and drowned. When asked about it by Apple Leif, you stated that you were ill being caught beneath a pipe in a workplace accident. Is that still your statement?”

What a roundabout question. Ugh. Maybe this was why Boss had someone planted in CPS, if they were all this infuriating to talk to.

Doppio placed another apple in the bowl, starting to peel another. Don’t think don’t think don’t think--

“My boss drowned me in our bathtub, he’d clogged the drain,” Doppio said, a detached airiness to his voice as his eyes remained fixed on the apple in his hands. “I don’t know the exact timeframe, but I arrived home around 9 in the morning, we talked for what couldn’t’ve been more than 15 minutes, then, after he let me up and I was dismissed, it was around 10:30.”

“The injury on my arm was from a separate, work-related incident. I don’t remember if Kaito reported it, but I had a large bruise on my face, that was from being punched by Boss.”

Kokichi’s eyes widened. Even if that was what they had guessed, hearing Doppio explain exactly how it had happened… He took comfort in the small touch to his shoulder Lake gave him, trying to focus on that rather than…wanting to go give Doppio a hug, and promise nothing would ever hurt him again.

Arven stared at the apple he was washing.

…what?

There was a difference between hearing vaguely that Doppio had been hurt by his boss, to hearing… that. Suddenly, Arven felt very small. Overwhelmed. He wasn’t sure… how someone dealt with something like that. How you lived with it, or even ran from it. It suddenly occurred to him that he couldn’t actually fathom that a hitman had been after them. It was just something someone had said. It hadn’t felt true.

Arven felt his hands shake, and as absolutely frustrated as he was with all of them, he was suddenly relieved there were a bunch of adults around. He didn’t know how to solve something like this. It felt beyond him.

Aurange jotted down a note, as Peach sighed softly. “We’ll add the bruise to the report, but no, he hadn’t mentioned it.”

“Likely thought the whole ‘water in chest’ thing would be enough, if not the arm gashes,” Aurange muttered. “For the sake of the investigation, do you know why the attack occurred? The drowning, I mean. Did you two have an argument?”

Arven squeezed the apple he was working on so hard that the skin mushed beneath his fingers. What did it matter!? He said the boss had done it! Go arrest him, who cared why!?

For the most part, the plan was just to let Doppio get through this, but as Lake watched the proceedings… She crossed over to the sink Arven was standing at, shielding his face from the others. Saying softly, “If you need to get out of here, you can. Do you want to stay?”

Doppio didn’t even glance up at Lake, though, just mechanically going through the same process he had been. Pick up an apple, peel. Put in the bowl. Repeat. Don’t think. Don’t think. Don’t think.

There’s not a single thought in your stupid, cotton-stuffing head anyway. You’re just moving, just saying words. It doesn’t matter. Don’t think, just keep moving.

“He was happy with me. Happiest he’s been in a while,” Doppio said blankly. “But then he said I’d talked too long and he lost his train of thought, so he grabbed my head and pushed me under the water. I tried not to struggle to just get it over with, but I couldn’t help it after a while.”

Doppio blinked, realizing he was turning the paring knife against air, before he blinked again and grabbed another apple.

Arven didn’t want to leave Doppio. He really didn’t. It’d feel like a betrayal.

But he was starting to cry.

He bit his lip, furious with himself. Why was he crying? It was stupid, nothing was happening to him, and he needed to be strong for Doppio… but he felt a small hiccup bubble at the back of his throat, and realizing he was risking being a hindrance to what was happening, he put the apple down. Practically gnawing on his bottom lip as he let Lake lead him out of the room, furiously wiping his eyes with his sleeves as he tried to swallow the tears down. Pull it together, pull it together, get back in there but stop crying first.

Aurange jotted again, as Peach gave Doppio her softest look. “Oh dear… do incidents like this happen often, between you two?”

“How long have you been living in Mr. Ginocchio’s household?” Aurange asked.

Out in the hall, Lake didn’t immediately re-enter. Her colleague was the one taking notes anyway, they just had two of them for security, but…well. She was needed here. They’d be okay inside for a bit.

Pulling a pack of tissues from her pocket, Lake offered them to Arven, still speaking softly. “Arven? Is it alright if I touch you?”

Dear? He wasn’t a dear… Why would…

“Not often. He’s not a violent person, and I didn’t need to be corrected often. I just…mess up, sometimes, and take unnecessary risks, and he needed to make sure I’d remember why it was bad.”

Doppio took another apple but paused with his knife just under the skin. Some of the fog dissipating as he actually looked at Aurange, confusion tinting his features. “...who?”

Kokichi frowned. “...your boss, Doppio.”

Doppio blinked, before he nodded slowly and went back to his task. “Oh. …I don’t know. As far back as I can remember. He’s told me, when I questioned it before, that I got things squared away with…whatever guardians I may have had, to take the job, but…I don’t remember that. I can only ever remember being with Boss.”

Aurange opened his mouth to say something, but Peach put her hand up, and he quieted.

Peach smiled warmly, putting her hands back together. “Doppio? Do you know your boss’s name?”

(Yes.)

(Of course he did. How could he not, since he was…)

“No,” Doppio said softly. “...he’s very private. S’ why he needed a personal assistant, so he never had to see anyone, and no one ever needed to know anything about him.”

“I see,” Peach said, nodding, “Please give me one moment with my colleague.”

As the two CPS agents whispered to each other, outside, Arven nodded, though as he did he managed to say through grit teeth, “I’m sorry, I’m being stupid, I want to be in there, he shouldn’t be alone.”

Gently, watching and being aware of any tension in Arven’s body the instant he looked like he didn’t want her touching him, Lake brought him into a hug, cradling his head and rubbing his back. “You’re a good friend, and a good partner, Arven, to want to be there for him. I know you’re a huge relief to Doppio, staying by his side.”

“But you’re not being stupid, and you don’t have to apologize,” she hummed, rocking him gently when he didn’t push away. “Something horrific happened to someone you care deeply for. There’s nothing wrong with you for empathizing with that, and…being scared, or feeling sick, or just needing a moment to cry, alright? We’re here to support Doppio through this, but not at the expense of destroying ourselves too.”

“...so if you need to cry for a bit? I’ll stay out here with you, okay? Doppio’s got other people looking after him, until we feel alright enough to go back. Even if that looks like only heading in after the interview’s done.”

“...I’m so sorry, Ven,” Lake sighed, holding him closer. “It’s not fair, that this is happening to you guys.”

Arven tried to fight the sob at the bottom of his throat again, and while something in him instinctively stiffened up at the entirely foreign feeling of being held… after a moment he let himself lean into it. Resting his head on her collarbone as he pressed against her, sobbing.

The shame didn’t go away. But neither did the tears, as he wept, “I j-just, hfff, I came so close to, hrrrrngh, to h-helping him go back th-there! H-he coulda–aaah– c-coulda died! I-I’m so stupid!”

Inside, the two CPS agents finished discussing, before looking back to Doppio. “Doppio, because both you and the system are unaware of who your guardians are, and we cannot confirm otherwise, we’re treating your residency with the individual in question as a case of abduction and unlawful imprisonment. If we can find guardians who can confirm both their relationship to you and their approval of your residency, we will reconsider those charges. But for now, that will be one aspect of this case file moving forward. Do you have any questions regarding that?”

Lake just kept rubbing his back, holding Arven as he cried. “You believed in your friend while he was scared and felt alone. That’s an amazing thing to do, Arven. The circumstances being against you doesn’t make that act of bravery and compassion stupid. You did good. You did wonderful. Nothing changes that.”

Thankfully, she and Kaito had been able to intervene. It wasn’t Arven’s fault that being a good friend meant that, potentially, Doppio could’ve died. They just needed more help than they had.

Help they were getting now.

Doppio lost his grip on the apple, some of the lemon water splashing over the sides of the bowl as he looked on blankly. Before getting out a slightly larger knife and taking one of the peeled apples out of the bowl and starting to core and slice it.

Don’t think Don’t think Don’t think Don’t think Don’t

“...I could’ve left any time I wanted,” Doppio said softly. “I just didn’t want to.”

(...they would never find anyone. No one in the world wanted him, if Boss didn’t…)

(...why…was he…)

“You’re a minor, Doppio,” Peach explained softly, “Whether you wanted to be there or not doesn’t matter much, in regards to a kidnapping charge. Accountability for a minor’s quality of life is a responsibility of a guardian. Whether you were in that residency because of an agreement or an abduction, you were still wronged and in danger, so we need to find out how that happened so that another child doesn’t replace you.”

“Which leads to my next question,” Aurange said, “Is there anyone else you’re aware of in your situation? Were there other children or teenagers working for your employer?”

“We don’t know that,” Doppio said, his knifework quick and efficient. For all he was clumsy and unlucky, damn had he put a lot of work into his knife skills. The sound of him slicing up the apples was pleasant, to his ears. Soft and rhythmic. “I don’t know how old I am. This could all be useless, if I’m not actually a minor.”

“...no. None of the other employees I ever made contact with were minors.”

Peach nodded. “That’s true, we have been informed that you’re not actually aware of your age. We’ve searched for any records of an Aceto Doppio, and unfortunately we haven’t found anything yet.”

Aurange added in, “So, the next step forward is to get an assessment by a healer and, ultimately, just accept their best guess. We are inclined to assume you are a minor though, for a variety of reasons, such as the following.”

Looking at his notebook, Aurange asked, “Doppio, as far as you are aware, do you have any medical records?”

“Educational records?” Peach added in.

“Dental records?” Aurange continued, “Family records, or recorded job history?”

Chop-chop-chop-chop-chop

(he didn’t want to go to a healer again)

(he didn’t want them touching him like before)

(he didn’t want any weird machines used on him)

Dontthinkdontthinkdontthinkdontthinkdontthinkdontthinkdontthinkdontthink

“No,” someone said.

Doppio didn’t think it was him. He was just chopping apples. Why would he need to speak anyway? He was just a █████ he had nothing to say, and he had nothing to do on his own since he couldn’t do anything without █████ and--

“Doppio?”

The teen blinked, having trouble focusing on the…prince, next to him. Kokichi looked on worriedly.

“We can take a break, if you need a second.”

Doppio looked at the new bowl of apple slices. He needed to add brown sugar and cinnamon now… “...I just want to get this over with.”

“Actually, we’re close to the end of our questions anyway,” Peach said softly, Aurange nodding next to her, “This is more than enough to base a case around. What we really need to go over is what to expect next, Doppio.”

“The castle has offered to provide you a room with added security from the castle guardforce, in light of not only the attack made against you, but the capture of a man accused of acting as a hitman against you,” Aurange explained, closing his notebook and giving Doppio a tired look, “Considering the circumstances, we intend to take the castle up on the offer of protection for now, though we are exploring other avenues as well.”

“We’ll need to assign a new guardian to you, though for now the castle staff will act as de facto guardians, with King Ouma taking responsibility for your wellbeing as the current caretaker of the castle. The castle is well used to this circumstance, it’s a common practice to house at risk orphans within castle walls when it’s too dangerous to assign them a foster family. No foster family could offer the protection of a concentrated guardforce.”

As they explained this, Arven and Lake quietly came back into the room, Arven finally calming down enough as Lake reassured him. Arven was a little embarrassed of the bags under his eyes, but was glad he was back in time to hear this, as he called out, “I’m staying with Aceto.”

Peach and Aurange looked at Arven, and Aurange whispered in Peach’s ear, as she nodded. “Ah, I see… actually. Arven. We’d actually like to talk to you as well about your circumstance. But, that doesn’t need to happen today. It’s already been decided among the guards that you should stay in the castle as well, at least temporarily, as an argument has been made that you’d be a realistic target for further aggression in regards to Doppio’s case. So, yes. You will be staying here as well.”

Arven frowned, a rush of alarm running through him. Staying for Doppio was one thing. But… it kinda sounded like CPS was looking at him now. That… was scary.

Doppio just passively absorbed…his new reality, he supposed, tossing the apples with a few cups of brown sugar and spoons of cinnamon. Staying at the castle. Legally under the king. Protected by the Guardforce since (Boss wanted him dead. He’d betrayed him. No one left Passione of their own accord.) And…

Doppio looked up, gold eyes a little too wide as the agents talked about (ruining Arven’s life too.) A prickle of something under his skin, a feeling like

…like…

Doppio looked at his chopping knife

…he’d promised not to.

Lake squeezed Arven’s shoulder. “It’ll be okay, bud. Even if it’s scary.”

…Kokichi gave Doppio a long look. A gentle frown on his face.

“...’mean, mom’s just at an excavation, so…” Arven muttered. Would his mother finally come back, if she knew CPS was looking at taking him from her? She… she would, right? Like, if nothing else brought her home, that’d have to.

…right?

“Alright!” Peach said, smiling brightly, “I know that was very hard, but you did very well, Doppio. And your apples are very evenly cut, it’s very impressive!”

“We can’t say that’s the end of questions in general,” Aurange warned him, “Eventually there’s going to need to be answers for what the nature of your work was.”

“But that’s not the most pressing thing at the moment,” Peach said, “And whatever you did for your work is not something you can be charged for. That’s why it’s so important, Doppio, to establish that you are a minor… Anything you did for someone who abducted you? Is an act of coercion, even if you agreed.”

This wasn’t a reassurance. This was a caution. Peach trying to stress to Doppio that he needed this minor status. It was what would protect him more than anything else.

“Alright, we’re going to go talk to the king next, give him our report and let him know the decisions we came to,” Aurange said, writing down a note before tearing the paper off, walking up to hand it to Doppio. “This is our full names and our agency location. If you need anything, you can call us using the castle phone, or come to our agency directly. We’re in charge of your case file, which means we’re in charge of ensuring you have protections in place. Utilize us, however you need.”

“Otherwise? The castle will take good care of you,” Peach said warmly, “As we said before, this is old hat for them. Even Lake here went through this process with the castle, as did many of the staff themselves. Everyone here is familiar with how it works, and it’s a system that has proven to work. Though, for more long term care, we’re going to wait until after the investigation is over to work out what’s next for you, Doppio.”

Aurange looked to Arven. “We’ll get in contact with you soon. For now? King Ouma also has emergency temporary guardianship over you as well. Just until things can be settled.”

“Oh,” Arven said, feeling a little lost, “Okay.”

Of course they were evenly cut. He was a professional.

…he was a professional. Everything he did, he did with pride, a job well done. It didn’t matter what was asked of him, he did it as best he could, like a good little █████.

Quickly washing his hands, Doppio took the paper and put it on the counter, before upending the bowl into a high-walled saucepan, turning the heat on low. Just had to stir and wait, now.

Just wait. Just wait until…

Lake nodded along, not being as bombastic, when both of the boys were visibly shaken, but trying to bring in a little cheer. “It’s actually a pretty sweet gig. Five stories of everything you can think of? Not bad.”

Kokichi smiled softly at the boys. “We’ll take things one step at a time, alright? Your safety is a priority, but you’re not just along for the ride.”

“Are we done?” Doppio said stiffly, just barely not cutting Kokichi off.

Arven hesitated at Doppio’s foul mood. But, well, that should be expected. This was the thing he had been afraid of, after all. Everything just sort of… happening now. Around him. And regardless of what Kaito or Lake or Kokichi promised… it really did seem pretty largely out of their control.

But, well, what was in their control, at least a little bit, was making this food. So, turning to Lake, the unknown guardsman taking notes, and Prince Kokichi, Arven said, “You’ve gotten all you need from us, right? We’re just gonna keep making our food. We don’t need you to stay.”

With a small smile, Lake nodded, peeking over her colleague’s work as they prepared to go, but Kokichi hesitated, looking between the boys. Unsure what was the wise thing to do… But he nodded. “Alright… I’m going to be in the West Wing on this floor, if you need anything. I’ll…well, Kai-chan might want to come talk to you guys, in a bit, but for now…”

He sighed. “...I’m sorry, to you both.”

Doppio didn’t even look up as he stirred the apples. They were already starting to smell lovely.

Arven didn’t know what Prince Kokichi had to be sorry for. Maybe he just meant in general. Or maybe he meant because he had let his husband ride out into the countryside and drag them both back here. Or maybe he meant for how awful this talk had felt.

Arven didn’t know. So he just said, “Okay,” because he didn’t know what else to say, before walking over to Doppio’s side.

Though, seeing the apples made him remember, and he turned back and said to Kokichi, “Thank you for taking us shopping.”

Kokichi gave him a soft grin back. “It was my pleasure. If you guys ever wanna do a trip like that again, I’d be thrilled to be invited along. I try to make sure to get some time away, but I don’t do it as enough as I should--it’d be nice to have the excuse, with great company.”

With a wave, he left.

The apples didn’t need constant stirring, so Doppio stepped away, aiming to bring the bowls and knives to the sink to start cleaning them. And, for a moment he just stared at the bowls in his hands, arms shaking slightly. Something indecipherable crossing over his still mostly blank face, before he put them down, grabbed a dish towel, and threw it harshly at the ground.

It was soft enough it barely made a sound.

“Fuck!”

“Yeah.” Arven agreed with a sigh, leaning back on the kitchen counter and crossing his arms, glaring at the floor, “That about sums it up, huh.”

“FUCK!” Doppio shouted, bringing a fist down on the counter as he hunched over it, that placid blankness shattering into anguish. “MANNAIA LA CULONNA!! FUCK!”

Doppio grabbed the sides of his head, just shouting at this point, everything starting to hit, that he’d put off. They thought Boss kidnapped him. They thought he was some poor, helpless child who was beaten around by some monster, and now they were going to hunt down Boss like one and it was all his fault, it was Doppio’s fault for daring to exist, to want to exist, to be anything more than a █████ to want anything more than █████ to let people think he could do anything and--

…and…

…o-ow…

Doppio grimaced, a painful twinge going through his abdomen, but that pain was enough for him to get out of his head. And, deflating, he looked back up and…

Doppio blinked, his face falling as he really…took in Arven. He’d…sort of registered that he’d left at one point, but… A soft sort of anguish in his eyes, Doppio gently cupped Arven’s cheek. “...you were crying.”

Arven looked away, embarrassed, as he said, “Th-that doesn’t matter… are you okay? I mean, obviously you’re not, but…”

Scoffing, Arven looked at the ground. “Sorry. I don’t really know what to say. This is all a lot, isn’t it? I… I just hated hearing about all those terrible things that happened to you. I didn’t know what to do.”

Doppio let his hand drop, though in the same motion he tried to link their pinkies, even if the angle was a little weird. “...I’m sorry. A-and I’m sorry they’re going after you too. That…that’s not fair.”

He looked around for a moment before dropping his head onto Arven’s shoulder. “...I got the milk and eggs to make a custard to put the compote in…but do you just want to eat it from the pan with a spoon?”

Arven couldn’t help but laugh at that, wiping his eyes a little as he shrugged. “Yeah, sure. The compote’s the best part of a custard anyway. Just takes the middleman out.”

Taking the offered spoon, Arven dipped it in. Taking a lick, he hummed a little. “Wow… that’s really good, especially hot like this…”

Taking another lick, Arven hummed again… before wiping his eyes with his sleeves again. Eyes watering, as he said softly, “I wish I had met you a long time ago. I feel weirdly guilty. I feel like I should have stopped this.”

Sniffling softly, though he wasn’t close to tears (again) yet, Doppio backed off of Arven and took his own spoon, scooping up soft, gooey bits of apple and sugar syrup. Shoving it in his mouth, his face scrunched a bit at the heat, but…

…one of the best ones he’d made, probably. Sweet and warm and he could still taste some of the lemon, that acidity a welcome balance to the heavier flavors…

Doppio shook his head as he swallowed. “...I think we only moved to Usott a few months ago. And I wouldn’t have let you stop it. I…” Lips trembling, he turned off the stove and threw a pot warmer on the ground, before sliding down against the counter and putting the pan on the ground. Honestly he’d just put it in his lap if it wouldn’t’ve burned him.

“...I wasn’t a prisoner… He didn’t kidnap me…”

“But he did hurt you,” Arven said miserably, “And I just wish I could have done something about that.”

There were a million reasons why Arven couldn’t have done anything. Because of his own skills and circumstances, because of The Boss’s, and because of Doppio’s too. But…

Doppio looked up at Arven and…managed a soft, small smile. “...thanks. For wanting it to be different.”

Arven caught his eyes… before laughing shyly. Looking back down at his spoon as he blushed a little. “Yeah… sorry I cried at your interview. I wanted to be there for you, I just got overwhelmed. Is it just me, or were those guys kind of assholes?”

Doppio went back into the pan, huffing a little as he ate another spoonful. Ooph, still too hot. “I don’t blame you or anything… If I didn’t have to be there, I wouldn’t’ve. …don’t think I was, for a little bit…” he muttered softly before scoffing, leaning back against the counter and crossing his arms over his knees.

“I’m starting to think that whole agency is made of jerks. ‘Oh, your apple slices are even, well done’. Of course they’re even! You don’t have to patronize me!”

Doppio glared at his spoon before glancing over, giving Arven an insecure look. “...they want me to get evaluated by a healer to find out what age I am.”

“I wonder what they’ll decide on,” Arven said, leaning against Doppio a little. “...I hope you’re not an age where it’ll be weird for us to date. I like you a lot, Aceto, but if you’re 12 or something? That’s gonna be really weird. Try not to be 12, okay?”

That had…kind of been exactly what his insecure look was about (feeling weird if he was something like 12, or 19) but Doppio couldn’t help but snort, pressing into Arven’s lean. “I’ll try.”

…lately, he really didn’t like looking, but…Doppio looked down at himself. All awkward angles, curled up like this. “...I don’t feel 12. Dunno, really, what…any age is supposed to feel, though…”

“Well,” Arven closed his eyes, “...when I was 12? I was lonely, a lot. And I even had friends then. We’d hang out at school, but we’d talk, and I wouldn’t really understand what they were saying, and worse, it felt obvious like they didn’t understand what I was saying. And we’d hurt each other's feelings all the time. Everyone did back then. It was like 12-year-olds couldn’t go a few days without some big, friend group ruining fight.”

“...and one of the kids decided I was some doomed tragic side character for this weird fantasy plot he had made for our whole middle school?” Arven huffed, “Twelve and thirteen year olds are really into the idea of ‘fate’ and ‘destiny’ and being protagonists for giant epic fantasy things. I feel like you’re too down to earth and cool to be a middle schooler. You’re just a guy dealing with this weird hand you’ve been dealt. You don’t need to hide in a fantasy, ya know? You find joy in real things, like frogs, and cooking… and Amaina.”

Arven paused, before admitting, “Amaina is a bit of an outlier. But she’s still, like, technically down to earth. Just turns out earth is a bit weirder than even middle schoolers can imagine.”

“What I’m saying is, you don’t feel like a 12-year-old to me.” Arven shrugged, “You’re not delusional enough.”

Doppio leaned against Arven a little more, listening to him. Maybe that’s just how kids were. Loneliness even with a lot of people around, never really understanding each other… Maybe it was just as impossible as Arven’s wish, but…Doppio wished they had met earlier too. And maybe he could’ve helped Arven not be as lonely.

Huffing an amused puff of air, Doppio gnawed on his lip a bit. “...you think so? I guess…just being dumb and an airhead isn’t really the same as being delusional…”

He blinked slowly. “...you said something about…being middle school-like, when I was first trying to tell you about Amaina, right? But…it’s different since she’s real…I guess.” …he pouted a bit. “...they said that even with an evaluation, the healer’s probably just gonna have to guess. If they give me a range, I’m asking for 15 like you.”

“Like I said. Your little angel is an outlier.” Arven smiled. “And you’re not dumb. You’re smart and cool and handling an impossible situation and that makes you even cooler.”

“...but, yeah.” Arven grinned, taking Doppio’s hand. “15 would be good. I might get points with some of our classmates for dating a hot older guy if they decide you’re an adult, but honestly, it’d really only be points with the jackasses I can’t stand already. I’d rather just date a cute kid my age than impress those dumbasses.”

Doppio flushed, the pout turning up into a flustered smile as Arven said…a bunch of things that Doppio wasn’t sure were true, but…made him feel warm anyway. Along with something that he was pretty sure Arven had mentioned before, but Doppio hadn’t really registered.

Holding Arven’s hand back, Doppio gave him a shy, flustered look. “...you want to date me?”

“...oh!” Arven burnt red, pulling his hand back just enough to let some air in between their palms, because, oof, were his hands sweaty? His hands felt sweaty. Everything felt sweaty. “...ha!”

Arven laughed, looking sheepishly at Doppio, as he said, “That was a lame way to ask you, huh? I kind of forgot we hadn’t talked about it yet… Yeah? I mean, if you’re okay with me not making it some big ‘thing’, asking you out… then yeah. I guess I’m asking you out?”

Arven paused. “...Aceto? Wanna go out with me?”

Doppio glanced at their hands with some concern for a moment. …had he been wrong? He knew he wasn’t the best at reading social situations…which was why he was asking in the first place, but…he hadn’t been that far off, right?

And he really hadn’t been.

Flushing deeper, a bright grin lit up Doppio’s face as he gently pressed his hand more into Arven’s, leaning in closer in general too. “I really would. I want to date you, Arven.”

Feeling those odd flutters, but feeling more at peace with them, Doppio asked, “I’m going to kiss you, okay?”

Arven felt a shiver run up his spine, this next flush, uh… different. Feeling. As he grinned wobbly. “Okay.”

And he leaned in, kissing Doppio. The compote was there, warm and sweet, but also that distinctly human smell that Arven was finding himself more and more in love with. Arven, briefly, considered trying that thing people did with tongue… but nooooo, no, no no no, that was too fast, it’d be weird, and Doppio felt good like this. Warm and fun and with those little indents that made Arven distinctly aware of the shape of Doppio’s lips–

“Oh! Well,” Kaito said, rubbing the back of his neck as he stormed in, the worried expression on his face melting into something amused, “I guess it couldn’t have gone that bad… alright! Break it up! Enough shenanigans!”

If Doppio could just stay in this moment, things actually felt…fine. Good, even. Just…happy and warm with Arven’s hand in his and his lips pressing his and the smell of sugar and apples and cinnamon all around… Hm. He wondered… He could a little, but…Doppio wondered if he could taste the compote on Arven’s li--

“Hhh!!”

Doppio gasped against those wonderful lips, jumping slightly at the unexpected noise before he turned, looking up at Kaito incredulously. Before he scowled, the rest of reality coming back into frame.

“What is your problem?!”

“Depends on who you ask!” Kaito said, heading over to them and, sniffing the air… “Ooooh, that smells good! You guys are going to have to tell me what you made. But. I’m here to check on you guys. Kokichi gave me the rundown…”

Kaito sighed, resting his hands on his hips and looking down, trying to find his words, before looking up at them. “I heard it was rough. But, I also heard you were really cooperative and available… I know it doesn’t mean much to you, but I really am proud of you guys. I know this was hard.”

Doppio just gave Kaito a flat look, before huffing, getting another spoonful of the compote and eating it in lieu of answering. …what choice did he have but to explain, now? Unless he really wanted to be locked in some case worker’s office or guard’s holding cell… It was over.

…it barely even felt like him talking, half the time.

(Kokichi had mentioned that it seemed like Doppio had dissociated a few times. That eerie absence of even his anger and fear spooking Kokichi enough that he had been compelled to try and focus the teen, at least once.)

“Why weren’t you there?” Arven asked, giving Kaito a mildly incredulous, mildly genuinely curious look, “You did all of this to drag us back, and you weren’t even there for the interview? It seemed like everyone else was there.”

“Ah, I just…” Kaito shrugged, looking away. “I’m too reactive. I was worried about getting in the way. Besides, my ‘Kichi and Lake were there, I know if you guys needed someone they’d be on it. And they keep their heads better than I do. My help can sometimes get, like… obnoxious.”

“You being self aware about it doesn’t change anything,” Arven said, though he leaned back to let Kaito peek into the pot. “You’re gonna burn yourself if you do that.”

Kaito paused, reaching in to dip his finger in. “Yeah? Still hot?”

…Doppio had been grateful Lake was there. She was loud and he really didn’t appreciate the sex talk but…she was kind, and…she had helped save his life, and she was really nice to Arven. And…they had left and entered the kitchen together so…he figured she had at least tried to help, and he could appreciate that.

Getting another spoonful, Doppio shot Kaito a dirty look. “Sugar sits on the skin and burns through--it sucks.” And he ate his spoonful, uncaring that he’d been burning the shit out of his tongue.

Kaito raised an eyebrow at Doppio, before huffing. Reaching over to ruffle his hair, as he said, “Kokichi already showed you where your room is, right? But, I heard King Ouma is the one who’s technically your legal guardian. Now, I know he’s gonna take that seriously, but…”

Kaito tilted his head, unsure how to say this. “...if you guys actually need anything? Come to me or Kokichi first. Lake too. ‘Boss’ is a good leader, but when it comes to little personal things, the staff and us are more reliable. For instance! Arven,” Kaito said, pointing to Arven, “You’re taking this week of school off. So, you and I tomorrow are going to go to your school, and talk about any work you can bring here to do, so you don’t fall behind, okay?”

Arven scoffed. “What, I can’t just take a week off?”

“No, but you can do what I just said we’re going to do,” Kaito said, before looking to Doppio. “And when we get back tomorrow? I want to talk to you about getting a check up again. I know you don’t want to. I’m not saying I’ll make you. I am asking you to give me a chance to make another case for it tomorrow though. Kay?”

“Said castle staff are in charge of us, with the king being the one who’d stand in for, like…legal stuff,” Doppio grumbled, nose wrinkling as he tried to put his hair back in order.

However, some of his disgruntlement faded as Kaito took charge and told them what things were going to look like, and Doppio sent Arven a nervous look. He supposed this…wasn’t that bad, since Arven had committed to dropping out of school altogether, but…still, Doppio felt guilty for keeping Arven away for a week. He knew it wasn’t really something Arven cared about, but…he still felt bad. It sucked, falling behind on things.

…and that bad feeling persisted as Doppio defensively raised his shoulders. “...I’m still gonna say no. Even if they’re pushing for the legal confirmation.”

“Asking for a conversation, not a confirmation,” Kaito said, putting his hands up in surrender. “Honestly, that’s why I’m asking to talk about this tomorrow. I have no idea what to say to you to convince you yet, so!” Kaito grinned. “I need a night to practice! Gotta figure out what angle I’m coming at you from! Gotta, uh… get statistics! Are you swayed by statistical arguments? Whaaaat about emotional, rousing speeches! I really hope you prefer the second one, I am bad at statistics and good at emotion-based debates.” Kaito laughed.

“But either way, for tonight, I just want you guys to get some rest. Today’s been hard. And spending most of it in a cramped carriage isn’t exactly ‘restful’,” Kaito said, looking to Arven, “Oh! Do you need to swing back to the house to grab more clothes? I can take you.”

“Lake said she was going to.” Arven said, “I’d rather go with her.”

Kaito shrugged, before nodding. “I’ll let her know you’re waiting for her then.”

Doppio just gave the prince another dirty look. He was self-aware enough to know that he’d likely just be browbeat into getting a check-up, but…if he had any sort of agency? There was no argument that’d sway him into agreeing that being poked and prodded and touched and looked at like he was a poor, clueless child was ever something he’d want to do.

At least he had a day.

Glancing at Arven, Doppio…considered asking if Arven wanted him to come along, but…it was probably more trouble than it was worth.

Tapping the side of the pan, Doppio sighed and brought it--with the pot holder still--into his lap and slouched against the cabinets. “...I’m going to sit here and eat my fucking weight in apple pie filling, and if you tell me to go to bed one more time I’m throwing enough sugar goo at your hair that you’ll never get it out.”

“Who’s saying to go to bed!? Maaaaaybe resting looks like eating, just… way too much surgery pie filling,” Kaito said, nose wrinkling a little, “Waaaaay too much sugar. You’re mostly kidding, right? That’s going to be too much pie filling, Doppio… eh. I’ll check on you later. Arven, I’m gonna go find Lake, be ready to go with her, kay? Alright.”

Giving the two boys a wave, Kaito headed out.

“...so.” Arven scratched his chin a little, glancing at Doppio. “A week with me, huh? Well, that’s one way to start dating…” Heading over to Doppio, he leaned down, grinning at him. “Hope you don’t get sick of me.”

Was it a lot of sugar? Incredibly. It was the sort of thing that, if he’d made it at all, Doppio might have three spoonfuls of, while the rest would last for the next month.

…but fuck. If he was too dumb and young and awful to take care of anyone else, if his whole life had been taken from him, Doppio was going to eat a panful of sugary goop, damnit. He was going to make and eat whatever he wanted, consequences be damned.

…it was really yummy, anyway.

Glancing up at Arven after Kaito left, Doppio flushed, before smirking. “Well, we were planning on running away together, and I was kind of hoping that offer was for more than a week. Think you can handle me constantly stealing Chief to give him pets?”

“I think I’m really looking forward to it,” Arven whispered.

He, feeling bold, leaned in to place a gentle kiss on Doppio.

Kaito did, eventually, go back to check on Doppio. And this time he had with him Miyako, because as tough as the last few days before had been, Kaito still felt bad he had left his husbands with full time Miya duty. Miyako was a treasure, but she was a treasure that randomly got belligerent, and shat a lot, and pulled hair, and cried. A lot.

But, right now she wasn’t crying, and seemed to be in a delighted mood as she was back on Ride Kaito, as Kaito knocked at Doppio’s door. It was just after dinner, and he knew Arven would be with Lake, getting clothes. “Doppio?” Kaito called through the door, “It’s me! Prince Kaito! …Luminary of the Stars! Ex-Second son! Uh, shoot, these usually come to me much faster, I must be out of it… oh! Prince-Consort of the Cacti Fields… Genius Star Guy! That one was yours, what else…”

Doppio had, indeed, eaten most of the pie filling, before packaging the rest up (because they had bought quite a lot of apples), doing the dishes, and…wandering around lost for a bit, before he stumbled his way back to the castle dining room. One of…he could presume a member of the cooking staff had shown him where he could store the leftovers, and then he’d been promptly fussed at to eat dinner, and even though he’d just had quite a lot of apple compote…he’d still been hungry, and had happily eaten.

There was probably a lot he could find to do in the castle, but a lot of him still felt lost and uncomfortable, so he’d just gone back to his and Arven’s room, and…

…

…well. He was probably, most likely, a teenager. And he was now dating someone who could challenge classic statues, and held Doppio’s interest and attention and heart far better, and who was really kind and amazing and…had a really nice butt…

There was a muffled sort of sound behind the door as Kaito knocked, before Doppio’s strained voice called out, “J-just, come in! I know who you are!”

“...Father of Princess Miyako! Of the Saihara household! That’s a big one~” Kaito grinned, before opening the door and heading inside.

The place was clean, which was surprising to Kaito, though he nodded approvingly. He had a feeling if his Kokichi had been given this room, all the clothes he owned would be all over the floor immediately. He had that feeling because if he wasn’t on it, that’s usually where Kokichi’s clothes ended up.

Patting Miyako’s stomach a little as she made soft, gurgling sounds, Kaito grinned. “Hey… how are you feeling? Said I’d come check on you. This is me, doing that!”

Doppio was sitting on one of the beds and…that was about the most normal thing about him, at the moment. He’d taken off his sweater, put in one of the laundry baskets in the closet, and was just wearing a t-shirt, having traded out his jeans for his pajama bottoms as well. Though, that was a little harder to see, as Doppio had a pillow in his lap and had his arms crossed over it, looking at Kaito warily with pink cheeks and mussed bangs.

“...I’m fine,” Doppio said stiffly. “Figured out how…all dinner ‘n stuff works here, so you don’t need to tell me.”

Glancing at Miyako, Doppio’s expression softened a bit. “...was…everything okay, with her?” he nodded. “Your husband said she missed you, so…”

Kaito gave Doppio a slightly bewildered look… before he sputtered. Covering Miyako’s eyes as he looked away. “Geez, Doppio! You could have not let me in! I’d respect your privacy, but you have to ask for it! Otherwise I’m not gonna know! Geez. Now I know how uncomfortable it was for my maids.”

Shaking his head with a small sigh, he laughed as he felt a little hand hit his, looking down at Miyako as he pulled his hand away, grinning at her. “Peek-a-booo! No? Didn’t fool ya? No kidding.” Kaito chuckled, taking Miyako’s jaw and lightly moving her mouth up and down as he said in a small, high voice, “No, Dad! Miyako sees everything! Peek-a-boo is for dumb babies!”

“Miyako’s fine, she’s just a fussy little thing sometimes. And my husbands exaggerate how much she grumbles when I’m not around. They do it to stoke my ego, no doubt. That’s alright, it’s still very sweet.”

“Hey,” Kaito gave Doppio a small, uncertain, but slightly hopeful look, as he said, “You can say no. I’ve checked on you, you’re okay. But… you’ve had a really tough day and… I’ve been wracking my brain trying to think of something I could show you that would make up for any of it…”

“...you can’t use it for shenanigans,” Kaito said sternly, “But I’d like to show you a nice spot you could take Arven in the castle, when you’re ready to and feel more comfortable with your body, okay?”

Doppio’s blush flared as he made a choking noise, bringing the pillow closer to himself. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about! And don’t act like you wouldn’t’ve just beaten down the door!”

Clenching the pillowcase in embarrassment, Doppio glanced up as Kaito played with his daughter…hearing Kokichi be proved right too. Unless it was just an ego stroke that the heir told random other people too, but…

Doppio gave Kaito a confused look, before blushing more and shrugging. …given Kaito’s definition of ‘shenanigans’, Doppio…didn’t really understand why a place where he could take Arven when he was ready wouldn’t fall under that category, but…well, it wasn’t like he was taking the ‘no shenanigans’ rule seriously anyway. Kaito seriously had some crazy feelings about kissing.

“...can you give me, like…two minutes?”

“Heck, if you can get it done in two minutes? More power to you! Take three! Three feels more realistic to me, but maybe my tolerance is just too high,” Kaito mused, heading out the door.

There was a high-pitched, embarrassed noise that followed Kaito out.

(What the hell was he thinking, Doppio wasn’t going to…yanno, with Kaito right outside the door! With his daughter! He just needed to change! And…t-try to calm down a little. …even if this was…pretty much the first time he’d been alone in…days. And he wasn’t really sure when Arven was going to return, so…he wanted to make the most of his time and…)

…

…well, it wasn’t like he wasn’t used to it.

In two minutes, Doppio met Kaito in the hall, wearing a new sweater and pair of jeans, his hair fixed as he locked up the room again. Huffing softly as he crossed his arms. “...where we off to, then?”

Kaito headed down the stairs of the ‘secret’ passageway. Which was less a secret and more just a door that realistically no one had a reason to open. Heading down the stairs, Kaito admitted, “Honestly, when I kept imagining warm water all the way home, this was actually the place I was longing for. This place is magical. A little bit of history, Doppio!”

“See, every Ouma– or, at least a lot of them– ends up creating an addition to the castle in some way. The official story is they see a need in it, and they, being the dedicated leaders to Dicea they are, create a room or addition that fills that need,” Kaito said, opening the bottom door for Doppio, letting him into the locker room and lounge, “But, as far as I understand it? There’s a secret, better story behind them.”

Looking around fondly, idly rubbing Miyako’s toes, Kaito said, “Each of these additions that I’ve heard of is actually a little love story, built into the architecture. See, most of these additions fill a need maybe not necessarily for the citizens in general, but a need that they see in their loved ones. The Oumas see something missing in their lives, and out of love, build an entire room, just to make them happy. A sign of love. A sign of devotion.”

“This isn’t my favorite one,” Kaito admitted, bringing Doppio to the hot tub, turning on the lights embedded into the stone walls. “My favorite one is at the top of the castle, which King Aiichi built as a love story to his wife, the late Miyako Sr. But, I figured as romantic as I think the observatory is, it might not be as much fun for you two. So I thought I’d show you this one… and also dip my feet into it too.” Kaito laughed, reaching over to the control and turning on the water, watching it start to fill into the hot tub, steam almost immediately starting to drift up from it. “Win/win.”

While he did trust Kaito (against his better judgement) Doppio…did feel a little unnerved, following the man into a basement. Basements weren’t always places where ugly things happened, but…well. They were usually very secure, built right into the ground with thick stone walls of foundation. Usually had good sound insulation. Just…places you could go and potentially not be found for a long time.

But, objectively, he knew that Kaito wasn’t going to do anything, and especially not while carrying his daughter, and…Doppio would hope not while trying to entice him with his…his relationship with Arven.

So he just took a breath and tried to enjoy looking around the…place Kaito was showing him. The…lounge? The long carpet and dim twinkle lights and weaved furniture seemed…out of place, with everything else Doppio had seen in the castle, but all over again as Kaito opened up the…hot tub??? It felt entirely new once more. Doppio’s eyes widening a little as it almost looked like stars or glowing crystals in the walls.

…like the glowing cavern pool Arven wanted to show him.

“...oh,” Doppio said after a moment, still looking around. “...Prince Kokichi told us that the observatory was one of his favorite places in the castle, but…he didn’t mention it was…” Doppio squinted, his expression blanking out. If…the king had made the observatory for his wife, and Kokichi was his son, then… “...it was…his mom’s?”

He paused, giving Kaito an uneasy look. “...would Arven and I actually be allowed to…uh, s…swim? Sit here? Here?”

“It was! Aiichi made it for her because she was a master Astronomer! Kokichi’s heritage comes from masters of the universe!” Kaito laughed, looking down at Miyako as he said fondly, “And so does yours! Miyako is the descendent of Oumas and Astronomers, and not only that, but the Saihara intelligence too! You’re gonna be soooo smart, Miyako! So smart!”

Grinning at Doppio, he shrugged. “I’d try to mitigate the expectations she’s gonna face for that, but honestly, she’s already doomed by my Shuichi’s expectations. He wants a prodigy. If she’s not one naturally, he’s gonna invent one.” Kaito laughed, “My Timothy gets a little taste of it. I’m so proud of him, he really is so smart when he can be convinced to sit down and study. My wonderful children.”

“And yeah! Of course, I didn’t show you this place just to taunt you with it.” Kaito grinned, his slippers next to him as he let his feet soak in the water, Miyako on his lap. “It’s a nice spot, right? It’s pretty, it’s soothing,” it’s safe, it’s in the castle, “and you’ll be able to impress him with your cool location knowledge!”

“So, this place?” Kaito said, looking around, “Was actually made by the late Queen Fuse. She was married to a man from Wonderland, and the way I hear it? It actually wasn’t a romantic marriage. They were just friends… but that kind of makes this even more meaningful. Because he came all this way, living in Dicea, to be her prince-consort, or king, I’m not actually sure why they married,” Kaito admitted, “But it was something for the good of Dicea. And in exchange for giving up everything he had ever known? She was ready to use her addition to the castle to give him something that reminded him of home. Something that made his life here a little more comfortable, a little nicer. Something that showed she cared about him…”

Kaito grinned, looking around the room with open adoration. Before practically giggling, as he admitted, “I’m feeling sentimental about places like these. My ‘Kichi is making me a room. A shrine! History is going to say he made it because it’ll be useful for any religious person in the castle to have a nice, private place to do worship without having to go all the way out to one of the open religion buildings. But, me? I know he did it because he loved me. And he wanted to give me something nice to make me happy. And I don’t care if it’s superficial, Dad is thrilled.” Kaito cooed at Miyako.

“...” Kaito looked to Doppio. “Do you want to dip your feet in? You don’t have to be anywhere near me. Lots of hot tub, you can sit on the other side. It’s nice.”

(Okay, admittedly, Kaito hadn't just brought Doppio down here specifically to give him a date idea.)

(Kaito had heard about what Doppio had said to the agents. And while he had already known it, seeing the horror in his husband’s eyes… Kaito just wanted to get a read on how Doppio was handling things.)

“...there are worse things, than high expectations,” Doppio said softly, watching Kaito praise and coo over his daughter. “Even if you fall short, it’s… It’s nicer to think that people thought you could do it, right? Better than people just…expecting nothing.”

…Kaito thought his kids were wonderful. …that was nice.

Doppio didn’t think he could impress Arven with much, when it came to the castle. Considering that, other than when Kaito had brought him there while he was sick, he’d never been there before, and…while Kaito was giving him a history lesson about the basement, Doppio held no illusions that he’d be able to remember enough of it to seem cool, spouting it off like insightful trivia.

…but it could be a nice place to go, if they didn’t want to be in their room, and didn’t want to be with a bunch of other people. If all the adults were going to fuss at them to stay nearby. Though…just because Doppio and Arven were staying at the castle for the time being, Doppio refused to actually become a prisoner there. If nothing else, he’d ask Prince Kokichi about those shopping trips.

Sighing, Doppio shrugged and shuffled his way to the opposite side of the hot tub, though he didn’t dangle his feet in. Instead, he just crossed his legs and sat on the side, looking around the stone walls again. Giving a skeptical look to the faucet he could see the water pouring into the tub from. “...I’m assuming it’s filtered?”

Kaito had no idea, but he gave Doppio an incredulous, offended look, as he asked, “Do you think Queen Fuse would make the room dedicated to the love for her best friend unsafe? Have some faith in our Oumas, Doppio.”

“I don’t have faith in anything unless I can see their blueprints,” Doppio groused, before he sighed, looking at the water. Not uncrossing his legs, but reaching down when the water was high enough to touch, just swirling it around his fingers a little.

(...it was like…)

“...Prince Kokichi said that we should go to the aquarium sometime, so I could see what penguins are,” Doppio hummed, before blushing lightly. “...Arven seemed excited.”

Kaito lit up at that, nodding his head enthusiastically. “‘Kichi’s gonna take you guys to the aquarium!? Awww, that’s gonna be so much fun. You two are gonna have a great time.”

Suddenly he smirked, kicking his feet in the water a little as he said, “Weeeelll? Did I call it? You and Kokichi get along, don’t you? He’s an absolute sweetheart, and the ways he isn’t sweet? I think really match yours. Did you two get along?”

Maybe Kaito might’ve expected Doppio to scoff and say something backhanded, or get flustered and begrudgingly agree, but instead… A complicated, mildly distressed expression twisted the teen’s face as he looked at the water, putting his chin in a hand and resting it on his leg.

“...he’s nice,” Doppio murmured, eventually.

“...ooookay.” Kaito frowned. “That felt like it had layers. Is… is everything okay between you and my ‘Kichi?”

And, suddenly looking a little stressed, Kaito leaned in and said softly, “If you heard any rumors about him, I am telling you point blank, they are entirely misrepresented, okay? Kokichi is honestly one of the kindest people I’ve ever met in my life, if not the kindest. Anyone who says anything else doesn’t freaking know anything about him. The guy’s a saint, and that word means something to me.”

Briefly, Doppio’s eyes sharpened, his tongue cutting as he said, “Just like how swears mean something to you?”

But then he sighed, taking his hand out of the water and shaking it off, before tipping his head down and rubbing his forehead. Pinching between his brows. “...no, I… I believe you. He’s nice. He was nice. He…never fucking met me, but bought me a raincoat, and then felt bad for not getting Arven a present so he did that. He took us shopping and talked and…”

“...I don’t understand,” Doppio whispered, closing his eyes as he continued massaging his head. “...I don’t get it…”

Kaito winced at that, looking down… before he furrowed his brow. “...I didn’t break my swear to you,” Kaito murmured. “They do mean something to me. Just because I did things that made you unhappy, doesn’t mean I gave up my responsibilities. I just… didn’t do them perfectly.”

“And let me spare you months of wondering, he’s nice to you because he’s a nice guy.” Kaito scoffed. “That’s the secret to you Diceans. You just wear your everything on your sleeves. Your kindness, your anger, your neurosis. You can take Diceans at face value. And Kokichi? He’s just… kind.”

Doppio just shook his head in his hands for a moment. Opening his mouth, then closing it. Gnawing on his cheek. Before, softly, “...Boss specifically didn’t want me to meet Prince Kokichi. I could hang out with you, and I think your other husband was fine…h-he was actually really pleased, with me hanging out with you. But he told me to never meet Prince Kokichi on my own, and…and he’d get really serious and double-check with me, after I’d been out, making sure I hadn’t.”

“...he…he said it…was something that should…only happen in a perfect circumstance?” Doppio didn’t sound entirely sure as he said it. The specifics of the ‘why’ lost to him. “And…you were always talking about how scary he is, and if even Boss was wary too…”

“...I wasn’t expecting him to be nice.”

Kaito played with Miyako’s fingers, listening to her coo as she grabbed at his fingers and nibbled on them. His nose wrinkled a little, before scoffing. “Ugh. I wonder what he wanted from me… He ever tell you? Man, he must be really out of the loop, politics-wise. I am literally the worst target these days, I can’t get any grifter or opportunist anything. People always wildly overestimated how much influence I had on anything back when I even theoretically had power.”

And then Kaito laughed at the idea of targeting Kokichi. A genuine, loud, boisterous laugh, sounding tickled as he said, “He thought he could manage a scam on ‘Kichi? Man, it is wild how people underestimate my husband. Wow, that was just…” Kaito chuckled, “Not going to work out how he was daydreaming. Whatever the daydream was.”

“And my husband is scary,” Kaito agreed, nodding. “Though, there’s a caveat there. And that caveat is that you and I? Probably have different ideas of what ‘scary’ is. And what it means for a person to be that. I like scary. Scary, in some ways, is… comforting. The same characteristics that can make a person scary can also be the ones that the person uses to protect you from others. Being scary to other people on your behalf. That’s a type of comfort that matters to me, it’s the one that I grew up with,” Kaito explained. “So Kokichi is scary when he’s decided you're wrong and he’s going to correct you. But even that sort of scary is purely, like, ‘oh no, I messed up’, not an actual punishment.” Kaito shrugged. “He can make you feel small. Embarrassed. Wondering how you could have ever dared say something so incorrect… you would know. You’re developing that skill too~”

“And the only reason that type of scary works, is because he’s intelligent enough to know what he’s talking about, and kind enough that it matters when you disappoint him,” Kaito explained, “He’s a good person who takes care of people. It makes you want to live up to what he expects of you.”

(There were other scary things but… ‘scary’ didn’t feel like the right word for those things. It wasn’t what Kaito was thinking of, when he said stuff like that.)

Doppio grit his teeth, feeling the rising tide of anger within him. Wanting to shout how Boss did know what he was talking about, that his plans were good and brilliant, and his dream…

…his dream… That Doppio could no longer help him achieve. Would never…get to see that bright pride and purpose again, as Boss met his goals. Boss would still find a way, of course, but…Doppio had failed him. And he’d never get to see him succeed again. No matter if he really was protected by the guards and others, or if Boss succeeded in silencing him.

(...maybe he should just… Save the trouble…)

Doppio flinched a little as Kaito described what sort of scary Kokichi was, and while there was so much he couldn’t say, there was… “...I wouldn’t call it scary, but…Boss is like that too--not a skill I have. I’m wrong so often you’d think I’d just get used to it, but…but Boss always made me feel like there was genuinely… Like I actually had the potential to be right, but I’d just messed it up this time. And…and that still wasn’t okay, but…that maybe next time I’d get it…”

…that’s what all his punishments were for, after all.

Kaito shook his head, before hesitating at that. “...I feel like what you do is closer to what Kokichi does, than what your boss did. Kokichi, and you, make you feel wrong because you are wrong, and you don’t let up in making sure people know. What your boss did was more like…”

Kaito hesitated, petting Miyako’s arm. She had gotten distracted, staring at the twinkling lights in the wall. Precious little thing…

“...Hey, so, one of the first conversations we ever had? I tried to connect with you by talking about my ‘boss’, right? That didn’t go very well, and that’s partly because I lied. To be honest? I didn’t have a ‘boss’. I’ve never worked for someone a day in my life. I’m a spoiled prince, I have no real work ethic, no work history. I don’t know how to do anything but go to school and take care of my loved ones.”

“But, that said?” Kaito said, “I really do understand, what dealing with the kind of fear you’re talking about, is like.”

“...” Kaito chuckled weakly. “Sorry, maybe I shouldn’t talk about this. It was easier to say it when I was talking about a ‘boss’. Just fake enough. It, uh… it makes me nervous to talk about, and is maybe not something you want to hear about anyway. I’m just…” Kaito rolled his eyes, “Trying to help.”

…he still didn’t get it. Kokichi was nice, and Doppio couldn’t intimidate a rabbit. Maybe the heir could be scary, but…from everything Doppio had seen so far, he wasn’t.

Doppio glanced up, giving Kaito a mildly sour look, hearing that he’d lied to him--what else was new--and…while seeing some discomfort on Kaito made some of Doppio want to reconsider… He huffed, peeking his head up. “I wasn’t talking about fear, in terms of what Boss did.”

His eyes softened with muted acceptance as he looked to the side. “...I know you won’t believe me, but…I wasn’t scared of Boss. The best parts of my day so much of the time was being around him. If he asked me about what I was doing, or he explained some plan to me, even if we both knew I wouldn’t understand, or just…being in his office together. I wasn’t scared. I-I wasn’t a…prisoner, or someone kidnapped.”

Doppio’s voice softened. “...I was happy. And now…it’s all gone.”

“...” Kaito hesitated.

He had been talking about this stuff so much with his family lately that he had forgotten the terror that could still his tongue about it. And Doppio wasn’t like Nao. Doppio wasn’t like some random asshole at a bar. Kaito liked Doppio. And Doppio could be mean about things. If Kaito opened up, tried to connect by showing the kid he understood, Doppio could, and very likely would, stomp all over him.

But the kid was alone. And Kaito felt responsible for that. So… he’d risk it. Knowing it’d very likely fail.

“I, uh…” Kaito swallowed, before clearing his throat, scooting back a bit to get Miyako out of the way of the steam, though she didn’t seem disturbed by heat any yet. “I signed some paperwork the other day, which made it so that I officially disowned my brother, uh, the man who was my brother. His name’s Lord Byakuya. He was basically who I was talking about when I was lying about having a boss. He wasn’t my boss, he was just… my brother.”

“....I didn’t want to do it,” Kaito admitted softly. “Not really. It was something my family needed me to do. Basically demanded I do. Because he, uh, he does things to make me, um, listen to him, really. He’s… not a good person. He hurts people to get his way, and he’s hurt me too.”

“But I still wish I hadn’t had to do it,” Kaito said softly. “I… love him. And it hurts me, thinking of how he might feel, hearing that I’ve disowned him. I can’t help but wonder if he’s sad? If he’s as sad as I am, that it got to this point… And I get scared, thinking how furious he must be. And I get scared that he’s going to call any day now and demand to know what I’m doing, make me explain myself, and I won’t know what to say…”

“But a part of me is more hurt that he hasn’t yet,” Kaito said softly. “I keep wanting him to call. I want him to put me in a situation where I can reassure him that I still love him. That I’m still loyal. That I’m sorry I listened and I’m sorry I did it and that I feel terrible for letting him down. I want him to call me so I can apologize. In my wildest daydreams, maybe he apologizes too…”

“He won’t. He never will. That’s why my family pushed me to do it. Because our relationship was bad and it hurt me and it hurt the people around me,” Kaito said, closing his eyes, “...but they’ll never understand why I want to apologize. Why I still love him. Why so much of me wishes he’d just… demand me back. I miss him all the time…”

Doppio glanced up. He barely remembered that conversation, Kaito telling him about a boss he’d let down…but it was different, if it wasn’t a boss. If Kaito had been talking about family, then…

…oh. Doppio had…probably said some pretty hurtful stuff then, huh.

Stuff that probably hit the mark, if Kaito still felt this hurt in general.

…Doppio hadn’t even considered how Boss might be feeling about…all this. He’d betrayed him, was a problem and a liability now, but…but Doppio couldn’t imagine him being anything but perfectly composed. …even for him. It…wasn’t like he thought the time they spent together mattered to the older man. They had a purely professional relationship (even if Boss had shown him affection and called him pet names and suggested clothes for him to wear) and…it was just Doppio being dumb and awful and defective that it meant something to him.

…would Boss miss him?

Doppio grimaced, the question feeling like sludge in his heart.

Their situations were still different. It felt…insulting to hear Kaito say he longed to tell his ex-brother that he was still ‘loyal’ and all that, and Doppio wasn’t even Kaito’s family. On their behalf, it seemed cruel for Kaito to claim those things, like their feelings that had compelled Kaito to disown the lord still just…meant nothing, if Kaito ever had a chance to act on it.

…but some parts were similar enough and…

“...so it never gets better?” Doppio murmured, looking up at Kaito with a resigned, anguished look. “...I can barely even think about it. I couldn’t think at all about it during the interview, ‘cause if I actually considered what I was saying…”

He shuddered, a groan warbling through his voice. “...it feels like I’m on fire…or someone pushed me into a frozen lake and I can feel ice plates above me… s…”

His voice cut off, and Doppio peeked up at Kaito, his gaze piercing, for how terrified it looked. “...never tell Arven I said this. But…lately it… I feel like I might just be better off taking myself out before any hitman can find me…”

“No,” Kaito said softly, “It does. How I feel now? Is it getting better. Not that long ago, I was angry with everyone who suggested there was something wrong with Byakuya and my relationship. Like, real anger. It was infuriating, because I was convinced if they would just ask me? Or listen to anything I was saying? They’d understand why I didn’t hate him. But instead, everyone just told me over and over how awful he was, and they ignored anything I said defending him. They just treated me like I was some moron who couldn’t know better. Some slave who couldn’t choose my own relationships. It… made me so defensive. So angry.”

Kaito scoffed, rolling his eyes. “The fact they were kind of right? Even now still leaves me feeling mostly defensive about it. But I’ve only been forced to break this relationship within the last year, and even then, only the last six months was anything really substantial. And it has been getting easier, to see what they’re saying. It’s not the light switch feeling they were all hoping for, where I could just turn it off, but… if we’re sticking to that metaphor? It is a dimmer…”

Kaito gave Doppio a sad look, at what he confessed. “I won’t tell Arven,” Kaito said, “It would scare him, if I told him that, and despite what I’m sure he believes, I actually am just as protective over him as I am over you. I just worry about him for different reasons, so my concern manifests in different ways for him. But, Doppio… where is that feeling coming from? You don’t strike me as someone who hates life… what are you avoiding?”

Doppio’s eyes widened, his face falling.

…no one listening to him? Just…saying over and over that his life was shit and his loved ones were shit and… Treating him like he couldn’t make decisions for himself…

He swallowed, looking down. …maybe Kaito did…understand more than he gave him credit for.

So…would Doppio one day agree with everyone that they were right? That didn’t feel like it getting better… That felt like…just further betrayal. Like Doppio losing one of the last pieces of himself he had left. Like the few memories he had, scattered and blurred as they were, would…one day no longer be precious to him.

Hunching over, Doppio hugged himself and shrugged, his jaw trembling a bit. “I-I’m not… Every time I have a thought like that…it…it’s scary. I’ve never thought like that before. I love being alive…”

“...but I’m putting so many people in danger, and causing so much trouble,” he murmured, voice shaking. “And…a-and I don’t like the person I am, that’s betrayed Boss… And…”

Doppio’s face crumpled, a squeak coming from his throat as he took a quick breath. “...you could’ve died, trying to save me.”

Kaito’s eyes drooped a little, tired and sad. It was so odd, seeing his own issues so clearly reflected back at him. He wondered what it was like for Doppio? In some ways, Kaito wished he had had someone to relate to, during the worst of it, in the last year. He felt indebted to everyone who had reached out to him over and over, when his life was falling apart and he felt alone… but no one had ever really felt like they understood. More just… putting up with him. His fears and insecurities and anger and doubt. Willing to be there for him, sometimes, but unable to comprehend.

Was Kaito being the person he had needed, during his rough time? He honestly didn’t know. He tried to imagine talking to someone like him, roughly after his parents died, or after Maki left for the war, or after Byakuya was exiled, or fuck, even after those phone calls that left him in tears. He tried to imagine talking to someone who understood after the memorial garden.

He couldn’t imagine it. Even in his own imagination, something about it felt mocking.

Would Doppio think Kaito was mocking him?

Standing up, Kaito shuffled around the hot tub, going to sit next to Doppio. Wrapping his arm around his shoulders, he pulled him closer.

“...I’m sorry I scared you,” Kaito said softly, “I just acted on impulse, coming to get you and catching you and all of that. I’m lucky Lake came with me, to be a cool head and keep us safe.”

“But I’m only sorry for being reckless. I can be smarter about protecting you. For little Miya’s sake, along with others… but I don’t regret trying to save you. Getting to save you? Made me happy… It makes me happy, looking out for you. And it makes the others happy. Lake, Kokichi, Nidai, Aiichi, Arven… we put ourselves at risk because seeing you safe would make it worth it.”

“But I’m sorry it keeps happening,” Kaito said again, “It’s not easy, being on your end of it. It’s hard. I’m so sorry.”

It felt like everything in his damn body was trembling. Like he was held together with ill-fitting nuts and screws, and everything was jangling apart with the slightest bit of stress. Too soon, Doppio felt his eyes burning again as he let Kaito pull him in. Sniffling as breaths caught in his chest.

“I d-don’t want people to get hurt,” he choked, hugging himself tighter. “I’ve seen what happens to people who go against Boss a-and work… P-people don’t win o-or escape, they just die.”

“I don’t want a-anyone to die ‘cause of me… You guys would be safe if I… Th-there’d be no reason to come after you if I-I…wasn’t a problem anymore.”

“But I’m scared,” Doppio sniffled, curling against Kaito’s side. “I d-don’t want to die either.”

“I don’t want you to die either,” Kaito said, adjusting Miyako in his other arm, so that Doppio could lean against him more. “None of us do.”

“Doppio, all I can do is ask you to have faith in us,” Kaito said. “I know your boss feels untouchable. Byakuya did too. He was King. King of Luminary. The heir apparent, when I was growing up. He was perfect, and intelligent beyond what I could understand, and infallible, and if I ever had any doubts it was just because I couldn’t understand, because he was so much greater than me. Greater than everyone. Fighting him was impossible…”

Kaito sighed. “And now he’s a disgraced lord in Novoselic whose little brother can publicly disown him and there’s nothing he can do about it. He had a country at his beck and call, and now he can’t even make the kid who was literally raised to obey him listen. And you know how that happened?”

“Mostly just… ordinary people. Refusing to back down against what looked like impossible odds,” Kaito said reasonably… before his brow furrowed, “And my Maki-roll. Who decided hell or high water, she was going to make him bend.”

“She took down someone I thought was untouchable. And ya know… she didn’t even kill him? He’s fine. He lives with his family in a nice place, his biggest wound his ruined ego. I didn’t even have to be afraid for him, though I had been terrified on his behalf. And hers. I thought it was a suicide mission. I had nightmares of her execution all the time. But she did it. They all did it.”

“It’s not as obvious, in real life, who's going to win what fights, and what the results will look like,” Kaito said. “I’m just asking you to consider the possibility that us deciding to protect you? Might end… happily. For everyone involved. Even if that feels impossible. Because it really, really isn’t… it’s just hard. And you make it worth doing.”

Doppio wanted to argue it was different, because Byakuya wasn’t Boss. …but the king of Luminary? Passione wasn’t some…shadow government. They had to work around the government, because it was powerful. The king of a nation probably had just as many resources and opportunities as Boss. Probably even more than Doppio knew, since the justice system in Luminary was so different and… Kokichi had mentioned hierarchy. If people really believed in something like that, then…the person at the top could probably get away with a lot of things.

…if someone as impossibly powerful as Boss could be…taken down? Boss had kept as up to date as he could on the Luminary Civil War… By the end, it had seemed…inevitable that something would change, even before they got news of the famine.

…it seemed forgone to Doppio that if any of them survived, it was because Boss decided they weren’t worth the trouble.

…but Mr. Nidai had caught the hitman… Even with Doppio putting Arven in that kind of trouble…they were both back at the castle, alive. Under security detail.

Rubbing one of his eyes, Doppio sniffled softly. “...I don’t know what this ending happily looks like,” he quietly admitted. “...but I’d be happy if no one died.”

Kaito grinned. “Then you’re in great hands. Specifically, you’re in Kokichi’s hands. I’m not a killer anyway, if your boss has shown me anything, it’s that I’d also like to end this without death. But it wouldn’t matter what I wanted anyway. Me and mine? We defer to Kokichi. The staff defers to Kokichi. Whether he realizes it or not? Almost everyone here, defers to Kokichi.”

“And my Kokichi is very strict,” Kaito said, closing his eyes, “No one is allowed to die. He said no. So… no one will. No one is allowed to die.”

Scoffing a little, Kaito said, “Historically? Your boss is going to be just fine. Just… maybe less powerful than when he started. But still entirely safe. And if he’s unhappy, it’s only because he’ll still be annoyed we beat him. Or, heh, will feel bad for being such a dickhead about things. Sometimes that’s the most you get. That they just feel bad about it.”

“So you don’t have to worry about him.” Kaito said, “My Kokichi will protect him.”

Hm…maybe that was a kind of scariness too. If everyone deferred to Prince Kokichi? But…huh. No one being allowed to die… That wasn’t an order he’d ever heard before. Minimizing casualties, sure, doing your best not to cause a ruckus of any kind, ensure specific peoples’ survival for certain timeframes… But there was always the caveat, that if certain things went wrong or were in jeopardy…kill. Eliminate the problem.

…no one was allowed to die. Simple, clear language. No ifs, ands, or buts.

Doppio nodded slightly before glancing over to Kaito with a worried look. Anxiously scratching at his wrist in his lap. “...Boss… Doesn’t like people looking at him. Or…knowing about him. At all. If…”

…what was the point in bringing that up? It felt…wrong to make requests upon the advent of…what? Boss’s defeat? This wasn’t some fantasy quest. So why even bring that up?

Doppio let out a short, frustrated sigh, digging his thumbnail into the swirl at his wrist.

“Hmmm… yeah?” Kaito asked, frowning a little, “Well… if what? If we catch him? We could ensure he doesn’t end up in a newsletter shared between all the countries, if that’s the fear.” It’d be easy. Kaito would just literally not do that himself. “And… okay. Maybe you’d actually understand.”

“There’s this type of punishment here, isolation? Based on how my husband described it to us, me and my family call it being sent to Raise a Garden. You’re put somewhere private and quiet to safely work on yourself without hurting other people… honestly? When it looked like it was a possibility I’d be arrested? A part of me was hoping for that. It sounds peaceful, doesn’t it? Being out of the public eye, somewhere simple where you can work on a garden and just deal with your issues? Do you think he’d hate something like that?”

Doppio would damn well hope not. Sure, big cases did tend to be written about in the news…and…the arrest of the Boss of Passione would…certainly qualify as a ‘big case’ but…maybe he could plead for at least Boss’s identity to be kept anonymous. Maybe someone would listen.

…maybe Boss wouldn’t be arrested.

Sighing at the mention of Isolation, Doppio shrugged a little, scratching farther up his arm now. “...if he wasn’t who he is, maybe. Boss likes his privacy, but…he’s connected. He has goals and means to achieve them, and…taking those away would… i-infuriate? Him?” Doppio didn’t sound all that sure, still having trouble picturing Boss truly angry. “...he wouldn’t like it, at least. I wouldn’t be surprised if he…managed to find a way to break out then just…go to another country, start anew. He could definitely do it…”

“Maybe he could.” Kaito shrugged. “Byakuya did. But the important thing is, he’s not able to interfere in our lives anymore. Uh, I mean both your boss and my, uh, Byakuya. That’s really the end goal every time. That we’re left alone. That everyone they were messing with is left alone. Because if your situation is anything like mine? You’re not the only person whose life he’s twisted around himself.”

“Sometimes guys like us? Who still love these people? The biggest sacrifice we can make is stepping back and letting other people solve the problem without, ya know…” Kaito sighed, looking exhausted, “Crying too loudly, basically. We can argue for their safety and beg for mercy, but… we can’t argue that things be left as they are. They’re hurting too many people. It’s not just about us.”

Doppio looked down. …the whole risk of Boss being caught was just about him. But…

…maybe…not just Arven and Kaito and Lake and the others…not just them wouldn’t have to die, or be hurt. Maybe…other people would live too. Maybe…other people wouldn’t have access to drugs, and their lives wouldn’t be ruined, like Boss always said Doppio’s life would be.

…maybe it wasn’t just about him.

Maybe…

Doppio gasped softly, wincing and immediately grabbing his forearm as he felt it stinging, looking down with a grimace as he saw the (disgusting) tell-tale orange-y-redness of fresh blood under his nails. Aw fuck…

“Oh? Are you okay? Here, let me see,” Kaito said, adjusting himself to take Doppio’s arm, getting a closer look at it and frowning. “Ouch… though… huh.”

Peering at the scratches… These really were the gashes he had looked at before. But healed. Basically healed.

….should Kaito tell Doppio he knows about Amaina?

Maybe he should. But, then, explaining why he knew was dangerous. Could he put Kokichi in danger, admitting he knew about things like that? Maybe…

“...I’m glad your wounds healed,” Kaito said, sighing as he got up from the hot tub, heading over to the water controls. “But let’s clean that arm and bandage it. You’ve had a tough day… not that I’m putting you to bed! I’m just saying, you’ve had a tough day. Let’s get you cleaned up and settled.”

Doppio didn’t try to take his arm away, but…he did tense after a moment, realizing what he’d done, and where, and…what Kaito was looking at. …he felt bad, before, lying to Kaito about his initial CPS report, basically…declaring that either Kaito was an idiot, or delusional, even if Doppio had argued for it all to be that he was simply mistaken. That’s part of why he’d written his letter in the first place. But…what was he supposed to say about his arm? He could tell the truth about how he’d drowned and what Boss had done to him, about the lengths Kaito had gone to, but…how would he explain the deep gouges in his arm that had disappeared in a few days?

He couldn’t… Kaito wouldn’t…

Doppio held his breath as Kaito acknowledged them, bracing himself, mind racing for just how on earth he could even try to explain…

…but Kaito didn’t ask. And…Doppio didn’t think it was because the man had given up on him, so…

“...me too,” Doppio whispered, before pushing himself up, stepping down from the side of the hot tub. “I, um… I don’t remember if I did already, but… Thank you, for helping me with it. ‘N I’m grateful to Arven too for his help. I…”

He heaved a sigh. Realizing where he was going with this. “...I’ve always tried to pay back my debts. And…I’m still mad at you, for a lot of stuff…but you’ve helped me out a lot too. So…if there was something I could cook for you, to pay you back? I…don’t have a lot of other ways to do it, right now, but…I-I’m good at cooking!” Doppio looked up at Kaito with a determined expression. “So…please let me know what I can do!”

Kaito considered Doppio blankly for a moment. Taking that in…

Before he smirked. “I’ll accept your cooking, but that’s not what I want.”

His eyes alight with possibility, Kaito keened, “Know what I’d really appreciate? If you really mean to pay me back?”

…that determination started to fade into wariness. Doppio leaning back a little. “...what?”

Kaito grinned wide. Looking excited, as he pointed enthusiastically at Doppio. “You’ll let me finish reading that book to you!”

Then, bouncing on his toes a little, Miyako going “Gyeh!” in his arms as he did so, he explained, “I really enjoyed that, and I’d love to finish the book with you. I’m so excited for you to meet the Gerudo! They’re my favorite part, and you never got to see any of them! Well, except for Ganondorf, of course, but I mean getting to know the desert village and meeting the tribes and seeing their cool customs, doing cool things and!!” Kaito gripped his hand into a fist, saying enthusiastically, “You don’t know what happened to the water temple! Spoiler alert! There is so much ice! And this weird, like, scary graveyard place, which, I will admit, I will be reading with one hand over my eyes, because those chapters are spooky…”

Kaito grinned. “What do you think? You’d be up to it? I know it’s asking a lot.”

…huh?

Doppio’s eyes widened in surprise. Honestly, he had sort of thought that Kaito was going to demand some sort of weird costume, or some…he didn’t know. Lifestyle changes. But as Kaito rambled about all the parts of the book they hadn’t gotten to yet…

Tears spilled over onto freckled cheeks, Doppio clenching his jaw to keep it from wobbling, though he tried to hide it with an arm too.

“...I-I thought you’d never wanna read to me again…”

Kaito looked baffled at Doppio’s tears, though he quickly headed over to him. Putting an arm around him and pulling him in, while Miyako looked up curiously. Soft Wet was being soft and wet. Pfff. Typical.

“Doppio, of course I want to read to you again,” Kaito said, sounding a little amused as he held him close, “Don’t you remember what we talked about? I only don’t use the ‘A’ word because it makes you uncomfortable. I still feel it though. Reading to you was a joy.”

Doppio sniffled grossly, though he hugged Kaito back, looking down to hide his face. He knew on some level Arven had been right--Kaito…well, ‘A’-worded them. He’d tracked them down across the countryside, he’d thrown himself out of a tree, he and his family had opened their home to them…

There had still been a part of Doppio that felt like Kaito had to have hated him, after what he did with the CPS report and yelling at him in the hall…

…but Kaito still wanted to read to him.

“...I-I can do that, then. To pay you back…”

Wiping his face a bit, Doppio looked up with an embarrassed frown. “...but not tonight. I made a joke to Arven about you trying to tuck us in and I don’t care if I owe you, I’ll actually fight you if you legitimately try it.”

“I wouldn’t be able to do it tonight anyway,” Kaito admitted, sounding entirely amused as he leaned back, ruffling Doppio’s hair a bit. “My Timothy is getting jealous, I can tell after eating dinner with him today. So, while he would also never let me tuck him in, I’m just gonna go ‘happen’ to be around tonight and chat with him and see how his week at school has been, and man, if he happens to fall asleep and needs a blanket all tucked in around his shoulders? Welllll I’m there anyyyyway.”

Snorting, Kaito rubbed Doppio’s back, before motioning him back towards the lounge as he said, “You wait. Someday, I will also ‘happen’ to be there when you’re dozing off to sleep. And ya know what? Blankets will be tucked where they will, when that happens! I can’t control how blankets get tucked once people fall asleep? It’s beyond my ability to control!”

“Though, seriously, let’s go get that wrapped, that looks like it stings. Come on, Doppio, let’s take care of it,” Kaito said, heading to the lockers, “I think there’s a first aid kit somewhere here. Isn’t that right, Miyaaaa~ Miya! Can we find a bandage for Doppio? Let’s go find one, Miya~”

Right… It wasn’t like Doppio had gone to introduce himself to everyone in the castle, but…he hadn’t seen any younger kids running around. If Kaito’s son was jealous then…maybe that was by design. Doppio really hoped he wouldn’t have to have a whole conversation with a kid about stealing his dad, when Doppio didn’t want Kaito as his dad anyway.

…

…someday. Kaito planning on that ‘someday’.

…Doppio knew he was going to live at the castle until the investigation was done, but…what laid for him after…

“I-it’s not bad…” Doppio mumbled, following after Kaito to find the first aid kit. “Just…pressed too hard, I think… Just a scratch.”

“Eh, let me fuss. It’s my favorite thing to do,” Kaito said, looking around before declaring, “Found it! There we go. Alright, Miya, let dad put you down for one minut–”

“Eh?” Miyako blinked… before her face thundered, “Eh?”

“Oh, nope, nope, that’s not gonna work,” Kaito realized, quickly picking her back up, bouncing her in his arms a little. “There there, there there, let’s not punish dad, everything’s okay. Sorry, Doppio, do you think you can do it yourself? Or, you can try holding her while I take care of your arm? That might work a little better, if only because she might find you interesting to look at.”

Doppio gave Miyako a mildly panicked look. “N-no! I can do it myself. She can stay with her favorite person, no need.”

Opening up the first aid kit, it seemed pretty standard so Doppio didn’t waste any time rolling up his sleeve and dabbing his beading scratch with an antiseptic wipe, easily picking out a bandage of appropriate size and slapping it on, smoothing it out along his unbroken skin. Easy-peasy, could’ve done it in his sleep, and no need for princes to put down their daughters for it.

Making a mental note to…well. Talk to someone about replacing the supplies, if he couldn’t do it himself, Doppio sighed. Realizing the best place to get more supplies in the castle would…probably be the medical wing. …maybe that would be a small upside, if he couldn’t avoid going tomorrow.

“...Arven doesn’t think I’m 12,” Doppio mentioned as they headed for the stairs.

“Hmmm.” Kaito hummed, patting Miyako on her butt as he rested her on his chest, “...how does he feel about 14?”

Doppio’s brows furrowed. “...we didn’t talk about 14. I said that if they give me a range, I’m picking 15 so I’m the same age as him. He said some jerks at his school might give him credit if they decide I’m an adult, but it’d be weird and he doesn’t want credit from them anyway.”

“He’s a good guy,” Kaito nodded, “If we’re basing it on your relationship with him, would you feel any certain way dating a guy who’s a year older than you? I mean, personally? I always preferred older guys. Especially when I was your age.”

“And 14 is a cool age,” Kaito continued carefully, “The start of high school! Get all that teenage experience, but safely out of middle school… really starting to grapple with people wanting to treat you like an adult, without dealing with any of the responsibilities yet? Good age, 14.”

Flushing, Doppio shrugged a little, though he had a small smile on his face. “I dunno… I don’t really feel like it’d change anything since…it’s not like I’m changing just ‘cause some healer told me a number. And…I’ve never really considered dating anyone, until Arven so…I just like him.”

Though, soon that blush faded as Doppio squinted suspiciously at Kaito. “...you know so much of that reasoning is bullsh…bullcrap for me. Why do you want me to be 14?”

Kaito paused, standing at the top of the stairs. Thinking about his answer… before he looked down at Doppio. Giving him a genuinely sad look, as he admitted, “Because it will give you more time to have a childhood? You’ve already been an adult for a while, but you don’t remember being a kid at all. Do you have any idea how many people I’d sacrifice for, to give them the chance to have a happier childhood? Almost every single person I know. Literally almost all of them.”

“You’re getting a chance at something most people will spend the rest of their lives whining about never being a possibility. You get to go back to being a child, but knowing what it was like on the other side. You get the chance to prepare. To take advantage of help. Knowing exactly what all of that means…”

“I want you to be 14 to give you one more year of being taken care of. By… whoever is gonna get the honor to do that.” Kaito shrugged. “Another year to recover. Another year to grow. I won’t insist you do it. If you’ve picked 15, pick 15, that’s good too. But I want you to have the best possible chance. So that’s why I’d argue 14.”

Admittedly, Doppio hadn’t expected Kaito’s answer to be so…genuine. And kind. He hadn’t really believed Arven about Kaito foaming at the mouth to be his dad, but…there was some of that energy around. But Kaito didn’t want him to be younger just so he had more of a chance to play at being Doppio’s father.

He wanted him to be younger so…he could have more time being younger.

But…

(...but that wasn’t true. And never would be. Ṭḣêŕě ẃàś ṋéꝟėṟ ӑ ꞓĥîłḋḫɵõđ ƭȯ ṁơǖɽṉ.)

Doppio frowned, bringing a hand up to rub his forehead, feeling a little…floaty. But he sighed, giving Kaito a tired look. “...I’m not going to change because some healer says a number, and people put that number on paper. Whatever they decide…it’s just going to be weird trivia. And let’s be honest, I’m probably not going to remember it half the time anyway.”

He shrugged a little, keeping a hand on the stair rail. “...if people want to give me a happier life then…they can just do that. It’s stupid if people just start being mean because of a number on a paper.”

Kaito sighed, nodding. “I could make a stronger argument for your education, but I'm not so delusional that I think extra class time is gonna be a selling point to anyone, if we can get you in school at all. Actually, 15 might be perfect for that, really. Maybe we can goad you into classrooms if we promise Arven will be there too.”

Kaito was being serious, but he was also being a little cheeky, saying it aloud as he held open the door for Doppio to leave the stairwell, closing it behind them. He grinned at the kid, before saying proudly, “And we’re already working on the happier life thing. Honestly, Seiko could say that you’re 40-something, and I’d be very surprised and wonder what moisturizer you’re using, but I’d still want to make sure you’re okay. You’re my sidekick, after all! I have a responsibility!”

“Eyayah!” Miyako crowed out.

“Yeah, you get it!” Kaito laughed, tickling his daughter, “I know this guy, he’s the father of my godson? He’s older than me by a bit, but he is not aware yet, I think, that he is one of mine, now. You can’t give me a god-baby and not be one of mine. Thankfully, his life is pretty together, so I don’t have to butt in too much. But man, if something went wrong? I will butt in. Trust me, Doppio, it’s not a ‘you’ thing or a ‘nebulous age’ thing. I’m just invasive and intrusive, full stop.”

Doppio rolled his eyes through a grimace, though his cheeks flushed. “Don’t think that will work if Arven barely wants to be there. Honestly, from everything he’s told me, it sounds miserable. Apparently some clique blew up his bike, as collateral, and that the teachers are just as bad as the students when it comes to chaos, and, uh, no thanks. I do not want any part of that.”

“And you would pick some age older than you,” he snorted, kind of entirely just following Kaito at this point. “But with how long you took just at the hotel, I think whatever skincare routine you have is longer than mine.”

…it was barely there, some off-handed comment about how it was probably easier for Kaito to put more care into his skin, when it didn’t look like…like…someone threw shit through a tennis racket, but…

…Arven said his freckles were cute.

Adjusting his sweater a little, Doppio sighed. “You know, I believe it. But I’m just saying… Nothing changes no matter what they end up deciding for me. Just…legal nonsense I barely care about anyway.”

“Oooooh, don’t you worry, Arven’s relationship with education is on my list!” Kaito said, looking over his shoulder at Doppio, “You’ve been keeping me busy, I’ll admit, but when I can? Arven is going to school, and he’s getting himself an education, and, well, it sounds like school might have more going on with it than I originally guessed, but ya know what that means? That means I gotta be even nosier!”

“Besides, my ‘Kichi wants me to take more time to do things I’m passionate about. I think he’d be happy with me, if I were to get reeeaaal involved in the local schools. I gotta get high school ready for Timothy! And the girls! And, wow, like, all of Maki’s siblings… I seriously need to get on it, thinking about it. Arven is my canary bird! Showing me where there’s gas in the tunnels!” Kaito grinned, “Helping him helps all my kids!”

…oops. Sorry, Arven.

…even if Doppio had been the one to open that issue in the first place too. (...even if it didn’t sound like a place Doppio wanted to be…unlike him, Arven was smart. He was clever and determined and Doppio had no doubt he could do anything he ever decided to. And, well, as chaotic as it seemed…he could get a lot of support and resources to do those things through school.)

(It was a nice dream, to hide away in the hills together.)

(But Doppio didn’t want Arven to give up on his potential just yet.)

…seriously, how many kids did this guy have???

However, Doppio gave Kaito a puzzled look. “I…don’t think Arven’s like a canary? Sure, he likes yellow, but…”

“Figure of speech, figure of speech. It just means I can use Arven as a warning sign of where there’s danger that needs to be taken care of,” Kaito explained, before grinning, slowing down to nudge Doppio a little. “Why? Spent some time deciding which animal he reminds you of already? I get that, I enjoy doing that too. I think ‘Kichi has you pegged as a frog guy, but I’m still standing by my weird pink tadpole things! Axl’somethings? Axlots? Something like that.”

Doppio pouted a little at that. A warning sign? Arven deserved way more than that… He wasn’t an experiment, he was incredible…

Though he could only huff at Kaito’s nudge. “No, I just don’t think that a canary fits him. And I think Prince Kokichi just knows I like frogs, since he said as much, a-and I appreciate the thought.” He pouted a little more. “...and I do appreciate the pajamas, clothing has been an issue, but I don’t…really think I’m like those…askolottas. Really…having pink hair isn’t a personality trait.”

Reminded of it, Doppio blinked and quickly looked around, still leaning in to quickly, quietly ask Kaito, “...I don’t smell, do I? I-I’m gonna try to wash my clothes tomorrow, but I know there’s only so much showers can do.”

“Do you smell?” Kaito asked, humming a bit, sniffing the air… and then, getting much closer to Doppio’s personal space, closing his eyes and sniffing again.

Backing up, Kaito said, “You smell fine, but you’re right, your clothes are getting there. You’ve just been living in them too long, it happens. Didn’t my ‘Kichi go clothes shopping with you today? Spoil yourself, put something fresh on, new nice clean pajamas. Arven will love it… across the room. On the other side of a darn courtesy curtain. I really need to beat it into his head how darn nice to you he needs to be, if he wants to get up close and personal. Don’t care how good you smell! There’s things he has to know!”

Doppio groaned, hunching his shoulders into himself. Though…he gave Kaito an embarrassed look before quickly looking away, tapping his fingers together. “...jus’ bought underwear,” he mumbled. “...didn’t wanna keep us out too long, ‘n… Felt weird trying on clothes while they’d be waiting…”

And while he huffed, that flustered embarrassment only grew. “Arven’s not…doing anything. A-and he is nice to me! More than anyone else has ever been. More…than I probably deserve, really… But he doesn’t deserve you being a…a creepy weirdo to him!”

“Oh, ‘Kichi.” Kaito sighed, shaking his head. “I swear… alright, well. I’ll loan you some pajama tops then. My bottoms will just slide right off you, but the tops should drape well enough. Most importantly, they’re clean.”

“And you deserve all the good things,” Kaito said, almost dismissively, like it was obvious, before adding in, “And there is a place in this world for creepy weirdos like me! Sure, what we say is uncomfortable, but ya know what! If you listen to us, you avoid so many awful potential moments! Lake tried to tell you, and you scoffed! But you always need so much more than you think you do!”

“Gyah!” Miyako shouted.

“You don’t understand what I’m talking about so heck yeah!” Kaito shouted.

“I don’t need to borrow your clothes,” Doppio groused, feeling…weirdly flustered by the thought of just wearing a big shirt to bed. He couldn’t remember the last time he didn’t wear some form of bottoms, and it’d be…weird, right? Right.

Kaito saying he deserved all the good things (of all the beautiful things, you’re one of them) just flustered Doppio more, and as Kaito veered back into sex talk territory, Doppio was practically steaming and bright red.

“We’re--!” Looking around again, Doppio took an embarrassed huff of breath before quieting his voice. “We’re not having sex! It’s not on the horizon for us so stop talking about it!”

Just…a someday thing. Maybe. To think about. One day.

…maybe one day when Doppio could begin to stomach the thought of not wearing pants around the guy he was dating.

Kaito gave Doppio a somewhat dry look over his shoulder, shaking his head a little… before he suddenly stopped. Turning on his heel and looking sternly at Doppio.

“I’ll stop bringing it up if you promise me something,” Kaito said sternly. Miyako glancing up at Kaito’s expression, and deciding to mimic his expression, since it was one of Big Heat’s rarer ones. “You promise me that you and him are talking about if and when you’re having sex, okay? Cause let me tell you, unless you’re communicating about it? You don’t actually know where his head is at. Kokichi and I were literally at our wedding day, and had two entirely different ideas of where we were intimately. In my head, our first time was literally marked on everyone's calendars, just another item on the to-do list of the ceremonies and the treaties and the waving at crowds, and to him, sex was, again, ‘nowhere on the horizon’. And boy, can I tell ya, that was a difficult day… Communicating even when it’s embarrassing or something seems ‘obvious’ is incredibly important. If you can promise me you two are talking about it, even if all you’re saying is you’re mutually not ready? I will stop bringing it up.”

“...and when you guys do start talking about it like it’s more of a possibility, please come to me for advice, seriously, I’ll spare you so much darn heartache.” Kaito scoffed. “And backache.”

It was something else, having a baby sternly stare you down while you were getting a sex lecture. …but…this was…one of the better and more coherent ones that Kaito had attempted, so…

Doppio sighed, rubbing a red cheek and looking away. “I-I’m saying that ‘cause, yeah, we have talked about it… Neither of us are ready for s-something like that yet. But…yanno… We’ll talk. For our own sakes, a-and not just so I’m getting you off my back, alright?”

He grimaced. “...but please never allude any more than that about you and the heir apparent banging. I never need to know about that. I know you have a daughter and what that all implies, but it’s something I never have to think about.”

It was too late. It didn’t matter he had said it first. Kaito was still entirely sold on lifting up Miyako over his head and shouting, “GAZE! GAZE UPON THE PROOF THAT I, AT LEAST ONCE, HAVE BANGED NOT ONE, BUT BOTH OF MY HUSBANDS!”

“GRA-GHA!” Miyako shouted out, kicking her legs excitedly as Kaito had her loom over Doppio.

“MIYAKO SAIHARA! PROOF KAITO MOMOTA HAS GAME!”

“UUUUUUUUGH!”

Kaito did indeed drop Doppio back off at his room, though Doppio had barely started settling in before the prince was rushing back, forcing a sleep shirt onto him. And…Arven still wasn’t back, so Doppio decided to take that time to shower, brushing his hair and teeth and changing into… O-okay, his pajamas weren’t that bad, surely, he had been wearing deodorant the whole ti…

…he could get away with the pants. Arven wouldn’t be smelling those, but whatever Doppio wore as a top would be…nearby and…

Sighing, Doppio turned this way and that in their bedroom mirror, looking on with embarrassment as the soft maroon t-shirt hung to his lower thighs and the sleeves to his elbows. …hung off his form like a damn sheet. …collar opened up…quite a bit of shoulder and collarbone…ngh.

Arven thanked Lake for opening the door for him, as he pulled in a suitcase, Chief bounding in ahead of him. “Aceto? Sorry it took so long, Lake wanted to do a thorough once over of the house to account for where everything is and cracks and stuff, apparently in case anyone breaks in…”

Arven blinked at Doppio. “....hm.”

“.....” Arven flushed red. “Hm. Ya know, uh, that shirt doesn’t… um… fit… is that yours?” Arven stared at Doppio’s collarbone, and though Doppio was wearing pants, kept glancing down at where the bottom of the shirt draped. “...’s a nice color.”

Doppio jumped slightly as he heard the door open, whirling around, though a small smile broke out on his face once the surprise faded. Giving Chief some ‘hello’ pats and scratches, he shook his head a little. “It’s no worry. Even if we did go through stuff before, since this is…an easier back and forth, I figured you’d prolly be more discerning about what you’d want to bring.”

Still, he was happy to see Arven again, even…um…

Flushing, Doppio self-consciously pulled one side of the collar up. “No, it’s, uh…it’s Kaito’s. I need to do laundry, a-and I mentioned it to him and…you know how he gets.” He blushed more. “...I know it’s kinda silly-looking, but…I’d rather wear a shirt that doesn’t stink.” While they were sleeping together. And going to…

Looking down at the shirt, Doppio cleared his suddenly tight throat. “...you like red? I, uh… Well, I’m not gonna…have ‘em, obviously, but…I think I have some shirts of my own, near this color. A-at home.”

“I mean, I guess I like red?” Arven said, having never had a strong feeling about the color red before, and rapidly sputtering out, “I like red on you! I mean, I’d probably like any color on you… That’s a weird thing to say, nevermind that, let me, uh, start unloading this suitcase. Definitely don’t want to live in and out of my suitcase if I don’t have to.”

Opening up his suitcase, Arven started to hurriedly distract himself, taking his folded clothes and starting to move them into the empty drawers. “Was your evening alright? Other than Kaito forcing you in a shirt?”

It wasn’t so bad, living out of a suitcase. The only reason Doppio hadn’t recently was because he didn’t want to wrinkle his clothes and…well…it had seemed like things were going well in Usott.

Ha-ha.

“Oh, would you like some help?” Waiting by Arven’s side of an okay, Doppio sighed softly. “Yeah, it was fine. The leftovers of the compote are in the main kitchens downstairs, a-and the people who work there are pretty nice. Pushy about food, but, yanno, I get it. And, oh!”

“Kaito showed me this…kinda secret area? There’s a lounge and a hot tub in one of the basements, some past Ouma made, and he said we could use it to hang out if we wanted. Um, there’s some…lighting stuff? I-it looks like crystals are in the walls, it’s neat.”

…Doppio…didn’t really want to talk about what he and Kaito discussed, and…

Scoffing through red cheeks, Doppio crossed his arms over his chest, decidedly looking elsewhere. “...almost walked in on me, y-yanno, doing stuff initially. He made this huge ado about tellin’ him I was busy, as if he wouldn’t’ve just walked in anyway if I told ‘im to leave. So…that was ridiculous.”

“Sure, please,” Arven said, bringing up his clothes and passing them to Doppio to put into the drawers, creating a small chain. “And oh yeah? I didn’t know there was a hot tub in the castle. I’m surprised that’s not more common knowledge. It sounds nice, we should do that our next free afternoon… which, honestly, sounds like it could be any afternoon this week.”

And at that last part.

“....w-what?” Arven sputtered, looking up at Doppio, “H-he walked in on you doing… stuff??”

…Kaito had said he could just wear a shirt swimming… Maybe that wouldn’t be so bad…

Doppio blinked, looking at Arven in surprise before his blush ramped up more, as he squeaked, “W-w-well not in the middle!! H-he just knocked a-and…you know! I was decent!”

Arven stared at his knees, no idea what to say to any of that…

“D-do you??” Arven said, scratching the side of his neck, baffled at the words coming out of his own mouth, “Need to finish???”

…

∑(⊙ロ⊙)

Doppio gawked at Arven, bright crimson all the way down his exposed neck. “Ѐ stato più di un’ora fa!! N-NO!” (That was over an hour ago!)

“I don’t know!” Arven shouted, looking increasingly flustered as he waved his hands randomly, “I’m just saying, you could! I’m not going to make it weird! I could…” Arven gestured vaguely to the front door and the bathroom. “Go somewhere!??”

“No, no, that’s, uurg,” Doppio groaned, covering his face. “I-I’m fine, you don’t have to go a-anywhere, there’s nothing to do, just… S-sorry, forget it! Forget I brought it up!”

That was a hard thing to forget.

Arven pulled out some toiletries he had brought, moving them into the bathroom. Staring at himself in the mirror, Arven tried to give himself a little mental pep talk… but he actually wasn’t sure what he was trying to pep talk himself into. Sleeping?? Not being weird?? Both great options.

……..he wondered what Doppio looked like–

Gaaaaaaaah!

“I’m going to take a shower!” Arven called out, closing the door and hurrying to the shower.

…he’s soooooooo thinking naughty thoughts about you.

Groaning, Doppio threw himself onto one of the beds, grabbing one of the pillows and putting it over his face. Maybe if he suffocated that would solve this…

Groaning louder, he thrashed in a mini-tantrum before peeking out under the pillow at Amaina, giving her a pained look. “Angioletto, why did I bring that up?! I-I could’ve just said nothing! Probably should’ve said nothing! And now it’s weird!”

And now Arven was…

Well, it seemed kind of redundant for Arven to go anywhere, when Doppio had been thinking about…

Ugh.

You are also thinking naughty thoughts you HARLOT but it’s okay i do not judge, Amaina said, hopping onto his knees and looking curiously up at him, Now you’ve got him all hot and bothered. Nefarious. I am proooooouuuud of you!

Doppio’s eyes widened as he involuntarily glanced at the bathroom door. “...w-wait, a-are you… You’re just saying that to embarrass me, right? Y-you’re not…living his thoughts right now, right!?”

O.o nooooo? No. Gross.

Amaina rolled her wide, massive eyes a bit, before patting Doppio’s knees a little. I don’t need to live your thoughts to know you two are thinking couple thoughts. Beeecauuuuuse!! Amaina popped up, spinning on his knees happily, HE ASKED YOU OUUUUUUT!!

Doppio still felt that…live, electric thrum in his body, but…

Smiling softly, he moved the pillow to hug over his stomach, watching Amaina dance. “...he did. Um…I never did before, since so much was happening but…thanks, Angelo. For your gift, back at the hotel. It…”

He sighed softly, tipping his head back against the mattress. “...I’d never seen anything like that before, and…it felt perfect, with Arven.” In fairness, a lot of things felt perfect with Arven, but that moment in the field with the fireworks… It had felt magical. He figured not a lot of people could boast a moment like that for their first kiss. An appropriately big deal for what they had both wanted.

O.O

OvO I am extra as allllll hell!! But this is the fun stuff to be extra about my pretty boy and small king getting ALLLLLL the celebration!

Spinning again, Amaina splayed her arms wide, as small little fireworks went off quietly behind her, each explosion looking like a silhouette of Doppio and Arven kissing. Though, as the fireworks faded, Amaina looked up at Doppio, her expression blank, almost a little somber.

O.O… OoO lava is beautiful.

She paused, and as she did, her skin started to glisten slightly. Small pools of lava, opening up on her skin like sweat, before hardening over her skin, like shimmering, ruby jewels. Her hair flowing back over her shoulders like flowing magma, as she said, But lava is hot. And painful to the touch. And changes what it touches. And it leaves black stones and burnt grass, and those are beautiful too.

Doppio laughed softly, grinning wider at the fireworks…for a moment, anyway, before the shapes registered with him and he pulled the pillow up to cover his face up to his eyes. Giving Amaina a half-hearted glare. The dramatics she had were a joy, but…sometimes a bit much.

Sometimes ‘much’ in a different way too.

His eyes widened as he saw Amaina…crack into lava? The display as beautiful as it was disturbing, as…he could kind of guess what her point was, but…he didn’t really get it. What Amaina was trying to--

(“You’re probably doomed already if you can see the lava, patatino.” A laugh. A fond look at his stubborn look. “But if the eruption’s stopped? Sure. You can see everything i̷̲̥͌f̷̳̠͐ y̷̘͋͌̊o̸̧̟̳̫͊̈̿ȗ̵̹͙̟̿̆̒ p̶̤͉̳͌͑u̵͓̘͓̅̈́̀͂͊̓͊t̷̛̰́̿̏ ̷̛̛̲̲̯͇͚̇̚͜͝ͅy̸̛͈̭̗̐̈́̈́̇͝o̷̤̠̻̥̙̐̏͐͐̚̕̚u̴̝͔̯͑̈r̵͙̞̅̎̈ͅ m̶̢̙͉͊̅͌͂̈̅̉͂ͅį̸̛̠͔̻͉́͂̂̀̚n̴̡̡̛͍͙̼̝͕͔̈́̋́̏̽͊̓̿̀d̷̠̭̤͓̼͖̜̯̄̈̅̈́͝ ̸̙̖̹̌̽̎̂̿̃̾́̍̋̚͠ẗ̶͖̝́̂͊͂̒̒̊͑̇̆o̷̧̝͚̳͍͇̼̣̜͚̙̊̋̓̏̈́͊̋̏͋́̋͆͜…)

Doppio winced, closing his eyes and pressing a hand to his forehead as a headache ripped through him. Though he forced one eye open to give Amaina a confused look. “...y-yeah? I suppose so, but… L-look, you know I’m not very good with metaphors…”

I’m saying all of this suuuuuuuucked but it’s okay because sometimes beautiful things ssuuuuuuuck like maybe little senpai someday! Amaina said cheerfully, and sometimes the good suck comes with the bad suck but it’s okay because sucking is great!

Amaina paused. O-O I’ve lost the thread of this conversation.

Doppio just slowly blinked in pain, giving Amaina a bewildered look. “....yeah, I think you have.”

…he sighed, closing his eyes and relaxing against the bed again. “...you think this is a good thing, then? This,” he clarified, gesturing around the room. The room in the castle that he was using because…this was his home for the foreseeable future. “...I dunno.”

“...but I didn’t like being drowned,” he whispered, clenching his eyes closed tight. “...and I hated Boss ignoring me. And I didn’t like…having to kill people, o-or give them threats, e-especially when…they were just doing their jobs, you know? B-but Boss said that…you couldn’t give up any openings or vulnerabilities, o-or make people think they were irreplaceable or exceptions… I… I’ll be happy never to do any of that again…”

“...but it still doesn’t feel good.”

“...so I just have to get past the bad sucking?”

Amaina nodded, patting Doppio’s knees sympathetically, before she spun and spun and spun and spun– and when she stilled, she was a beautiful, onyx figure, her dark, rocky skin glistening slightly with small crystal sparkles, before she took a little bow.

“What’s Amaina doing?” Arven asked, stepping out in his towel, steam filling the room. “And, sorry, don’t mind me, didn’t bring a change of underwear,” he explained, as he headed to the drawers.

Doppio’s eyes snapped open, though they remained fixed to the ceiling. …Arven…not wearing underwear…

“Sh-she’s, uh, t-talking about the beauty o-of lava, even though it’s, it’s something destructive,” Doppio stammered, feeling a tightening warmth in his stomach. He wondered what kind of paint they used for the rooms…it looked very even. “It’s cool-looking, h-huh?”

<.< Amaina whistled, before saying pointedly, Suuuuuure, you just happened to forget your underwear, and now you gotta show off your biceps and cute pudgy stomach–GWAH!

Arven, glaring at her, pulled back his index finger with his thumb, and flicked her in the face. Amaina FLEW across the room, squealing as she flew off like an arch. “Pervy little angel… I’m not pudgy. What, literally having any weight around your waist makes you ‘pudgy’? You know what it means if you see a guy’s abs? It means he needs to eat more.” Arven huffed.

O.O

Involuntarily, Doppio’s eyes flicked down in time to watch Amaina fly off his knees, but…his eyes weren’t following the false angel at all. Instead…

Arven’s hair was weighed down, pulled over one shoulder…one broad shoulder, that naturally led into thick biceps and…and developing pecs and…a soft stomach that, well, did pudge out a little, but was obviously just padding out solid muscles and…

Doppio swallowed, baffled by how much his mouth was watering, electric tingles going down his spine and that heat just tightening more, settling right into…

Gold eyes shot straight back up to the ceiling as Doppio clutched his pillow for dear life. Hoping to forget that there was currently nothing under Arven’s towel aaaaAAAAAAAA

“...s…” Doppio cleared his throat. “Y-your stomach looks p-pretty, uh…normal? N-nice. Um…”

So nice Doppio wanted to faceplant on it and kiss Arven’s stomach for the rest of the night hhhhhhrng

Arven looked down at his stomach, staring at it like the mere fact that he had a stomach at all was sudden, alarming news to him… before his face turned beet red, as he took advantage and stared at the floor. Arven staring at the floor, while Doppio stared at the ceiling.

“...th-thanks!??” Arven managed to squeak out, before clearing his throat and saying an octave too low for his natural voice, “Anyway. Uh, let me go get dressed, and then… then we’ll go to bed?” Arven sounded baffled as he grabbed his underwear and headed to the bathroom, calling out, “Or something???”

The bathroom door closed, and Amaina popped out of Doppio’s oversized shirt. OoO ‘something’ is definitely kisses you gonna get MACKED on.

Flying out, she flew in front of Doppio and said, should I leave you two to it?? I’m a perv for fun not for real I don’t wanna watch.

…Doppio wasn’t sure if he wanted to try suffocating himself again, or move his pillow…er…lower. Both options certainly had their upsides… (fuck don’t think about anything being ‘up’)

THEY WERE JUST GOING TO BED. TOGETHER. IN THE SAME BED.

…with…’something’.

Doppio ‘eep!’ed as Amaina popped out of his clothes, before he gave her a strained, flustered look. “...w-we’re just gonna go to sleep. Don’t really want you watching that anyway, but…b-but nothing’s happening!”

O.O

OoO uh huh sure whatever you say boyo MAKE GOOD CHOICES give me kisses!

Amaina flew up to Doppio’s face, and with a loud ‘muwah!’ kissed the tip of his nose, before vanishing in a swirl.

In the bathroom, Arvens shouted, “AMAINA!? Gah!”

KISSES!

And after some scrambling, Arven came out of the bathroom, looking flustered in his pajamas as he said, “Man, I hope the random headbutt kisses aren’t a new ‘thing’ for her. That hurt!”

(Doppio had never had a mother, but Amaina’s parting vaguely felt like a maternal figure sending him off to…like, camp, or his first day of school. Both things Doppio had no experience with either.)

Hesitating a moment as Arven came out of the bathroom a second time, Doppio’s eyes flicked over him (cute…) before sitting up in his bed more, scooting over on the mattress. The…much smaller mattress than the hotel’d had so…

“Headbutt kisses? She just kissed my nose…”

“Amaina likes to tease me.” Arven huffed, going to the mattress and– looking it over, making the same ‘smaller’ observation Doppio had– crossed his arms over his chest as he said, “So… we still good with me sharing a bed with you, Aceto? It’s… heh.” Arven kicked the floor a little, grinning uneasily as he stared at the floor. “...I’d understand if it’d feel too crowded, like this?”

Doppio flushed, squeezing his pillow one more time before setting it behind him. Looking down before properly meeting Arven’s eyes, giving him a soft smile. “...I’d really like to. I like sleeping with you and…”

He huffed, chewing the side of his lip in embarrassment. “...I woke up in the middle of the night, last night? I-I was…kinda freaking out, and Kaito took me outside. I…I wanted to keep holding your hand, like we started out, but…it felt weird moving you while you were asleep, so I didn’t, but… I like being close to you, Arven.”

“Oh, well…”

Arven sat down on the mattress, scratching the back of his ankle. “I’m sorry you were freaking out? You could have woken me up, I would have wanted to hear about it… but, you don’t have to feel weird touching me in my sleep? I mean…”

Arven laughed, giving Doppio a small, sheepish grin, “We know between the two of us, I’m gonna end up practically wrapped around you. It’s weird if I’m allowed to do it and you aren’t. So I don’t mind.”

Doppio shrugged a little, not quite having the words to explain that he had tried to not wake up anyone. That he had been so used to his tears being ignored or scoffed at that it never occurred to him to go to someone for comfort. But he did have words for other things.

“I mean… I feel weird about it when I’m awake, but you’re asleep…you know? If we’re both asleep, it…that’s fine, since…we can’t control what we’re doing. And, uh…” Doppio laughed softly, rubbing his arm, “It’s…kinda nice, how cuddly you get in your sleep. It’s not something I’m used to at all but…I like it. You’re really warm.”

“But…if you don’t mind? Could…I, er…would it be okay, if I tried to hold your hand, if I wake up in the middle of the night and we’ve moved?”

“Um.” Arven shuffled closer to Doppio, finally managing to bring himself to look up at him. “...yeah? Sorry, I don’t mean to make it sound like a ‘duh’ moment, but…” Arven grinned, leaning in closer to him, “Duh. Yeah. I don’t mind.”

“...you smell really nice,” Arven said softly, “Strange, a little unlike you, but still nice…”

“....” Arven flushed red, before leaning back a bit. “I really want to kiss you more, but I’m having a real hard time not looking at your sh-shoulder? And I know that’s so lame, because it’s just a shoulder, but your shoulder is really cute, and you have this really big freckle on it and I…”

Arven blanched, saying quickly, “Kinda wanna kiss it??”

Doppio smiled, feeling something in him relax. Arven wasn’t bothered, he didn’t find it weird… It was good. Most of the time Doppio did sleep straight through the night without issue, but every now and then… It was just going to be nice to have that comfort, and not push past his…the guy he was dating’s boundaries.

(...thank you Kaito for a clean shirt!!!!)

Blushing, Doppio’s eyes widened a bit as he glanced over at his shoulder, the over-large shirt falling to the side and exposing more skin and… Turning more red, Doppio filled the space Arven had leaned back from and gave Arven a flustered look. “...you can, i-if you want? I, uh… C-can I hug you, while you do?”

Arven had in no way been prepared for a yes. He felt tension– both pleasant and unpleasant– fill his body as he realized he was going to have to follow through. Which he really wanted to do! But oh man he was going to look stupid and Doppio was gonna regret ever dating him and he was gonna laugh– “Yep!” he said, nodding, “Okay!”

There was an awkward sort of shuffling around, as the two sort of sat next to each other for a moment, before Arven realized it’d be easier to kind of sit at an angle, and then he tried to lean in for the hug but then he realized he’d never get the kiss on the shoulder that way and so he leaned back but kept his hands sort of ‘round Doppio’s waist as he tried to figure out what next.

And, taking a hand off Doppio’s waist, he brushed off a few stray hairs off Doppio’s shoulder, licked his lip slightly… before leaning in. Placing a small kiss on Doppio’s shoulder, roughly where the large freckle was.

He smelled like sunlight…

Several times, Doppio considered just calling it off, getting increasingly flustered as they tried to find a position that…worked. But at the same time? There was something almost…fun about it. About being with Arven and maneuvering each other’s bodies and giving each other little, embarrassed giggles when they discovered something wouldn’t work…

…Doppio discovered he rather liked having Arven’s hands around his waist. And he liked looping his arms around Arven’s, even loosely as he was doing it. It felt different, without Arven’s vest. Just…a solid, soft, warm body only separated by a shirt and…

Doppio sucked in a soft breath as he felt lips touch against his shoulder. It was such a small, brief point of contact, but…it was so foreign, yet nice. His arms tightened slightly, feeling Arven’s waist give a little. Gently, he tilted his head to rest against the top of Arven’s. “...good?”

“Y-yeah,” Arven said softly, though he rested his forehead on Doppio’s, closing his eyes as he said softly, “...give me a second. My heart is racing right now. Is that weird? It feels weird…”

Arven let his heart thump in his chest for a moment, before laughing lightly, and feeling bold, kissing the spot again. Doppio’s skin was warm and soft… his hands on Arven’s waist were exciting too. He had never felt this physically close to someone, as he looked up with a nervous smile. “You? Good?”

His heart was racing? Obviously Doppio knew that…that Arven liked him too, and liked doing…uh, this kind of stuff, but… But hearing just…how much it affected him…

Doppio grinned, feeling warm and happy, especially as he felt Arven’s lips against his shoulder again. “The best,” he answered happily, leaning in to steal a kiss against Arven’s cheek as he looked up. Fingers barely sliding down Arven’s back in a tiny rub before he offered Arven a sheepish grin. “Can I kiss you on the lips?”

Arven smiled and nodded, leaning in to accept the offered kiss.

It was so bizarre. Arven could honestly just do this all day, it was so… nice. And randomly exciting. When they found their rhythm, pressing their lips against each other in small, chaste kisses, giggling into each other’s breaths sometimes and other times just entirely lost in each other; it was calm and sweet and easy. Like a warm bath. But then Doppio would move his hands onto Arven’s back, or shift his hips a little, or the worst, do this little, sighing, yearning breath against him when their kisses broke for air, and that tense excitement would run hotly through Arven’s body again. Wonderful and awful, so distracting as it just made Arven more and more aware of not only his own body, but Doppio’s.

It was a weird game of being almost too much, and somehow not enough, and Arven was lost in it as he whispered against Doppio’s lips, “I like you so much.”

Doppio had never really thought he had anything against winter. Against sharp, chilly breezes and frigid temperatures. For one, they made wearing thick, comfy sweaters more comfortable, and snow was just so beautiful…

But this? The way Arven held him solidly, without stopping any movement, the way his lips pressed against his, so smooth and soft that Doppio’s perpetually bitten ones couldn’t comprehend, the way he’d laugh against his face…

It was a warmth filling Doppio’s body that rivaled the summer sun, and it was something that Doppio didn’t know if he could ever live without. And yet…he wanted it to grow. Get to the point of a burgeoning sunburn, feel that growing tightness, that tingle, that…

“I like you too. I think you’re incredible,” Doppio whispered back, before letting out a small, excited giggle as he pecked him again. They were sitting next to each other just fine, but… “...can I sit in your lap? Like how I fell on you at the hotel?”

Arven made a small, deep in his throat, ‘eeeeeeep’ sound, before nodding hurriedly. “Sure?” he squeaked.

Arven wasn’t sure how one made themselves more comfortable to sit on, but when he couldn’t figure out how to shift in a way that made sense, he just thought, like, really comfy thoughts. Be the comfortable seat, Arven. Channel it. Be– eeeep, Doppio’s butt was touching his dick ahhhhhhhhhhh– “C-comfy?” Arven squeaked, before clearing his throat and saying normally, “I mean, uh, comfortable?”

While it had been Doppio’s request, as he lifted a leg to rest on the other side of Arven’s thighs--ho boy it was…a bit of a spread. Since his thighs were…very strong--those weird butterflies in his stomach started going double, triple speed. Fluttering to the point Doppio was almost worried they’d transcend metaphor and Arven would be able to feel them.

…because he’d…put them chest to chest, nearly. Right up against each other, to the point it was a bit awkward to keep hugging around Arven’s waist, and Doppio elected to rest his arms on Arven’s shoulders and…

“M-mhmm!” Doppio nodded, bright red, but…actually, genuinely comfortable. Sating his need--and he hadn’t realized that’s what it was, a need--to be closer. Shifting his knees a little, Doppio was…acutely aware of how he was perched on Arven’s thighs. How…solid and soft and comfortable he was.

…how kissable he still was.

Leaning in, barely noticing himself, Doppio brushed his lips against Arven’s before asking, “O-oh, uh…comfortable for you? I-I’m not too heavy, am I?”

Doppio wasn’t weightless by any means, but Arven couldn’t even comprehend it being too much, not when Doppio was pressed so tightly against him, and he was looking at him with those big eyes and that little smile and those kissable lips– “I feel great!” Arven admitted, grinning brightly at Doppio, as he wrapped his arms around his waist. It didn’t even feel weird or intrusive, because where the heck else was he going to put his hands?! Really it was the only thing that made sense.

“No, you’re not too heavy,” Arven grinned wobbly, feeling a little loopy and caught up as he said, “You’re perfect.”

He knew Arven was just talking about his weight, but…

Doppio felt breathless, legitimately a little dizzy as he burned bright and grinned, ducking his head a little, but…this close there was no space to hide. And…why would he? Arven said he was perfect.

Leaning in, Doppio pressed his lips against Arven’s with a little more pressure and enthusiasm than they’d done so far, just…trying to convey with every point of contact that he felt the same. Arven was incredible, wonderful, perfect. There was nowhere else in the world he’d rather be than by his side…or in his lap.

A little…weird, breathy sound left Doppio as he kissed Arven, fingertips tracing up his nape.

Arven grasped Doppio’s back a little, his body tensing, entirely because another shiver ran through his body, both at the touch against his nape and at the sound of Doppio’s breath, as Arven whispered out, “I like when you touch me there,” before leaning in to kiss him some more.

Oh, god, Doppio was so close to him. There was still that mutual overwhelmed feeling, riding right alongside that need for more, mindless and with no real direction, as Arven ran his hands up Doppio’s back, over his shirt… and as he did so, he started to bunch at the fabric a bit. Pulling it up, up–

The bottom of the shirt was caught beneath Doppio’s ass. Too long to drape in that position, so Doppio was just sitting on top of it.

Damn.

Also probably a good thing. Arven had been getting ahead of himself, he just… wanted to touch skin. More skin. There was already a lot of skin, in the general face area… mmmm…

There was something…Doppio didn’t even know how to describe it, other than it sparked some sort of craving in him, how when Arven grasped his back, pulling him in, it only pushed Doppio more against his chest. It was a feeling of Arven surrounding him, but without Doppio’s usual connotations to that surrounding, crushing feeling. It was just…Arven. And Doppio loved it.

And…Arven seemed to love it too. So Doppio continued his fingertip tour, feeling at the strong muscles at the back of Arven’s neck, his traps, going back up to where his hair started growing, running his fingers just a centimeter or two through, then back down, nails just barely scraping.

Just as Arven ran his hands up and down his back, bunching his borrowed shirt. A thin layer of separation that felt just as maddening as it was comforting.

A need for more. A fear of it too.

Doppio cupped Arven’s jaw with the hand not exploring his neck, kissing harder, almost feeling like it’d bruise, but…needing it. Needing Arven’s breath and sounds and his softness against him. Needing…

“Nnn-uuf…” Doppio just barely uttered, the softest, breathiest, yet still distinctive moan.

Oh, fuck– “U-um, hold on, hold on,” Arven said, putting his hand on Doppio’s chest and pushing him back a little, practically feeling steam coming off his face as he looked uncertainly at nowhere in particular, licking his lips… “...s-sorry… um… I…”

Arven cleared his throat, glancing nervously up at Doppio, as he confessed, “I, uh… I need to calm down… I have a, a, uh, a rager… you can p-probably feel it. Sorry.”

Doppio blinked, a little dazed, as Arven pushed him back, though he went easily. And though his head was…hazy (please, need more, just keep…) he could recognize the overwhelmed look on Arven’s face, and he scooted back a bit just--OH.

Blinking again, head screwing on right, Doppio was…suddenly highly aware of a few things. Arven’s erection sliding free of his thighs. His own erection tight and tenting the front of his pants, though at least Kaito’s shirt pooling at his front would…visually hide it. …though probably not from Arven having felt it against his stomach fuck.

…his heart pounding rapidly in his chest, even Doppio panting a bit.

“S-sorry!” Doppio squeaked, looking around helplessly before he started to climb off Arven’s lap, face only searing more as he felt just…how weak and shaky his legs felt. “U-uh, sorry, I…me too, um…”

“Sorry,” Arven said again, feeling immense regret as Doppio pulled himself off of him, leaning back on his hands to pant a little, sort of furious with himself. Why had he stopped? He could have kept going until… until…

Lake rang in the back of his ear, and Arven stammered, “I was trying to take your clothes off without asking.”

He panted a bit, before continuing, “I couldn’t, cause you were sitting on your shirt… but I did try. Th-that’s why I needed to stop. Don’t want… don’t want to push you… into stuff.”

Then, glancing down at himself, Arven’s eyes widened into saucers… before covering his face with his hands, embarrassed, as the tent in his pajama bottoms literally pushed up and around his flannel shirt. “Oh geez…”

Sitting next to Arven just…did him no favors. The obvious being, of course, he was farther away from Arven, but…nng. Okay, okay, just…you’re fine! You’re fine. You’re hard, so what, it’s…it’s not like you haven’t jerked off in days, and got really hard earlier but had to stop in the middle, and are just…fuck, it felt like his briefs were strangling him fuck…

Fisting the blankets on either side of himself, Doppio did his best not to squirm as he tried (and failed) to breathe evenly. Arven’s talking, listen, listen, and not just to his low, panting voice…

Doppio looked up, a bit of shock and surprise focusing his brain. Arven was…trying to take his clothes off…

The shock of fear was good for focusing him too, forcing Doppio to take a deep breath. Glancing around the room. “...thanks…f-for stopping. I… I’m not… I don’t want to take my clothes off.”

His fists twitched around the blankets, and Doppio bit his lip as his dick gave an impatient throb. Kaito and Mr. Nidai said that…”horny brain” made you dumb, but…this didn’t feel like a clouded thought to Doppio. And he felt confident he had a lot of experience knowing what those were like.

“...I, um… I wouldn’t mind trying… If you wanted to touch. Under. Them. Without me taking them off, though…” Failing, Doppio squirmed, pressing his thighs together, an uncomfortable expression passing over his face before he settled. “B-but it’s okay if you wanna just, full stop here! Since, we’re…you know.”

“Yeah?” Arven said, looking at Doppio with far too much interest, before feeling embarrassed at how quickly he had jumped onto that and looking down at himself again. Ah, nope, that wasn’t helpful either. Arven felt obscene, for how obvious his arousal was. He had been hard a thousand times, of course, puberty had hit years ago and even before that his dick would just rise and flap about willy-nilly even without any particular desire attached to it. He wasn’t unused to being hard.

It just… felt obscene with Doppio there. Who he’d… really like to touch…

“Yeah, we could do that,” Arven said quickly– there wasn’t really a part of him that could say no– as he nodded, “I mean… if you want to do that? I don’t want to do it if you don’t want to do it… but if you do want to, then y-yeah, I could… touch you under your clothes.”

“I want to,” Doppio quickly said, a little surprised at the slight deepness of his voice, and how…genuinely true it was. “I-I want you to.”

“Um…” Doppio glanced around nervously again, biting his cheek as he squirmed, hips trying to aleve the tight, hot discomfort of his crotch and predictably failing, as Doppio wasn’t exactly taking off his pants… “...could I touch you too? You…” His cheeks burned, Doppio looking over with a heated look as he admitted, “You’re really hot. Um…”

He shakily grinned. “Sei bellissimo.”

Arven dipped his head down, embarrassedly trying to hide his face again. God, the room was an inferno. It had to be in the air, that heat couldn’t be coming from beneath his skin. It was impossible.

But he nodded, as he sputtered, “Y-yeah? Yeah… um…” Arven looked away, his ability to be poetic lost about roughly an hour ago, before his brain just became about Doppio’s skin, and his touch, and his eyes, and more bullseyes for little kisses, as he said, “D-do you want to get back on my lap? It might be tough, but…”

Arven laughed lightly, scratching the side of his neck. “I really liked you there. You felt really good, uh… rubbing up against me… I’d like to do that more. A little more. A bit.”

Fuck rubbing sounded real good right about then…

Sucking in a breath, his stomach doing somersaults, Doppio nodded, shifting to turn back over onto his knees. “Y-yeah. I liked it too, um…i-it felt good. I, uh, oh fuck.”

Doppio immediately snapped his thighs closed, a hand automatically clutching himself as he panted, his precarious, careful movements apparently just a horrible idea like this. Swallowing a few times, Doppio gave Arven a shaky nod. “One sec, one sec, fuck… O-okay…”

…he couldn’t feel it through his pants but…uh. He was…wet. Without even fucking touching himself… How was he supposed to last through Arven even just barely grazing him?

Face bright red, Doppio hiked up his borrowed shirt so he wouldn’t be sitting on it, and he quickly swung a leg over Arven’s thighs, trying not to think about how much his own were shaking.

Doppio was shaking, but then, Arven wasn’t fairing much better, as he felt his breath hitch as Doppio got on top of him again. Somehow, despite it feeling so natural a moment ago, now they had to do that same awkward dance of trying to find a position that worked for what they were doing, and Arven felt a strike of arousal run through him hotter than anything so far as he realized Doppio had adjusted his clothes for access. Oh, wow, okay… okay…

Even with agreeing to touch, Arven still really wasn’t sure where he should. Staring at Doppio’s midsection like it was a bomb that might go off with the wrong movement, he hesitantly pushed his hands under Doppio’s shirt, at first just sorta… laying them there. Against the skin of his sides. Glancing up at Doppio, trying to get a read on him, as he said, “Aceto? That okay?”

Each little shift and drag was agony…but somehow…good? Doppio didn’t have much of an issue with bitter foods, liked quite a few of them, but for some reason the only comparison his mind could make was to dark chocolate. Decadent and wonderful the way desserts could only be, but sharpening on the tongue, begging for some sort of balance or reprieve.

But the new thing added was…

Doppio let out a soft gasp, feeling like his skin was tingling under Arven’s touch. Rough and wide and…

…and okay. He was okay. Arven was there, not pulling away in…shock or disgust or anything, and…he wasn’t looking and…Doppio was okay.

Chewing on the inside of his lip, Doppio offered a shy (still kind of aroused) smile. “Y-yeah, it’s… That’s good. Um…can I…?” Gently, he slipped his fingers under Arven’s (actually well-fitting) shirt, just…tracing his fingers along Arven’s sides too. Honestly a little star-struck with the soft skin he could feel there.

Arven felt his skin jolt slightly under the touch. It suddenly occurred to him he couldn’t remember if anyone had ever touched him there before. Not on his actual skin. It felt strange and foreign and it made Arven want to lean into it. So he did, leaning forward to place another, small kiss on Doppio.

Okay, admittedly, those dumb couples who spent all their time in between class periods making out in the hallways all suddenly made waaaaaay more sense to Arven. Having a boyfriend was kind of???? Awesome???? And all Arven wanted to do was keep kissing him. It was exciting, feeling Doppio on his lap, knowing how, uh, close Doppio was t-to Arven’s erection. Their hips weren’t pressed together or anything, both of them too shy and uncertain to take that extra step, but as Arven lightly felt up Doppio’s sides, he realized he’d quite like for them to be closer, as he murmured against Doppio’s lips, “Uh, want to… scoot up? A little?”

Doppio couldn’t help but smile at the kiss. Even after having been doing it for…however long they had been kissing? Honestly you could’ve told him it was either five minutes or three hours and he would’ve believed either--but. The point. Even with so much of it, Arven’s kiss still felt…special. And exciting. And like it was all Doppio ever wanted to do.

…so he did, leaning forward to chase after Arven’s lips to give back a kiss of his own. And it was great but…

Doppio shivered a little at the feeling of Arven speaking against him, and of what he requested, and…w-well, why not?! Why…not just…

Shuffling forward on his knees, breathing heavily as his dick ached, Doppio scooted up! Just as requested! Right up against Arven who was also--

“Hhhk!” Doppio’s grip on Arven’s waist tightened as his hips involuntarily rolled forward, feeling a bit of friction and deciding to take charge, but it was equally feeling s-something else hard slide against him that made Doppio gasp, his eyes fluttering shut.

“M-maro…” (D-damn…)

“Damn,” Arven agreed, shivering as he felt Doppio’s dick slide up against his own, Doppio’s hips briefly snapping up against his own in a way that made Arven gasp. He was trembling badly, and while most of it was from a deep in his stomach sense of need, some of it was from nerves too. This was exciting, but it was also kind of scary. Arven had never done anything like this with anybody before. He was already sort of afraid of how much he liked it.

So, trying to ease the trembling in his hands, Arven gripped Doppio’s waist a little tighter, shifting under him a little. Doppio’s movement for a second there had felt… really good… Was there a way he could do that back? It was kind of tough from where he was sitting, he’d have to, uh…

Arven visualized the movement in his head that he’d have to take, that grind upwards, and he sputtered, scandalized just by imagining it, even as another rush of arousal ran through him at the idea. Was that going too far? Did Doppio want that? What were they trying to do… were they… were they trying to cum?

Was Arven trying to cum?

“Shit,” Arven breathed, a rush of alarm and arousal running through him. He should just ask, he knew that, but a part of him was afraid to admit to Doppio that that was where his head was at. What if Doppio thought he was gross? What if he was the only one between them who kind of wanted to cum? He didn’t want to scare Doppio away. But Doppio being this close to him also made him desire other things. That sunshine smell was so close to him again. Arven wanted to lean into it. “...can I kiss your, uh… your neck?” Arven asked. Staring at the spray of freckles that went down Doppio’s slender neck. They looked really kissable.

Fuck… Fuck. Doppio just wanted to…to…to do that again. Keep rolling his hips against Arven’s, rubbing them together until he could finally sate that desperate, burning need that was getting stoked more and more as they did…this. This thing that was…them kissing and…rubbing their dicks together…

…which was kinda… Th-that was… …i-it wasn’t…penetrative. Like Lake had talked about before. They weren’t even taking off their clothes! They weren’t even…t-touching, er, down there, skin to skin. …but…it was still stimulation, wasn’t it? Still them rubbing against each other’s bodies and…feeling good and…

…it was feeling good to Arven, right?

Doppio traced his hands up the slight curve of Arven’s belly, shivering at the tightening grip around his own waist, but as he opened his mouth, Arven beat him to it, and…i-it had been really nice when Arven kissed his shoulder. So…him kissing his neck would be…

“Yeah, y-yeah,” Doppio panted, internally cringing at how breathy and weird his voice sounded. “Though, um, A-Arven? I, um… What we’re doing… I-I mean, I like it, I-I really like it, but I, uh, wanted to check in with you, and…what we’re doing, um… Are…” His voice got a little smaller. “...should…we do this?”

Arven had been going to kiss Doppio’s neck. But at that question, he just made a soft, squeeing noise, before flopping his head down onto Doppio’s shoulder, wrapping his arms around him and squeezing as he said, “‘dunno.”

“...I think I want to?” Arven admitted into Doppio’s shoulder. Closing his eyes. “I definitely want to. And… and you want to too, right? So… so it’s not weird, right?”

And then popping his head up, his face absolutely miserable with arousal, Arven told Doppio honestly, “If we do anything more, I’m pretty sure I’m going to cum. I-if you don’t want that? We have to stop.”

Doppio let out a little shuddering breath as Arven squeezed him, his hips twitching as he tried with all his might not to grind down on Arven again. But that was nothing compared to the look on Arven’s face when he lifted his head back up, Doppio’s breath stolen away. Red-faced and heated and…and Arven talking about how…

“Bello,” Doppio breathed, bringing up a hand to weave into Arven’s hair, bringing it back out of his face. “Sfarzoso…più bello che abbia mai visto.” (Beautiful… Gorgeous…most beautiful I’ve ever seen.)

“I want to,” Doppio murmured, before he leaned in and kissed Arven with his whole heart, his touch around Arven’s face gentle, yet demanding in the only way someone wanting could touch. His hips pressing forward, dragging against Arven’s just as much to feel Arven’s length press between his thighs as it was to chase his own pleasure.

“H-ah!” Arven’s breath stuttered in his throat, eye dilating a little as Doppio whispered things that Arven had never considered to be true before. He had never thought that hard about what he looked like, outside of being self conscious about his burn, and if pressed he might have described himself as stocky and gangly and… definitely not… beautiful or gorgeous or any of that…

Hearing it from Doppio made him believe it though. How could he help but believe it? The look on Doppio’s face seemed so sincere. Eyes sparkling, his hair falling into his face as he looked down at Arven with an expression Arven had never had trained on him before. How could you not feel desirable, when someone was looking at you with so much blatant desire in their eyes?

Arven closed his eyes when Doppio went in for the kiss, and any worry or hesitance he felt got swallowed in Doppio’s capturing breath, Arven after a moment only able to think about Doppio pressed against him in the most physical way possible. He still wasn’t entirely sure what he should do, but now that he wasn’t worried about pushing Doppio further than his boyfriend was willing to go, he was far more willing to try things, as his hands searched around Doppio’s back. His palm spreading and exploring around the curve of Doppio’s spine as he kissed him, before drifting downward as Arven broke the kiss, determined to try what he had asked for before. Kissing at the side and base of Doppio’s neck as his hands drifted lower, his fingertips lightly breaching Doppio’s waistband, as he tasted that sunshine heat on his boyfriend’s neck.

“Move your hips some more,” Arven asked, “Or, uh, put some weight on your knees, so I can move mine against you.”

Doppio could only press closer, caught up in that delightful situation, Arven surrounding him on all sides as his hands explored his back. The sensation intimate, despite Doppio being no stranger to pats on the back even before Kaito, but like this? Arven’s palms pressing and smoothing over the small of his back, higher, then lower, Doppio feeling…safe and wanted and…

“Hhhn-a-ahh!” he breathily groaned before biting his lip, head naturally tilting to allow Arven easier access to his neck. Because…god that felt good. Those soft, sweet lips against more sensitive skin, tingling down his spine right down to meet where Arven’s hands had drifted…d-down into his pants.

Feeling Arven’s hands on the backs of his hips, Doppio was already following through on his request before Arven had finished speaking it, though Doppio quickly scooted forward as much as he could, legs practically wrapped around Arven at this point before he shifted his weight forward onto his knees…and fully against Arven. Hips rolling and rutting, biting his lips more as he could feel his underwear dampening, the rub of cloth maddening but only driving him forward.

“A-arven…” Doppio groaned, holding him desperately.

“Y-yeah, Aceto… like that… oh shit…” Arven breathed, closing his eyes as he rested his forehead against Doppio’s shoulder, clutching around Doppio’s back as Doppio rolled into him with more fervor. Arven had been letting his legs sort of just lay out on the bed by this point, but now that Doppio’s weight wasn’t pinning him down, he crooked up his knees to give himself some leverage, before rolling his hips up against Doppio as well. At first slowly, hesitant, but after a moment feeling the need to keep pace with Doppio, who was rocking into him quickly.

Oh, god, Doppio’s breath in his ear was going to drive him crazy. Arven’s cock was starting to twitch, his swollen stiffness becoming almost painful, as every other rock rubbed Doppio’s dick against his. Arven’s underwear felt tight and constricting, it was maddening, and Arven after a moment adjusted beneath Doppio so that their dicks were more reliably pressed together, grinding up into Doppio so that they were rubbing and pressing together more consistently. His hands dipping lower into Doppio’s waistband, before one palm started to hit a part of Doppio’s body that was softer and rounded his palm.

His ass Arven was touching Doppio’s ass holy shit.

Leaning back, Arven grunted a little as he held Doppio’s ass with one of his palms, his other hand resting on Doppio’s lower back as he felt Doppio’s muscles work to continue rutting against him. It was a little tough, but Arven dipped his head back so that he could find Doppio’s lips again, kissing him more even as their breaths quickened, the movements of their hips making it tough to keep the kisses consistent. “You’re so sexy,” Arven gasped into Doppio’s mouth, before warning him, “I-I’m gonna cum soon.”

Something ignited in Doppio’s gut, hearing Arven’s satisfaction with what he was doing. He had already felt warm, then absolutely too hot and needy, but now…it was like a molten core dripping in his gut, alighting every nerve and making him groan and make stupid little breathy sounds that even biting his lip Doppio couldn’t stop.

He was…pretty much entirely holding his own weight up with his knees, his stomach tight and taut as he struggled not to just fall completely onto Arven. Which…was a struggle that more and more he felt closer to failing, as his dick throbbed and pulsed, rubbing furiously against his clothes and Arven’s dick, Doppio nearly losing every thought but just a little more pressure, a little more and…

“Ngghhfff, nnnmph, nnaaaaaa-ah~” Doppio felt like he was panting and huffing like a beast, his body shaking and trembling as Arven touched a place that had certainly never been touched like this before. It felt like he was losing it, the…

…the thought that he was…sexy? That Arven was…

Doppio couldn’t focus enough to aim for Arven’s lips, so he simply pushed their faces together, whining a quiet stream of, “Please, please, please, p’ favore potente dio, Arven, Arven!”

“Okay? Okay, okay, okay, fuck, Aceto–” Arven bit his lip, leaning into Doppio’s press, like he was trying to fuse their bodies together. It almost hurt, but Arven was in no position to notice, too caught up in what was happening below the waist as he grunted, grinding his hips up into Doppio’s.

It was far from happening all at once, the buildup having been agony up to this point, but Arven still felt like it caught him off guard, as he realized he was spurting into his pants, a tight, electric feeling running up his dick and stomach, high enough that his nipples felt sensitive rubbing against his shirt, his whole body just tense. The sound he made as he came was, well… a little high pitched and embarrassing, if he had to summarize it out of how it felt. He whimpered, stammering out, “Oh, A-aceto, don’t stop, don’t– ah! Ahh-haaaa?”

And even as he came, feeling his underwear grow sticky and damp against his skin, Arven kept grinding up against Doppio. Not wanting the feeling to end, chasing that electric high for as long as he could… before the sting started to settle in, and Arven had to stop. Slowing down as he panted, sweat lining down his face as he pulled back his cheek from Doppio’s, blinking blearily at him, just wanting to look at him for a moment. “Aceto…” Arven blinked, trying to find the right word for what he was looking at right now. The sharp haze, thin, pink lips, tanned skin flushed deep red as Doppio stared at him in a way that made Arven shudder in continued desire… and said the only thing that came to his euphoric fogged brain in the moment: “You look so cool, right now.”

Doppio could feel how Arven tensed, how his grip tightened on his ass, the high, lovely sound that came out of his mouth, followed by his name, and as Arven just kept thrusting against him…

It felt like he was exploding, and also like he was pissing himself, but while either of those sensations on their own were disturbing and disgusting and embarrassing, what Doppio felt was euphoric, and he couldn’t get enough. Gasping, almost sobbing against Arven as he lost control of his body, hips chasing the feeling until the wet sting of his underwear made him bite his lip in a wince, the slight taste of blood bringing him into clarity more.

…he’d, he’d cum before. While it was…on the rarer side, Doppio had found moments to himself, and indulged them. But it had never felt like…this. Like shocks still tingling through his body, down through each finger and toe, like a comforting, curling warmth in his heart, like…a sturdy body under his that he never wanted to let go of.

Slouched against Arven, his dick starting to ache in a different way (and yet…still? Interested?), Doppio could only blink slowly and pant before he flushed more, turning his head to hide in Arven’s neck. The smell and stick of sweat not gross but…just Arven. Comforting and something Doppio wanted to bury himself in as he chuckled softly. “Le stelle piangono, non riuscendo mai a vederti.” (The stars weep, never getting to see you.)

“Mio tesoro bellissimo…” (My beautiful darling…)

Arven laughed, even as a rush of new arousal ran through him– seriously??-- bringing his hands up from Doppio’s waistband as he hugged around Doppio, still panting as he felt him, the sweat cooling between them. “You’re… better spoken then I am,” Arven noted, laughing again, euphoria turning into giddiness as, with no warning, he suddenly flopped onto his back, taking Doppio down with him. “That’s why you’re so cool.”

“...i-is it weird I could do that again?” Arven grinned, feeling light and easy and happy, as he stared at the ceiling. “I could absolutely do that again.”

There was a strange part of Doppio that mourned Arven’s hand on his ass, but that part was easily brushed off as Doppio yelped quietly, holding onto Arven’s shoulders as they fell back onto the bed. His whole body now pressing against Arven without struggle, just…gravity doing its thing. He was still mildly concerned, somewhere, about being too heavy, but…

It was nice. He could stay pressed up like this against Arven for…

He let out a bashful, flustered laugh against Arven’s neck, hands tracing down his biceps before resting. “I’m usually not… Let’s say I just have enough inspiration in front of me that the universe’s words simply use me as a vessel.”

Grinning, pressing a kiss to Arven’s jaw, Doppio shifted slightly, moving up to better slot his body against Arven’s…though the drag of his hips made him gasp softly. “...not weird at all, for as much as I always thought…yanno, what people say about teen horniness was bullshit. But, uh…I think my dick’s gonna fall off if I keep rubbing against my briefs.”

Sighing softly, Doppio half-hugged Arven, sliding his legs to entwine with his. Tucking his face down again. “...you feel really good.”

“Not ideal, is it,” Arven agreed. He felt like his dick was probably gonna get rug burns, by this point. And his drawers felt gross against him. But, man, having Doppio entwine around him did not help that still aching need to continue, even as a part of his body whispered sweet words of getting to nap with Doppio. “You, uh… you feel really good too… really good.” Arven laughed again. “Wow, I can’t believe how good that felt.”

“...we could, um…” Arven felt the haze of his arousal push him, as he offered, “We could make the briefs a non-issue…?”

(There was a deep, deeeeeeep down part of Doppio that quietly pitied and mourned. The part of him that had been made to protect and cherish, that had been quietly weeping and dying, these past few days, now finding a sort of solace that still wasn’t quite happy.)

(How heart-breaking it was, that this joy found in another’s body could result in boredom and disgust. How pitiful, that the bearing of one’s heart could be left cold. How miserable an existence that was.)

(My poor one… I pity your jaded heart. I’m sorry, my life.)

Arven’s laughs only spurred more from Doppio, and though he was the one to bring it up, he still couldn’t help but just…touch. Gently shifting his hips, slowly squeezing his thighs around one of Arven’s, fingers tracing down his side. Arven feeling good, and Doppio still with his curiosity and indulgence whetted.

…until a single ice cube of trepidation plopped into his heated belly.

Pushing his head up to look at Arven, Doppio gave him a nervous look. “...I-I… I don’t think… I’m sorry, but, I don’t think I can…do that. Yet. I…” He huffed, averting his eyes as his split lip slipped between his teeth again. “...I guess we’ve already…banged, sorta, so it’s not like… But…it…it feels like it’d be different, without clothes and…I…I-I’m not ready for that.”

Arven was genuinely shocked, at the relief that ran through him with that. Something relaxing in him as he met Doppio’s nervous look with a light, happy grin. “No, that’s alright. In a way, I just sort of felt like I should offer. That might be a step too far for me too. I, uh… geez, I don’t know. I think I want more time to, uh, I don’t know… make myself…” Arven flushed, looking away in embarrassment, “...presentable?”

And then, whispering it like it was some scandalous secret– and to him it kinda was, it had really only started happening in the last year or so– he admitted, “There’s hair, down there. I could, uh… do something. About that.”

Seeing Arven’s obvious relief, in turn, visibly relaxed Doppio, his teeth releasing their anxious gnawing on his lip as he smiled softly, bringing up an arm to rest his head on so he could just…relax, and take in the beautiful sight under him.

…and damn, Arven was. As it dried, his hair was starting to curl up at the ends like it usually did, that fluffy (and soft, man was it soft) texture splaying out behind Arven’s head like a painting. His good eye shining in their bedroom light, somehow flattering, and just…the pleased, handsome smile on his face, lips kiss-reddened and swollen and…oh. Little tucked bits Doppio had never noticed before, where Arven’s (actually rather prominent) canines peeked out slightly.

…cute.

And it was cute, what he offered. Though, Doppio could only bashfully shrug. “...I’m not really sure what you’re supposed to do about that. I…know it’s normal but…” He shrugged again.

…again, involuntarily, his thighs squeezed around Arven’s, and Doppio let out a little breath. But he gave Arven a shy smile. “...um…so if not we should…probably clean up ‘n stuff, huh?”

Arven grooooaned, covering his face as he went through the seven stages of grief in the span of five seconds… before letting his hand fall by his head, looking mournfully up at Doppio. “Yeah. We should. We don’t want to sleep in this.”

Then, just because Doppio’s dented, kissable lips were calling for him, Arven leaned up and pecked them, once, twice, mmmm… before letting his head fall back onto the mattress. “You wanna take your shower first?”

Doppio didn’t think he had ever empathized with something more, than Arven’s groan. If only they could keep rubbing their hips together forever… Blasted underwear. Chafing everything.

…good thing he’d bought more.

Closing his eyes as Arven kissed him, Doppio hummed happily, legs squeezing again…before he sighed, giving Arven a disappointed, but accepting look. “Sure, thanks. I won’t be long.”

Pushing himself up, Doppio looked down, trying to commit to his stupid, faulty memory just how Arven looked in this moment, under him…before he grinned, leaning down for one more kiss before he got off. Blushing and looking a little alarmed by how much his legs were trembling before he stopped by the dresser and picked out new briefs. Giving Arven a small wave before he entered the bathroom.

…

…looking to the ceiling under the hot water, rolling his eyes exasperated at himself as he reached between his legs, one more job to do.

Thank god Doppio had gone first, Arven was going to die if he didn’t nut again.

Thankfully, it didn’t take long, since Arven was pretty sure he’d also die if Doppio walked out to see him pawing at himself like his dick was some sort of water pump and he was a man lost in the desert. And while cumming this time did what it needed to do, Arven still felt frustrated as he pulled his hand out, glaring at the ceiling. It wasn’t the same… he wanted Doppio’s sunshine smell…

Lick.

“Gah!” Arven practically flung himself onto the middle of the bed, looking extremely alarmed at the sudden wet touch, before he gave Chief an exasperated look, Chief having come over to lick his elbow. “You’re awake? Ngh… well, nothing you haven’t seen before, I guess. Don’t tell Lake and Kaito, old man. We’ll never hear the end of it.”

Sitting up, Arven sighed, sniffing at his pajamas– yeah, he’d need to wear his other set, he had sweat so much into these– before remembering that Doppio was wearing a loaned shirt already. Arven frowned at that. He knew Doppio was on the cleaner side…

Wiping his hands off on his pants, Arven went to the clothes he had put in his cabinet drawers, looking for another set. Pulling it out, Arven placed the change of clothes on the bed, looking it over… it’d be a little big around Doppio, but otherwise? That should work.

(Plus, it was… kinda cute. Imagining Doppio wearing his clothes. The real ‘boyfriend’ look…) before going to get his own change of clothes ready too.

…Doppio had run into a problem.

The shirt Kaito had loaned him was…well, acceptable enough, he supposed. The pits and collar now definitely smelled like his body odor, but…whatever sweat there was had dried during his shower, and…he could deal with it for a night. And, obviously, he had a new pair of underwear to put on, which he did, but…

…the pants were an issue.

He had already been wearing the pink and brown pajama bottoms over a few days, and while that was fairly normal for pajamas, they had been some particularly sweaty days, while also going outside with them…but for all that, Doppio had made his concessions to wear them.

No, the problem had just happened. And, uh…especially with the light color…

…they were visibly stained. He’d seeped through his briefs and now his pants were unacceptably gross and…

…he really didn’t have any other pants. And…what, was he going to ask Prince Kaito if he or one of his partners could loan him pants?! After everything they’d talked about!? NO FUCKING WAY!!

Making a small, distressed sound, wrapped up with his towel around his chest, Doppio took a small breath before barely peeking out of the bathroom, giving Arven an anxious look. “...Arven? I…may have a pants issue.”

Arven looked over from where he was inspecting his own change of clothes. “Oh! I assumed you might, so, I brought out some pj’s I was going to wear later in the week,” Arven explained, gesturing to the pair he had laid out in the bed. “Try them on. They might be a little big? But I’m not that much bigger than you, so… should be alright?”

“Le ruote della domenica, thank you,” Doppio praised, closing his eyes in relief as he pressed his head into the doorframe. Fuck, Arven really was the absolute best.

…even…if he…made no moves to pass on the clothes and…the bed was…across the room…

Aceto you just had sex with this guy you can DO IT! Get over yourself!

Taking a deep breath, Doppio tried to steady himself, pushing down against the panicked squirming in his stomach, before he stepped out of the bathroom. The towel covered a lot, but…still. Bare arms, shoulders, and knees down to his feet was…more skin than he’d ever shown to Arven, even with the cut-out sweater he’d worn in front of him before.

Staring straight ahead, Doppio kept his shoulders straight as he quickly crossed the room, picked up the pajamas and scuttled back to the bathroom, his face bright red.

Arven had thought it’d be fine, for Doppio to come out in his towel to get his clothes. Had thought about stepping into the shower while Doppio got changed out there… but instead he found himself staring daggers in a random wall, realizing that seeing Doppio in a towel now felt… weirder. Than it might have, say, an hour ago.

Don’t stare, don’t stare, don’t– okay but at a quick glance Doppio had really pretty shoulders blades– stare, don’t stare.

Arven let out a relieved breath as the bathroom door shut. Scratching at his neck, he felt a little exasperated at himself. Come on, the guy was just walking around in a towel, it wasn’t weird, don’t make it weird, Arven. “...man, I am in it, Chief.”

Chief barked good naturedly.

It didn’t take long for Doppio to re-emerge (face still pink, though…that was for a slightly different reason), Arven’s shirt hanging off him a bit (not nearly as much as Kaito’s, predictably) and his pants just barely not bunching at Doppio’s feet…because Doppio had had to roll the waistband, both to tighten it and to adjust the length. But…while Doppio had felt weird and unsure wearing Kaito’s clothes, he came out of the bathroom with a pleased little look on his face, as he continued braiding his hair. Not his usual braid, but just a normal one off to the side, keeping it out of the way while it dried the rest of the way.

“All yours,” he told Arven softly, sitting down on the bed they, er…hadn’t been on before. “Thanks again for the clothes… You have good taste, they’re comfy.” And they smelled like Arven, that herby, woodsy smell that Doppio wanted to bury himself in.

“I’ll be sure to get them clean tomorrow when I wash the rest of my clothes, so you don’t have to change your plans.”

There was something weird, Arven realized, in watching Doppio go on the ‘clean’ bed.

We have a sex bed. Is what he realized that weird feeling was.

And, feeling alarmed by that thought, Arven nodded. “Good, I’m glad! I have no idea where there’s a laundry around here, but I’m sure they have one. We’ll both do some cleaning tomorrow. Though, you really should get more clothes in general, Aceto.”

On that note, Arven gave Doppio a small wave, heading into the shower. Time to get clean. Wanted to smell nice. They were sleeping in the same bed– the non sex one– and Doppio had said he wanted to be close to him. Arven wanted to be clean and nice smelling for that.

… which had nothing to do with Kaito’s insistence that some of his worst experiences were with smelly people okay Arven was just also a clean person!

Arven had briefly considered rubbing another one out in the shower, since a part of him had still been wound up. But something about the act of showering calmed him down, and by the time he was out and dressed, he felt entirely relaxed, just genuinely looking forward to sleep. Heading out, still drying his hair with a towel, he asked, “You heading to bed, Aceto? I think I’m ready to lie down myself. That took a lot out of me.”

They had to have some sort of laundry set-up in the castle. It was a constant living space for a lot of people, and a temporary one for a lot more, and that wasn’t to even count the number of small hospitality things like towels and washrags and curtains and such that would need to be cleaned even if there weren’t any personal rooms in the castle. So Doppio was confident he’d be able to do some proper clean up tomorrow. He just had to find it.

Though… Doppio sighed, looking to the side. “Yeah… It just felt…awkward even thinking about getting stuff today. But I can’t really live off, like…four outfits. It’s such a waste of laundry water…” And while the past few days were definitely outliers, he could easily think of so many instances where four pairs of clothes just wouldn’t be enough, and he’d be left…gross and smelly and relying on other people to let him borrow things.

(...he felt like he had plenty of clothes at home, but… Well. That wasn’t an option.)

(...was Boss okay? Had he thrown his things out? Was he eating alright? Had he properly slept since Doppio had been gone? …no one was there to make him tea or sort his papers or get the mail… Were the floorboards okay, not rotting?)

(...did Boss miss him?)

Stretched out on the bed, Doppio frowned up at the ceiling, his relaxed, happy state fading away a bit as he just…thought. Regretting the past and anxious towards the future…

…but it was important to stay in the present.

Looking up as Arven re-entered, Doppio smiled softly, taking him in, before grinning wider and scooting over. Blushing as he opened the covers. “Me too… I dunno if I’m gonna go right to sleep, but…” He shrugged, blushing more. “...I do wanna enjoy just…being with you, before I go full ragdoll.”

“You mean full ‘corpse’.” Arven laughed, going to join Doppio’s side at the offered spot, laying down and pulling the covers back over them, before– only briefly hesitating, again, the last hour having recontextualized all of this– wrapping an arm around Doppio’s waist. Settling in as he stared at Doppio, his vision partially blocked by the pillow he was sleeping against. Which was a shame. Doppio was so pretty… “Did I tell you that on the horse, when you fell asleep, Kaito started to panic? I saw him trying to check your pulse and keep hold of the reins at the same time. I think he was scared you had died leaning on him. Since I’ve seen you like that before, it was pretty funny.”

Doppio’s smile brightened as Arven joined him, and he reached over to turn off the lamp, plunging them…not into full darkness, as he hadn’t bothered fully closing the curtains (...he liked being able to see outside…) but a comfortable shadow that felt…good, like this. Even better with Arven’s arm around his waist, and Doppio didn’t hesitate putting an arm around his chest in turn. Just…happy with the closeness.

He snorted a bit, pressing his face into one of the pillows. “I feel like I would’ve warned him, but…that does sound funny. I have no idea why I sleep like that, but…I always have, since I can remember. Bet it was pretty crazy to discover, the first time.”

“...it looked like you picked up riding a horse super fast. That was really cool to watch…you’re incredible, Arven. Bet you could get the hang of anything, really.”

“Horses are too tall.” Arven pouted, idly petting Doppio’s back, even as he scooted a little closer. Doppio’s laugh was so cute… “But, it was getting easier by the end of it. Lake is good at teaching. Or, well, she’s good at teaching how to ride a horse, anyway. Her sex-ed talks leave a lot to be desired. That desire mostly being silence.”

“...we, uh…” Arven squinted, “We didn’t prove those two weirdos right, right?”

“She seems alright, for a guard,” Doppio murmured. Aware that most of that opinion came from the fact that he had seen her be nothing but consistently nice to Arven since they met…even if she had told him that Boss was hurting him but… Well, she had been right, and…he was willing to put the blame on Kaito for that part. …and, yanno. She’d saved his life, so…that was pretty big.

He could definitely do without the sex talks, though.

Though, uh…

Doppio grimaced, ducking his head to hide against Arven’s shoulder a bit. “...I literally just told Kaito that we weren’t having sex. And…he said he’d shut up about it if I promised that we’d talk, and…uh, that I’d tell him if we were thinking about it.”

“...we might’ve proved them right.”

“...but I don’t care,” Doppio decided in a huff, hugging Arven closer for a moment. “It’s not their business, what we do together. And…w-we were safe, and considerate and all that stuff on our own. We don’t need rambling anecdotes to figure it out.”

“They really do ramble,” Arven huffed in agreement. “Or, well, Kaito does. Though, Lake has her moments too. You should have heard her talk about some of the things she does as a guard. Apparently squirrels are a real issue. Who’d have guessed?”

“Well, it’s not like we’re going to go out into the castle tomorrow and announce that we, sorta, maybe, had sex,” Arven said, rolling his eyes a little, “So even if we proved them right, they don’t get to know about it. What do they even know about it anyway? Kaito talks so much about sex that he strikes me as one of those guys who’s had actual sex, like, twice in his life. And I think Lake is married to Kokichi’s bodyguard lady? I can’t remember her name, but she talked like they were married. Middle-aged married women definitely aren’t having sex.”

“Sometimes I think the conversations I have with Kaito are, like…incomprehensible to people with working brains,” Doppio huffed. “He rambles forever and goes off on a million tangents that don’t always connect, and…I actually don’t think either of us remember half of what we say? So it’s just two dunces making stuff up at each other.”

Doppio grimaced a bit at the thought of shouting about their sex lives to the whole castle, and while he could somewhat agree with Arven about Kaito…he blinked, raising an eyebrow before he gave Arven an incredulous look. “...have you…well, I guess not. But, uh…the other side of that? Is middle-aged married women just…having a ton of sex. Like, an uncomfortable amount. That you really wish you’d never hear about. Lesbians that are past the stereotype of being dense as hell? Too much.”

Arven lifted his head up from the pillow, giving Doppio a baffled look. “...Aceto, do you know a middle-aged lesbian having way too much sex?? Like, that was so specific, who are you talking about??”

“...not just one,” Doppio sighed through a grumble, closing his eyes in resignation to his poor fate. “Turns out older ladies going on cross-city carriage rides get real talkative. And…uh. Some of my…coworkers…” He sighed. “...they had a lot of game, I’ll say that.”

Arven’s nose wrinkled a little, before laying back down, looking curiously at Doppio. “...so. You do have coworkers, then? I don’t know why I thought maybe you had never met anyone else in your, uh, line of work, I guess… Were they like you? I mean…”

Arven’s brow furrowed, looking briefly uncomfortable. Realizing that he didn’t really want to say what Doppio’s ‘line of work’ had been out loud. It made him uncomfortable.

Doppio nodded, before looking away. That…uncomfortable look on Arven’s face making him feel…ashamed. Which was…something Doppio had never really felt about his work before. But…if it made Arven upset, then… Those uncomfortable squirms in his stomach prompted Doppio to chew on his lips a bit before speaking up.

“I…call them coworkers, I guess. Other people that worked in Boss’s organization, but…I was the only person that…I suppose, really worked under Boss. The rest of them did…uh. Other stuff. Usually in, like…smaller squads that were…mostly their own thing, but took orders, ultimately, from Boss. And…I was the person who sent out those orders, whether by mail or in person. So…I ended up meeting a lot of them.”

Doppio shrugged a little, still gnawing as he looked into the darker shadows of their room. …it really was…bigger. And initially cleaner. And…cozier, than a lot of the places he’d ended up with Boss. …he tried to imagine filling it with personal items, and…Doppio found that he just…didn’t know what that really looked like.

“Ah, I see,” Arven mused, fingertips tracing over Doppio’s clothes, “That makes it sound like you were probably traveling a lot. Do you know how to ride a horse?”

“Not a ton,” Doppio softly murmured. “Mostly I just stayed in whatever city we were living in, since I’d…yanno, usually have to get home in time to cook dinner. Even if dinner ended up being at…like, 2am. But…sometimes I’d have to travel, if there was an emergency.”

He smiled slightly. “I do, yeah. I’m no jockey, but…I’m decent enough, I guess. Didn’t save my back while we were riding, though.” Doppio snorted softly, resting his ankle on one of Arven’s legs. “Turns out it’s a lot harder when you’re not using stirrups. Just don’t have the thigh strength, I think.”

…or it could’ve been that he’d had a near-death experience and had sobbed his heart out for an extended amount of time, but…well, thinking about Arven’s thighs, it was easy to think he paled in comparison.

“Well, maybe you can take me out and teach me how to ride more, soon,” Arven said, bringing his hand up to brush some stray hairs out of Doppio’s face, grinning at him lightly as he said, “I think it’d be more fun to learn with you.”

“...you still feeling okay?” Arven asked quietly, “About what we just did? I didn’t… push you. Did I? I was pretty desperate for it by the middle of it there, I’m honestly not sure if I’m just remembering being pushier than I was because I actually was that pushy, or I’m just remembering how badly I wanted it.”

The look on Doppio’s face as Arven gently touched over his face was simply…amazed. Fond and…well, maybe ‘loving’ was pushing it, but…affectionate all the same. “That sounds like fun. I do like the journey, but…maybe exploring on horseback will chill people out enough not to call us runaways, next time.” …never mind that they hadn’t just been exploring, but…semantics.

Blushing a bit, Doppio bashfully grinned, letting out one of those embarrassing, smitten giggles as he ran a hand down Arven’s side. “...honestly, that’s kind of how I feel? I feel like I might’ve pushed you, if not…uh, further? Than maybe faster… But…yeah. I’m…I’m happy,” he admitted softly, tilting his head forward to kiss Arven’s nose. “I’m happy we did that.”

“...are you okay?”

Arven flushed, nodding, though he pushed his face a little into his pillow, struggling to look Doppio in the eye. “Yeah. I mean, well, yeah. I could have, maybe, if you had let me, gone way longer with that. It was… really good. You looked…” Arven glanced up at Doppio, face still burning red, “...really cool.”

“...Amaina better have actually left,” Arven suddenly said, looking around suspiciously. “Amaina? Amaina, did you see any of that? Because none of that was for little angel eyes, even if you’re a fake angel. Amaina? …alright, I think she’s not actually here. She loves a dramatic entrance too much, she’d have popped out after being called enough.”

Doppio’s blush burned brighter, though the grin on his face was undeniable. Arven thought he looked cool. Thinking back (though not too hard) it…seemed a little silly, if Doppio thought about what it might’ve looked like on the outside, but…if Arven thought he looked cool?

“You were really cool too,” Doppio semi-gushed, unable to keep a delighted little lilt out of his voice. “It was, uh, kind of hard to see you, sometimes, but…every time I did? You’re breath-taking, really…”

Snorting, Doppio sent a similarly suspicious glance around the room before he snuggled back in against Arven, not wanting to break their contact for anything. “She did say, like…she was a perv for fun, not for real, while you were changing in the bathroom. So I think we’re safe. Though…probably not from teasing, later. She said she didn’t even have to ‘live’ our thoughts to know we were thinking ‘couples’ thoughts’.”

After a moment, Doppio let out a snicker. “...god. It just occurred to me… We’re lucky he can’t see her, and Amaina won’t tattle to Kaito. That’d be a nightmare.”

Arven scoffed, sounding genuinely exasperated, “Could you imagine those two talking to each other? Man, if we thought either of them were incomprehensible before? Watching them bounce off each other would be mind boggling. And ya know, somehow I think Amaina would be the more comprehensible one of the two. Like, her words sound like nonsense, except they’re not, she just doesn’t care if we know the context or not. So she’d be saying a bunch of stuff that absolutely makes sense to her and no one else, but Kaito would follow every incomprehensible thing she’d mention with an entire tangent about something just barely related to what she said when he started and would have absolutely nothing to do with anything by the time he was finished.”

Shifting onto his back, Arven brought up his index fingers, bouncing them against each other as he said, “And they’d just keep ping-ponging back and forth like that. Well, at least they’d keep each other busy, if nothing else.”

Doppio, in turn, rolled more on his stomach as Arven went onto his back, resting his chin partially on Arven’s shoulder while he slotted their legs together, his arm resting lightly over Arven’s stomach. Scoffing, he rolled his eyes. “And they call us children. They’d sound just like a couple toddlers, I’m calling it.”

“...if not for the fact I think he’d be scared of her,” he hummed. “When Prince Kokichi was talking about Kaito being scared of other stuff… I think he might be scared of, like…ghosts ‘n stuff. Since he got so freaked out when I talked about Angioletto before. Could be a coincidence, but…I dunno.”

“Do you think so?” Arven asked, resting his arms on his stomach, wrapping his arm around Doppio’s, feeling comfy as the two got casual about touching each other in this space. “Oh, yeah, he was asking about a haunted doll or something, right? …hmmm…”

Arven squinted at the ceiling a bit. “...I think he doesn’t like snakes, too. Snakes and ghosts… that’d be pretty easy pranking material, honestly. Though, I wonder what Kokichi meant by saying the last time he tried pranking Kaito, they started a forest fire? Maybe a week ago I’d have assumed maybe that was just the guy being an asshole and starting a fire in revenge, but… Kaito doesn’t seem the sort to start a fire because he was scared by a prank. Unless maybe Kokichi meant by accident? That seems more realistic.”

“...so we just won’t have fire nearby when it happens.” Arven smirked, “You think Kaito would be fooled by a sheet hung up by a string? Somehow I can picture it. If we found somewhere with dark lighting and a spooky atmosphere? I bet he’d be fooled by a sheet.”

Fears that weren’t totally out there, as far as Doppio could judge. In honesty, a lot of people he knew had fears like…being murdered, but there had been some “smaller” neuroses too that he’d picked up on. He really couldn’t imagine being scared of any sort of animal, though. They were just…creatures. Living the same as anything else. Who’d be afraid of life?

Snickering, Doppio traced a thumb over Arven’s stomach. “If we could get the atmosphere right, definitely. And Harvest is coming up too… We could probably find some, like…gauzier fabric to make it look scarier too. See what sort of supplies those decoration pop-up shop places have.”

“...he might just get more concerned than scared, if we did anything with fake blood,” Doppio hummed. “Might, like…make it just ‘real’ enough that he’d be like, oh no! A real person is hurt! So…maybe going more ridiculous with it would be best.”

“Oh, good point, I could see that too.” Arven nodded, brow furrowing. “Yeah, I think if we were to suggest anyone was hurt, he’d start doing all that… ‘Kaito’ stuff. He’d end up trying to mentor and adopt the bedsheet, after dragging it to a healer. Yeah, no fake blood.”

Arven shivered a little at Doppio’s tracing of his stomach, and reaching for the hand, linked his own fingers in between Doppio’s. “I really want to see that ball python Kokichi was talking about. Snakes are so cool. They’re not exactly cuddleable in the wild though, which is more or less where I’ve always seen them. I want to pet a friendly snake so bad.”

Doppio gave a little happy hum as Arven took his hand, closing his eyes in contentment, threading their fingers. One day of history had shown they couldn’t maintain hand-holding in sleep, but it really had been a nice way to go to sleep.

“He…said he’d talk to his husband about it, right? I guess we ended up being kind of busy today… Maybe after you get back from school, we could ask if that’s still on the table. Wanna pet a snake too.”

…his eyebrows furrowed. After a moment of silence, his voice coming out softer. “...I…think I remember seeing…a water snake swimming, once. I don’t…think it was a river so…it might’ve been an ocean snake? Looks like a ribbon, wig-waggin’ like, suspended. It’s dangerous to go near ‘em, but…it’d be so cool to swim near one. Heard it’s possible to swim with certain kinds of whales, and…most the time sharks will ignore you, if you’re not trying to bother them. Just look like a seal if you’re on a surfboard above them.”

“...it’s weird,” he nearly whispered. “...I can smell the ocean sometimes in my dreams…but I don’t remember ever living on the coast.”

“Maybe you did once?” Arven said softly, closing his eyes, imagining the things Doppio was describing. “Your memory isn’t exactly set in stone. Maybe you lived by the ocean years ago. Earlier than you can remember clearly.”

“Do you think you liked it?” Arven asked, “You talk about it fondly.”

“Maybe.” Doppio snorted softly, though his tone wasn’t really joking when he spoke again. “If there’s anything we can rely on, when it comes to my memory, it’s that it’s unreliable.”

…did he talk about it fondly?

“...I told Kaito once that I’d be miserable taking a vacation to sit on a beach somewhere,” Doppio said quietly. “But…I don’t know. When…”

He went quiet for a few moments.

“...when I think about the place I’d be happiest? I can hear waves, and smell the ocean. I…I think I liked it…if I did live somewhere like that.” His voice quieted even more. “...it feels…weird. Missing a place I can’t remember I’ve ever been.”

(...even weirder having feelings about a place from memories that weren’t yours, when the original feelings associated were…very different.)

“Well, maybe we can visit the beach someday,” Arven said, shrugging a little, “I’m not much of a beach guy myself. Chief and I tend to get hot on them, too much hair. But, I think if I went with you? I’d feel differently about it.”

“...I think it’d be fun to go anywhere with you,” Arven said, feeling confident about it as he said it.

“Like I said, it’s hard to imagine just…having a beach day,” Doppio snorted, “But…well, I dunno if there’s much I could do to help Chief, save for making doggy-popsicles and having a bunch of water available… But…um. I could…show! You. A good way to keep your hair mostly out of the way…if you wanted.”

…he didn’t feel quite so bold as to offer to braid Arven’s hair himself.

On the other hand, though-- “...the ocean might be in the background, but…I think my happy place would really just be anywhere with you,” Doppio murmured softly, tucking his face down into their pillow a bit. “If we’re in caverns or in the mountains or in forests or…wherever. I’d enjoy it with you.”

“Yeah?” Arven asked, running his thumb over the side of Doppio’s. “...sounds like someone has a crush,” he snickered.

Then, still holding Doppio’s hand, Arven rolled over. Placing little kisses against Doppio’s face, as he teased, “Well? Do you admit it? Do you like me, Aceto? Admit it, say you liiiike me.”

Doppio opened his eyes at that, looking at Arven in surprise. Though, still in tandem, he rolled back over as Arven did, now looking more ‘up’ at him, blushing through the face kisses and teasing.

Flushing more, Doppio made a little sound at the back of his throat before leaning up to peck Arven once. “...I like you a lot, tesoro.” He squeezed Arven’s hand gently. Turning more red as he…sort of lied, “Even if you wanna crush me.”

Arven raised an eyebrow, before scoffing, leaning down to kiss him again. “Now you’re saying I’m fat? Between you and Amaina, I’m going to get a complex.”

Though, he took the cue, even if Doppio hadn’t really meant it like that. Scooting off of him, Arven laid back down on his side, still holding Doppio’s hand, petting it with his thumb. “...I like you a lot too, Aceto.”

“I like your body,” Doppio softly murmured, looking up at Arven with that same star-struck look, even with a red face. “Don’t really think you’re fat, but…I think you’re, uh…” Arven had…said it before so…it was fine, right? “...I think you’re really sexy.”

As Arven rolled off, for a moment Doppio’s face fell in disappointment, but…that was probably for the best. It was late enough that he’d feel kinda awkward keeping them up if, uh…Arven’s weight on top of him got him excited again.

…though hearing Arven plainly say he liked him was its own sort of excitement. Smiling, Doppio hummed happily, wiggling his feet a little under the covers.

Arven smiled at the happy hum, scooting in closer and putting his leg in between Doppio’s. He already knew he’d be clinging to the guy in his sleep, so, might as well start the process now. Still keeping his hand linked with Doppio’s, as he closed his eye, feeling warm and cozy and happy as he started to feel sleep drag him down into its depths.

“Oh, this really takes me back~ Doesn’t it, baby?”

“To last month? …ah, but they are nice memories, aren’t they.”

“Will ya two lovebirds pipe down for a sec? This is a stealth job.”

“You do your job, we’ll do ours, gattino. This was your idea anyway.”

“Eh, could you blame me? Call it turning over a new leaf, practically charity.”

“New leaf? Kitty-cat, we all knew what you were planning before you opened your mouth.”

“Usually do, considering not much is worth listening to.”

“Aw, shaddup. Okay, here we go…”

…it was the guards’ business, but…Lake figured Kaito would want to know anyway. It was…about the time he’d be around, making sure Tim ate breakfast before walking him to school, so…

“Hey, Kai-guy! You got a sec for a word?”

Kaito was actually waiting outside the dining hall, having eaten something quickly earlier that morning, but having gotten up to go running with Maki. The two needing to talk, so both of them talking during their early morning run. It still wasn’t exactly ‘resolved’ between them, how Maki handled the Doppio situation, but admittedly the talk had gone better this time around, not in small part because Maki’s move had, in a roundabout way, done exactly what she had been hoping it would. Kaito still didn’t like how she had done it, but he couldn’t argue the result.

And, stopping by a store on his way back to the castle, he had gotten himself a gift. Which he was currently looking over, looking almost awed as he flipped through the small, personal calendar. It came with a tiny pen and everything…

“Huh?” Kaito looked up, giving Lake a small wave as he nodded. “Sure, I’ve got time. What’s up? Neeeed meeee toooo book an appointment?” Kaito grinned, not so subtly showing off his new self-given prize, angling the day planner at her, particularly happy with its space theme. It even kept track of moon phases! Neat! “Because I totally can now!”

Lake let out an impressed whistle, turning a few heads in the hall before they saw that it was Lake, and resumed their business. “Ooooh, sweet new planner! Aw, are those little galaxy prints on the…dang, what are they called? It’s not a header, but the first indent of a line…aw well, they’re neat! Very cool, Space Cowboy!”

“Though, uh…maybe not as planned as an appointment?” she shrugged, giving him a sheepish look. “I just wanted to give you a heads up. Post office got an anonymous package for Dippin’ Dots this morning…”

Lake tilted her head, running a hand through her hair. “...well, not really a package. A, uh…laundry basket? Now, normally we’re not allowed to open folks’ mail, even for safety checks, yanno? Not without their consent. But it’s…like, open. So they’ve already started checkin’ it for, like…corrosive powders ‘n stuff like that, stuff we can just check from the top, but we’ll prolly ask the kid more about it when he gets up…”

She shrugged, giving him a confused look. “But, uh. Taking it at face value? Looks like someone did a clothing run for the kid.”

Kaito preened a bit as Lake complimented his planner– hell yeah, he knew it was cool, but it was nice to be validated! Though, as Lake explained what she actually needed--

The easy goofiness on Kaito’s face eased out, Kaito looking a little grim at that, a tension in his shoulders. “...well. That’s kinda weird, huh?”

Tapping the tiny pen against his planner, Kaito considered that, before saying, “Did it look like clothes that’d fit Doppio? Sweaters, skinny jeans, that sort of thing? Like, were they his clothes, would you guess?”

With the same confused--honestly a little weirded out--look, Lake gave him a sharp nod. “Exactamundo. Like I said, we haven’t been rooting through the whole thing, but…just as you said. Sweaters, t-shirts, jeans… I’m no tailor, but I’d guess they’re his size.”

Crossing her arms, a more puzzled look crossed over Lake’s face. “We do have his address, it’s not a secret, but…no one on the force went to get his things, and so far it doesn’t sound like anyone from CPS has either. Last I heard, they’re cookin’ up some real spicy papers to talk to that asshole still, presumably, livin’ there. It…was just an anonymous drop-off.”

“...either way it’d be weird to not, like…make themselves known, but…” She gave Kaito a not very expectant look. “...you know any friends Doppio’d have that would try and get his stuff back? Somehow knowing that he’s been taken into custody yesterday?”

“Geez… no, not really. Your guess is as good as mine. I’d guess Maki-roll, but I feel like she’d have said something this morning when I was running with her. Other than that, I don’t know anyone who even could… well, no, Mr. Nidai and Miss Kirigiri both could, but I don’t think they would. They’re not big on material possessions, I don’t think it’d even occur to them he’d want his own clothes back,” Kaito mused, rubbing the back of his neck. “That’s… weird.”

“...well, at least it's a type of weird that works in his favor?” Kaito said a tad uncertainly, shrugging. “I mean, if there’s some anonymous busy body out there, I guess I’d prefer them being the type to make sure Doppio’s dressed, than, like, I don’t know… people informing on him to that fucker of a boss.” Kaito growled, brow furrowing, “Worse type of weirds we could have come across. Still don’t love it though. Things are already tough enough for that kid…”

“Oh, I’m taking Arven to his school, dragging him along while I drop Timothy off,” Kaito said, looking to Lake. “I don’t know if you’re on shift today or not, but Doppio’s gonna be alone while I’m sorting out Arven’s school stuff. Got anything in place to keep an eye on him? I’d rather not leave him entirely alone for the first day.”

“Very weird,” Lake nodded, but, well, ultimately her feelings were the same as Kaito’s. It was suspicious, but if they couldn’t find anything overtly wrong? Then it was just random benevolence, and a kind that Doppio would probably be happy for. She’d heard the kid muttering discontentedly about the odor of his clothes before, so getting more would be a good thing.

“Oh yeah?” She raised an eyebrow, looking at her pocket-watch. “Uh…have the boys come down for breakfast, then? Don’t have a ton of time before it’s head out time, yeah?”

“And, uh…” Lake gave Kaito a sheepish look. “I…didn’t really have anything planned? As long as he stays in the castle, or goes out with someone keepin’ an eye on him he’ll be safe… But you’re right,” she suddenly hummed, gaining a more intense expression. “Don’t wanna smother him, but shouldn’t leave the little guy out to dry! Alright! I’ll go wake him up! And we’ll check out his clothes! Then it’s a Lake-Doppio Kick Ass Around The World Extravaganza Day!”

“Hell yeah!” Kaito cheered, pumping his fist… before snickering, shaking his head as he said, “But, too late on the whole ‘waking them up’ thing. I knocked on their door once I got back from my morning workout, and I kept knocking until one of them finally shouted at me. It was Doppio. That kid loves to shout at me in that funny language of his~” Kaito laughed, shrugging. “Maybe they went back to sleep after that? But probably not, I was enthusiastic in my knocking.”

Could anyone blame him? The last time he had knocked and accepted silence, the boys had been three towns away with an ever-increasing head start. Kaito wasn’t leaving without ensuring they were still there.

“If they’re smart, they’ve eaten something, since Arven knows I’m taking him out this morning. Look! Look!” Kaito said, opening up to the current day and proudly showing off his immaculate cursive handwriting, stating he was taking Arven to school that morning. “See? Marked it down and everything. Because I am a guy who needs to manage his time, thank you very much~” Kaito said, proudly looking down at the book.

Because he actually had multiple things to manage now. Lots of little things to keep track of! Calendar busy, baby!

Still, despite his fantastic new management abilities, he still actually had to do the things. So, snapping his planner closed, Kaito said, “Go, find them, I’ll find you guys to grab Arven after I’ve grabbed Tim. Thanks for the help again, Lake.”

“HA! Probably better you than me!” Lake laughed. “You know, well, maybe not, and they have a lotta folks learn Sign in school, but all us guards have to be fluent in Sign? Big perk if we’re multilingual further than that too. Couldn’t tell ya what Dippin’ Dots’ been sayin’ but it does sound like some southern language. Maybe it’d pay to brush up on a few classes ‘r somethin’.”

She really couldn’t tell if Common was his second language, but…he spoke the other one often enough that she’d wager it’d be something comforting, hearing someone else speak it too. She wasn’t his case worker or nothin’, but…she liked the guy. Didn’t hurt anyone tryin’ to make things feel more like home.

Well. A new, better home.

Peeking into Kaito’s planner, Lake hummed approvingly, seeing his plans and giving him a thumbs up. “Mr. Organization here! Alright, alright, I’ll go track ‘em down. Catch ya later, Big Man!”

Kaito nodded, looking back down at his planner… before looking up, calling to Lake, “Hey! I know they’re still checking them, but Doppio, I don’t think, has a change of clothes for today. ‘Kichi forgot to get him any while they were out yesterday. Think it’d be alright for me to go at least get him one pair from the basket? Where’s it at?”

Lake had started walking away, but she spun right on her heel, her cape whirling around dramatically as she looked back at Kaito. “Hm? Well…hmmmm.”

Tapping her head, she thought for a moment. “Well…normally we wouldn’t just give away stuff like that, unless it’s to the person intended…s’why we’re not searching through the whole damn thing. But, it’s not like we’re gonna demand the kid come down in his birthday suit just to stick to protocol. Hm!”

Pointing at Kaito, she decided, “It’s in the Guard’s Office! Let folks know that Doppio needs some clothes, an’ I sent’cha their way, and I think it’ll work out! Probably! If not, I’ll figure somethin’ out with the boys to get the clothes soon enough.”

Kaito nodded. “Got it! Thanks, Lake.”

Watching her head off, Kaito looked to the dining hall, before standing up, heading towards it. It didn’t take him long to find Timothy, who was sitting with Shuichi, Kokichi upstairs with Miyako. “Hey, handsome~” Kaito cooed, leaning over to give Shuichi a quick kiss, “You’re looking ravaging this morning.”

“Kaito,” Shuichi sighed, rolling his eyes, “Should I expect you to be sparse again today? It feels like I see you only every other day now.”

“Sorry, I know, it’s been a hectic week. It’ll calm down, please be patient with me,” Kaito begged, taking up Shuichi’s hand and kissing at his palm. “This Doppio and Arven business ended up being more, uh, urgent than I ever expected it to be. You know how it is with us… if something’s going to happen? It’s happening all at once. Hopefully we’re past the worst of it.”

“It’s fine, I just… miss you.” Shuichi pouted, leaning against Kaito’s arm. “Also, you better make time for your birthday. Kokichi’s put so much effort into this–”

“That’s not for a few more weeks, handsome! And I’ll make time, if things are still busy then, I promise,” Kaito said, kissing Shuichi again, before pointing to Tim, “Alright, school time! But, I need to make a side trip as we go… How does Chase handle other dogs?”

Timothy shrugged, looking down at his black lab, who was idly chewing on a bone at his feet. “She’s never had an issue before. Why?”

“Arven’s got a big dog, and I’m taking him to school after I’ve dropped you off. He’s walking with us. Also, I gotta swing by the guards’ office… which is, uh…” Kaito paused, looking around, like a map would suddenly appear.

“Floor two, 203,” Timothy and Shuichi said at the same time.

“Right! What I was about to say!” Kaito grinned, “Come on, kid, time to go.”

Timothy finished up, and headed out after Kaito, the two heading to the guards’ office. Kaito knocked on the door, before looking over his shoulder at Timothy. “I don’t have to tell you to behave yourself with this crowd, right?”

Timothy shrugged, looking unimpressed.

It was a little weird, but not overly so to see the guards’ door closed. Normally it was open, implicitly inviting any citizens to stroll in and request aid, or allowing any guards to dash out at a moment’s notice (though they were on the second floor of the castle, and aid would likely take a moment regardless). However, whenever there was anything sensitive going on? Some shaken person needing privacy, a criminal being escorted to a holding room, certain department-wide discussions…then the door was closed.

But it was never wholly closed to the public.

Soon after Kaito knocked, a stocky person with ear-length black and green hair and dark skin opened the door up, giving the princes a look over before they hummed, unsurprised. “Lake sent you, didn’t she. Well, come in. Dr. Stiera is running the final test he can before Aceto comes to claim his items.”

Inside there was…well, as Lake had described, a basket almost overflowing with, what looked like, entirely clothes, while nearby there was an absolute mess of…honestly, some things Kaito might be familiar with. Strips and tubes and what looked like an entire portable chemistry kit, a lavender-haired man hunched over it, vigorously shaking a tube while his tongue peeked out.

Kaito, for having been here a year now, wasn’t all that familiar with the guards of the castle. It was a group he had felt wise to avoid, in a general sort of way, for a lot of reasons. The main reason these days being, always in the back of his mind, shit was he allowed to have his sword?? Is that a secret?? He had still never asked anyone.

Kaito was not a man good at having secrets. It made his skin itch. It wasn’t even the kind of secret where he could soothe himself by assuming everyone secretly knew and was just keeping their mouths shut to let him have it. He felt like if the guards had remembered he owned swords, they would have come to collect them at some point. So it had just… slipped everyone's minds?? Maybe?? Ahhhhhhhh– “Hey there!” Kaito greeted cheerfully, stepping forward, eyes scanning the indeed familiar equipment, “What’s the verdict? The clothes safe?”

Behind him, Timothy was looking around the office with mild interest. A lot less weapons than the guardforce back in Luminary had had. Shame. Timothy would have quite liked to have sneaked out with a guard weapon.

“So far, tho--”

A low whistle interrupted the guard, the lavender-haired man eyeing up Kaito before he draped himself backwards over the arm of the chair he’d been sitting in, apparently that his chosen method of facing the people he was talking to. “Unless some rrrreal psycho’s hidden packets of something in the folds, it’s just laundry soap for days. Real boring stuff too! No oils or softeners or anything. And mostly cottons and wools, which I at least find interesting, though someone said that there was no use for Piranha Solution here~”

“There’s literally no need to know what the clothes are made of,” the guard said bluntly, before they turned back to Kaito. “Are you just double-checking, or did you need something?”

…this guy was cool. Kaito found himself staring for a second, before grinning, shrugging slightly, lightly flustered in a harmless way, as he said, “Probably for the best, then. The guy these clothes probably belong to super needs them, so if they’re not poisoned or booby-trapped? For the best!”

Looking to the guard, Kaito explained, “Lake sent me? Guardsman Lake. I can never remember her last name… starts with an H? I think she has a title? Guardsman Lake, Hero of Dicea! I don’t know if that’s her title, it just seems to suit her.” Kaito shrugged. “Anyway, Lake sent me, we were hoping we could grab at least one pair of clothes from the basket, if they’ve been deemed safe, to let the man they belong to have a clean pair of clothes.”

“...I say ‘man’, don’t spread that around, I’m really rooting for, like, 14 personally,” Kaito admitted, crossing his index and middle finger, “Here’s hoping!”

“Dad, Chase is trying to steal one of the guards badges they left on a counter!”

“No she isn’t, put it back, Tim!” Kaito shouted back, before grinning earnestly at the guard. “So? Can I?”

The man raised an eyebrow (though it was hard to tell if it was just one, considering he was wearing a medical eyepatch over one eye) and twirled the vial in his hands expertly between his fingers. “You know, most people hope for 20, when they say things like that.”

The guard just gave both Kaito and the scientist a dry look before turning to Kaito. “I’m aware of Aceto’s situation, so you can grab one pair, sure. Just don’t dig around too much so there’s enough deniability that you’re not tampering with mail.”

When Kaito would search through the clothes (only top layer or not) he would find much of what he had described to Lake before--sweaters and jeans. Many in warm or jewel tones, nothing that outlandish there, but…well…

Some were things that Kaito would’ve seen Doppio in before. Thick, cable knit sweaters, more sweatshirt-y type things, thinner knit sweaters. But some were…more unique. A plethora of crop tops in different designs, cut outs just about any place you could think to put them and still have a single piece of clothing, backless pieces, and even some pants that seemed to have wide slits in the thighs.

Perhaps things not too out of place in, say, Amber or Tomomi’s wardrobes, but, otherwise…?

Kaito tried not to look too offended at what Lavender Scientist Guy insinuated. He was pretty sure it was just a joke, so he only wrinkled his nose a little, before starting to look through the clothing…

…huh.

Kaito raised an eyebrow at some of the cuts that were in here. Pulling out what looked like a normal sweater bundled up, but upon spreading it out, had a… boob?? Window?? That, uh… didn’t seem Doppio’s style. Huh. Sorting through the crop tops that seemed more like Kokichi’s thing than anything Doppio would wear, Kaito frowned as more and more of the clothes suggested the odd, revealing cuts.

Doppio didn’t like to show skin. Specifically. He and Kaito had literally talked about that.

…Kaito’s brow furrowed. A rush of rage running through him, as the thought occurred to him… that maybe these were the type of clothes that the ‘boss’ might have preferred seeing Doppio in. Sure, Doppio had said there hadn’t been anything like that in their relationship, but, well, Kaito would have said the same thing about Tengan, before he felt safe enough to tell people about some of the more alarming aspects of his relationship with the Head Secretary. Doppio not admitting it didn’t mean nothing was happening…

Another reason to keep Doppio away from that bastard. Kaito already had plenty, but add this to the pile.

Picking an outfit Kaito had seen Doppio in before, he held it up to the lavender scientist. “How about these? Did you check these? If so, I’m gonna grab them for the kid.”

Mel watched with interest as the hot redhead sifted through the clothes, taking some mental notes. Not concerning the job the Guardforce had asked him to do (though he did keep idle attention out for any weird powders or particulates falling from the clothes) or…trying to find out anything about the bigger case at hand, but more… Man. Those clothes were cute. Sweaters weren’t usually his thing, but that little lilac backless number? Oof. It would do numbers. That was the kind of show-piece he’d nickname The Virgin Killer.

…kind of odd for a 14-year-old to have. Firenze had said the kid was a little odd, but not that kind of oddness. And yet…see what was in his closet.

Looking at the tame outfit the redhead had picked out, Mel righted himself in the chair and made an ‘okay’ sign. “All good. You did keep to the top, after all. What a model, law-abiding citizen, bello.”

Kaito squinted at Mel. “Bello? What language is that? Say more words.”

Mel gave him a languid smile. “Vieni a casa con me e ti dimenticherai anche di parlare Comune, Ra’Muscoli.” (Come home with me and you’ll forget you even speak Common, Beefcake.)

“Vini a casa co… no, that’s as far as I got,” Kaito mused, before lighting up. “That’s the kid’s language! I recognize the accent. What’s the language, me and Lake were just talking about making more of an effort with his language… I mean, she is, anyway, I don’t think I could learn a second language even if I really wanted to. No ear for unfamiliar words.”

If he cared enough to come up with a hypothesis, Mel would probably guess that was what got Firenze’s attention so much, even if the prince had chatted him up. Not every day some kid goes around calling cats Signore.

“It’s Tsumarian, bello,” Mel informed Kaito. “Islands down south, mostly just known for their food up here. Not a whole lot of diaspora up here, though it is looking mighty coincidental, lately. Ah, cca sugnu, can’t go connecting every coincidental thing you come across.”

“Shoo, shoo, go give your mimmo his clothes, none of us have time to sit here all day.”

“Tsumarian. Tsumarian… oh! I can write it down,” Kaito remembered, taking out his day planner and, proudly, opening it up to the ‘notes’ sections, in his neat, cursive handwriting putting in Doppio speaks Tsumarian.

“Thank you!” Kaito said, bowing to the man thoughtlessly, before looking over his shoulder. “Tim! Did you put the badge back?”

“Yes.”

“Put it back, Tim! We gotta go!” Kaito called, before nodding to Mel and the guard, grinning brightly. “Thank you for your help!”

“No problem, ‘gazzo! Don’t be a stranger~”

“...he’s married, you know.”

“I’m aware~”

So. Apparently there was a whole-ass greenhouse on top of the castle, and while Doppio didn’t fully remember all the things Prince Kokichi said about ‘cool castle things’, he was pretty sure the heir had neglected to mention a whole, huge greenhouse which…was baffling. But they had found out either way, and Doppio supposed that’s just what mattered in the end.

Sure, there was a full breakfast service going on downstairs…but Doppio was getting antsy, his desire to cook, and cook for someone feeling like a burning itch, a desperate need, so…between the staples in the practice kitchen, the few supplies he’d picked up the day before, and the fruits and vegetables he’d sent Arven to pick up from the whole-ass greenhouse they had just upstairs, Doppio had made…maybe too much breakfast.

Poached eggs and a fried flatbread, some milky, oaty porridge topped with strawberries he’d sliced and fanned out across the top, and a rather robust vegetable hash with some sort of spice mix he’d found that had a distinctive sweet but powerful kick. They could probably use the fiber, but Doppio had cut oranges and tangerines into supremes anyway, following his need to serve.

Still wearing Arven’s pajamas (why he’d only asked Arven to go upstairs) though with an apron over them, Doppio looked at his special one brightly, expectant to hear what he thought of the meal.

“...wow,” Arven said honestly, staring at the full course meal spread in front of him, eyes wide with genuine wonder as he said again, “Wow.”

It almost looked too beautiful to touch, though Arven still started to tuck in anyway. He tackled the poached eggs first, whistling lightly as it split cleanly, before taking some of the flatbread and dipping it. Eating the flatbread, Arven’s eyebrows shot up… before giving Doppio a borderline incredulous look. “There’s no way you had time to bake bread… Aceto, did you bake this? It tastes fresh.”

Flushing, Doppio wrung a dish cloth in his hands, smiling softly as he shrugged. “It’s not really baked… I-it’s a pretty simple bread, literally just flour and water, though I added a little salt, but it’s a stiff dough that you stretch into a hot pan, like something cast iron, and it just puffs up like that. It takes like…twenty minutes? Since it doesn’t need to proof or bake in the oven…though you can put it in the oven, um, stacked, and it gives a different texture, but I thought the crunch would be good with everything else…”

Trailing off as he realized he was rambling, Doppio gave Arven another hopeful look. “...do you like it?”

“Are you kidding? I love it! This is really impressive, thank you so much, Aceto!” Arven grinned, dipping his bread in and biting again, before looking at the rest of it. “Okay, what next…that vegetable hash smells amazing–”

“Ha!” Kaito said, strutting into the practice kitchen proudly, clothes in his arms, Timothy coming in behind him. “Found you! See, Timothy? Told you I’d find them!”

“This is the third place we checked…”

“Ya know, I really thought you guys would be drawn to the dance studio,” Kaito admitted, “Room full of mirrors? That’s where I would have wanted to hang out at your age.”

Doppio lit up, beaming brightly. “Perfetto. You’re welcome, it’s my pleasure!”

It wasn’t really something he had done on purpose, but it was only after watching Arven dig in and hearing his approval did Doppio start to make the motions of plating up his own meal. Or, he would’ve, if--

“Eep!”

Jumping at Kaito’s sudden entrance, Doppio fumbled the dish towel in his hands, thankfully missing all the pan handles in his flailing (a lesson he’d learned early). A hand on his chest, trying to calm down, Doppio looked at Kaito--and, oh, his…son?--bewildered.

“...wh-what? Why would… You know, nevermind.” Sighing, Doppio picked up the cloth and set it on the counter, grabbing his plate to load up.

“Damn, what happened? The kitchen staff make something nice for you guys?” Kaito asked, looking over at the spread with open appreciation. “Nice! They do stuff like this for ‘Kichi sometimes too, when he’s feeling sick. Though, wow, not usually this much. Did you guys make friends?”

“Aceto made it,” Arven explained, eyes trained on Chief, who was being sniffed by Chase. Chase, who was a big dog in her own right, looked small in comparison to Chief, who gamely rolled onto his back as Chase kept sniffing him, tail thumping lightly. “With the stuff they grow in the greenhouse.”

Kaito looked a little startled, before looking up at the ceiling, like he might be able to see the greenhouse from here. “...oh. Huh… it has literally never occurred to me you can take food from the greenhouse. Wait, are you allowed to do that?”

“Cali, Kimiko, and I take stuff from there all the time.” Timothy pointed out.

“...” Kaito squinted at Timothy, “Anyone ever see you do it?”

Timothy shrugged.

“Let’s just keep that to ourselves for now then.” Kaito huffed, before looking brightly back at the teens again. “Arven! We’re going to your school today, remember? Gonna get you set up for the week! And Doppio? I asked Lake to hang out with you while Arven is gone. So you’re not allowed to be mad at her if it’s annoying! I basically made her do it! It’s hard to say no to a prince, ya know?”

“People say no to you all the time, dad.”

“Timothy, you and I are going to discuss other ways of being ‘funny’ that don't come at my expense, okay kid?” Kaito said dryly, “There are other punchlines.”

Doppio pouted a little as he served up his plate. The…well, two meals he’d had in the castle dining hall had been very nice, nothing to complain about, and the brief conversations he’d had with some of the staff had been pleasant, but… Well, he sort of hoped that there was something a little differentiating in a home-cooked meal.

Sliding into a seat by Arven, Doppio shrugged. “There weren’t any signs, and…if I’m meant to stay here, might as well use the things meant for the castle.” He could’ve made breakfast without any fruits or vegetables, but…it was a lot better with them. He’d have to make up a list of the foods he wanted to keep… Hopefully there would still be time after laundry to get good things at the market. It wasn’t like everything sold out immediately in the morning, but there was more of a selection, if he wanted to get the best ingredi--

Doppio gave Kaito a sour look, before giving Timothy a nod. “But the best jokes are based on truth.” His expression twisting more, he gave Kaito a displeased look. “I don’t need a babysitter, I’m not gonna run away. I’m just gonna do some chores anyway…”

But despite his disgruntlement, he nodded to the rest of the breakfast feast still in the various pans and pots and cutting boards. “...if you want some, help yourself. Think I made too much.”

“Eyyyy, see that, Timothy? Isn’t Doppio nice, offering to feed us?” Kaito said cheerfully, taking Timothy’s shoulders and steering him to the pots. “Come on, let’s have some nibbles! He’s a great cook!”

“But I already ate–”

“You’re a growing boy! And it’s rude to turn down offered food,” Kaito said, starting to make up plates for himself and Timothy. He loaded his own plate full, but for Timothy just put little bite-sized bits, enough to just let him taste things.

Behind them, Chase had decided to excitedly start running circles around Chief, barking once or twice, before wagging her butt in the air and pouncing on him, trying to draw him into a game. Chief laid there peacefully, as Chase started to bite and tug at his ear.

Sitting down with Doppio and Arven, Timothy started to nibble on his food, as Kaito clapped his hands together happily. “Wow, this looks great! And I know you’re not gonna vanish the second I turn my back, Doppio… again,” Kaito said pointedly, “But, you’re at risk right now, so having a guard around you when there’s no one else is a good use of security. I’d insist on the same thing for any of my own family… oh! I almost forgot!”

Kaito scrambled up from his plate, grabbing the clothes he had put on the counter, before proudly displaying them to Doppio. “Someone robbed you! Tada!”

“What?” Arven asked, looking confused.

“Well, no, someone brought Doppio’s clothes from his house to here. Dropped it off in a laundry basket. The guardforce is looking it over for any signs of tampering, but it’s looking like it’s just… someone making sure you have clothes? So that’s nice! Weird, but nice!”

Eating his breakfast--ooh, that spice mix really was good… He’d tried it out straight, of course, but all cooked together…mm!--Doppio peered over at the dogs, watching with a small, content smile as the puppy tried to draw Chief into play. Aw…they were so cute… He wondered if Chief had been that excitable as a puppy too.

Still, Kaito couldn’t diminish his enjoyment of cute dogs and good food, so Doppio only rolled his eyes a bit, at least until… Doppio blinked, at first just kind of thinking Kaito had bought him new clothes again, though these were closer to his…usual…

…actually… Exactly his usual. These were his clothes. Clothes that…were at his house. With Boss.

With Boss.

Doppio gave Kaito an alarmed look. “They’ve gone to my house already?!” he squeaked.

“That really depends on who ‘they’ is,” Kaito admitted, “The guards are going to ask you this themselves, but do you have any idea who would have done this for you?”

“It wasn’t you guys?” Arven asked, “Isn’t your family supposed to be made of, like… I dunno. Mr. Nidai said he was an assassin. He didn’t go get it?”

“I haven’t asked yet, but it doesn’t seem like him. You gotta remember, most of my family also grew up around a really obscene amount of wealth. I think most of our first thoughts would be just to buy you more clothes, rather than steal them back… or, well, have me buy new clothes.” Kaito grinned. “Used to be my superpower. But, yeah, I don’t think it was any of us.”

Doppio only paled the more Kaito spoke, his eyes wide and going from alarmed to downright panicked. It wasn’t the guards, starting the investigation. It wasn’t Kaito’s busybody family. …it wasn’t Boss. As much as Boss…in different circumstances, maybe, would’ve wanted Doppio to be comfortable…well, he would’ve just told Doppio to buy new clothes too, and there was no way he’d deliver something to the castle so…

…so that meant someone had broken into his house. With Boss.

Doppio stared blankly at the counter, his breaths soft but quick and uneven as he anxiously scratched at his scar. His body trembling slightly.

Arven noticed first, as he leaned over to put a hand on Doppio’s shoulder. “Hey… you okay?”

“He’s probably worried about his leader,” Timothy said, poking at the vegetable hash warily. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to try it. It looked weird. “It’s usually a bad thing if your home is getting raided.”

Kaito shot Timothy a concerned look, before reaching over to ruffle his hair– Timothy more or less ignored that, still eyeing up the hash– as Kaito said, “Sure, that’s understandable. But we don’t know if anything bad happened from this… Tim right, Doppio? You worried about ‘the boss’?”

Kaito, personally, wasn’t that worried. Bad things didn’t tend to happen to bad people. It was one of the consistently worst things about the universe, he had found. The guy was probably just fine. Though, he offered, “I can check on him, if you want?”

It was a catastrophic thing if your home was raided. In all honesty, Doppio had failed the moment he had let Kaito and Waku walk him home. The whole point of Doppio acting as a messenger and middleman was so no one knew where The Boss was. Complete anonymity, complete safety.

…someone had broken into their home.

Doppio nodded distractedly, before he sent Kaito a panicked look, choking out a harsh, “No!” Right after, though, he closed his eyes and tried to breathe.

It…i-it wasn’t the end of the world. Even if someone had violated Boss’s privacy…Boss was powerful, and strong, and smart and…he’d be fine. He’d be alright. Someone had broken into their home, but…

Doppio opened his eyes a little, looking at his clothes.

…someone had broken into their home to…get his clothes. For…him?

Letting out a breath, Doppio made an anxious noise, his nails digging into his arm…before he let his shoulders drop. Just staring at the rest of his breakfast tiredly. “...probably gonna get served papers today anyway… it’s…” He glanced at Kaito. “...there’s more?”

“Yep, all of them!” Kaito said brightly, deciding to ignore Doppio’s urgent ‘no’ for Kaito going to check on the guy. Good. Kaito really didn’t give a shit about him. Just anything that made things easier on Doppio. Kaito hoped the dude had tripped in his bathtub and drowned days ago. Make things easier on everyone. “Or, well, maybe not all of them, but it sure seems like a lot. Though, if you still want more clothes, we can still buy you new sets, Doppio. Some of your clothes didn’t look… great for winter!”

“Really?” Arven asked, sounding curious, “All Aceto ever wears is sweaters?”

“You don’t know that.” Kaito smirked, giving Arven a somewhat affectionately amused look. “Look, I know you feel real close with him right now, but trust me. You’ve only just started getting to know each other. As someone told me at my latest wedding: it’d be a bummer if you knew everything about each other this early in!”

Doppio hummed softly, blinking before going back to, well, not digging in, but picking at his food. He did have proper winter gear so…if Kaito didn’t see anything that said that to him, then…whoever had broken into his house probably hadn’t picked those up. Which was understandable. Outer coats were bulky and boots were heavy, and all that.

Huffing softly, Doppio glanced over to give Arven a small smile. “...to be fair, I do mostly wear sweaters. Just can’t get away with it during the summer, so I have some other stuff too. If it really is all my clothes, then I can show you what I was talking about before about the, uh, multiple color stuff, like you have.”

Looking down, Doppio sighed, though he looked much more calm. “...as creepy as it is? …it’d be nice, if it’s actually all my clothes. I-I appreciate you buying me some, Kaito, but…I miss my own.”

“I understand, I understand,” Kaito said brightly, eating some of the fruit before humming happily, “Mmm, you’re gonna have to show me how you made all this, I want to make it for my husbands… hey! Speaking of clothes! Semi-relevant question?”

Kaito grinned brightly, tipping his head curiously, as he asked, “What happened to my shirt?”

Arven choked on his food.

Doppio tensed, before he looked back up, giving Kaito a dry look. “It was huge on me. Like, I know you’re tall ‘n stuff, but…there has to be some optical illusion stuff, right? I was swimming in it.”

Waving Kaito off, Doppio returned to his food. “Don’t worry, I’ll wash it with everything else today, you’ll get it back soon… Arven was just nice enough to offer some of his clothes, which, yanno, are reasonably sized, so I wore his. But I still tried it on, so…” Doppio wrinkled his nose, giving Kaito a shrug. “Gonna clean it.”

Don’t just ask for it back, just accept that I’m that much of a clean freak and be shamed into not taking back something ‘dirty’.

“Hey! People like me for my size, I’ll have you know!” Kaito huffed, putting his nose up a bit. “I’m right in that sweet spot where I’m taller than most people, but am still able to look up to the real giants. Who like me because I’m ‘convenience’ sized for them.” Kaito grinned.

“Convenient for what?” Timothy asked.

“....... sports,” Kaito said, staring at his food, nodding, “I’m a lot of fun to play basketball against, for giants. Just big enough for a challenge!”

Timothy hummed, before looking to Arven. “Everyone says I’m gonna be taller than him, someday.”

Arven had no idea why Timothy felt the need to say this to him, specifically. But, well, he felt the need to play along with the 10-year-old, as Arven nodded, “Oh, yeah, absolutely.”

“Maybe if you stop eating around the vegetables on your plate,” Kaito said, poking Timothy’s head, “Vegetables help you grow, kid. Ya know how Kokichi avoids vegetables too? That’s why my husband’s, like, two feet tall.”

Timothy’s brow furrowed. Kokichi was very small… and also tried to avoid the vegetables Kaito put on his plate too… hmmmm.

The next dry look Doppio shot Kaito was entirely genuine. “...wow, that’s some real son-privilege. You weird hypocrite.” Sure, there was an age difference, but Doppio was pretty sure there wasn’t a taboo on the entire concept of sex for…younger kids. (...sure, he might not’ve known what…all kinds of sex were, but Doppio could concede, at least for the moment, that he might be an outlier.)

Snorting as Kaito tried to encourage his son to eat vegetables, Doppio perked up after a moment, the subject reminding him. “Oh! I’m a vegetarian now. By the way.”

“Heck yeah Timothy gets father-son privileges!” Kaito bragged, grasping the back of Timothy’s neck and shaking him a little, before grinning down at the kid. “He’s my son! He gets every privilege I can give him! You deserve everything I can give you and more, got it, Tim?”

“Wait,” Timothy’s brow furrowed, “What did I get?”

“Mmmmmmm oh! Is that right, Doppio?!” Kaito said, dodging that question as he turned to Doppio, grinning. “You mentioned something about wanting to do that, but you cooked for other people, right? That’s awesome you get to explore that now, I fully support it! Ooooh, you’re about to learn a ton of great cooking techniques for vegetables then, huh? I’ll have to learn from you, race to keep pace!”

Doppio nodded a bit. “I already know a lot of good vegetarian recipes, but I’ve never messed much with…uh, substitutions, I guess. So that’ll be interesting to figure out. I, uh…” He glanced to Arven briefly. “...it’s…a-an upside, to quitting. Oh, though, um…i-if I am cooking for other people, on, like, requests or something, I-I wouldn’t mind cooking with meat, still. I might try to avoid it myself, but I’m still pretty good at cooking it.”

Again, the doors to the practice kitchens burst open, making Doppio jump again, as Lake took a look around and laughed brightly. “Oh shoot, you found ‘em first? Ah well, how it goes.”

“Dippin’ Dots!” she shouted, pointing at Doppio, provoking a squeak and him pointing to himself in confirmation. “We’re best buds today, you hear! Gonna take the world by storm while these lucky fellas are off gettin’ learned!”

Doppio sighed, giving Kaito a despairing look.

Kaito met his despairing look with a laugh and a thumbs up. “You’re gonna have a great time! Lake is great! You guys know! She was great when we chased you down, right? Timothy, tell the guys how great Lake is!”

Timothy gave Kaito a baffled look. “Aren’t you afraid of her?”

“Whaaaa-ha-ha-haaaat?” Kaito laughed, looking absolutely taken off guard, reaching over and grabbing Timothy’s collar as he yanked him up, sputtering as he pointed to Arven. “C-come on! Time to get a move on! Things to do! Futures to prep for!”

Lake just chuckled, no hard feelings about that at all, and patted Doppio’s back. “Well, you heard the big guy! You need some help with the dishes, bud? My success in the kitchen is kinda hit or miss, but dishes? Phwoo, no grease or grime stands a chance against me!”

…well…maybe Lake wasn’t all bad.

Before Arven could be whisked away, she gave him a squeeze on the shoulder too. “Have a good day at school, Ven-Ven, even if you’re just pickin’ stuff up. And have a good full day, Tim-Tams! Say ‘hi’ to Cali-mari and Kimi-cocoa for me, will ya?”

Arven gave the wall a thousand yard stare, as Kaito negotiated with the school administrator about talking to Arven’s teachers for his makeup work.

“I understand what you’re trying to accomplish, uh… prince? Kaito?” the administrator tried, and when he didn’t correct her, kept going, “But as I’ve already said, all those teachers are currently in their classes–”

“We won’t take much of their time!” Kaito grinned, “In and out, no big deal.”

“Right, but… they’re teaching–”

“It’ll be a teachable moment for their students! A real life example of if you’re gonna be gone for a week, here’s what to do! Ya know…” Kaito’s grin widened, showing off his canines, “In case they don’t have anyone at home willing to do that for them? One of those things you all should really accommodate for… I think.”

“Uh, right,” the administrator said, sort of like she was hitting a brick wall here, “I suppose… we could have someone escort you through the school–”

“Heck yeah you can! And Arven can check in with his friends before he’s gone for a week!” Kaito said, looking over to Arven and waving cheerfully at him.

Arven stared at the wall.

“He’s so excited.” Kaito grinned at the administrator. “Alright! Let’s get our escort! I don’t want to interrupt these teachers’ classes too much, so time is of the essence!”

After a little bit, a woman walked in, with cropped short red hair and deep brown eyes, a splash of freckles across her fair features as she asked the administrator why she was called for. The administrator whispered to her a bit, and while the woman huffed a bit, she nodded before heading to Kaito.

“Good day,” the woman said, “My name is Mahiru Koizumi. I’m a teacher's aid. I’ve been asked to escort you through the school. Who do I have the pleasure?”

Kaito grinned, giving her a thumbs up. “My name is Prince Kaito Ouma Momota, of the Saihara household! Luminary Prince of the Stars, Prince-Consort of the Cacti-fie–”

“Kaito will be fine,” the woman said, pouting as she put her hands on her hips, “All the rest of that stuff is too much for a person to address you by. You really need to be more considerate when introducing yourself, you have to keep in mind that for some people even just remembering one name given is hard enough. If you’re going to flood their senses with a bunch of superfluous stuff around it, it’s only your own fault if no one knows your name by the end of it.”

“Uuuh… oh?” Kaito frowned, somewhat taken off guard by that, “Okay… I mean, but you did catch it was Kaito–”

“Just because I’m not the type of person I’m referring to doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Now, Arven, right?” Mahiru said, looking to Arven, who nodded, “Let’s go to your homeroom first. Come along, you two, we all have other things we need to be doing, wasting my time also wastes the time of anyone who’s waiting on me to accomplish anything.”

“Well, she’s kinda fussy, huh?” Kaito whispered to Arven, who shrugged. “Alright, well, I suppose anyone assisting people in a school setting would be. Tough to keep everyone in line! Onwards, to your homeroom!”

Homeroom was never really all that exciting--other than the regular sort of chaos that just came with Mid-Valley High. You showed up, got counted on attendance, heard about any announcements, then just had time to finish homework or get questions answered, but most importantly, got to chat to friends about what you got up to yesterday. And that Wednesday morning was the same as any other, until Year 10’s homeroom class door opened, revealing Miss Koizumi and…

…some big guy and Arven???

Sure, the guy skipped class a lot, but since he’d been back after missing a whole year, he usually at least showed up for a little bit in the mornings. Arven, however, had been completely missing for the start of the week, and there had been several rumors about him dropping out for good or having been invited to an expedition with his mom or being arrested for truancy (that wasn’t a real thing, dumbass!)...

So, when the odd group entered the room, there was something of an uproar.

“Well, look at that, finally decided to show up…” From the back of the class and clamor, a lackadaisical voice sighed, passing over two gold to a teen in a cow-print turtleneck, said teen smirking as he pocketed the money.

“We thought you’d gotten eaten by a bear!” a girl gasped, backed up by serious nodding from a friend.

Nemona sat up in her chair, pointing at Arven. “Finally decided to face me, huh! You didn’t open your door any of the times I came to check, coward!”

Haruka giggled into her palm, as she ‘whispered’ to the person sitting next to her, “Well, I guess he’s not dead after all. Guess we didn’t embarrass him that badly, then.”

The clamor didn’t exactly calm down, but as it started to lull, a girl with curly, gold horn-like hair popped up from her desk, semi-cornering Arven as he came farther into the classroom, the adults busy with their homeroom teacher.

“Arven,” Minnie impressed, eyes gleaming while a girl at a nearby desk leaned over to look, a mildly worried look on her face. “My guy, what have you been up to?”

The girl at the desk nodded, her voice soft. “Are you okay? Like Nemona said…you didn’t open your door, and you were missing for two days…”

“Ellie said you and that guy--who is that??--were, like, trading clothes? Like he’d left clothes at your place; and then you go missing?!”

The conversation wasn’t…exactly that quiet, so from across the room came a whooping, comradely, “ARVEN, MY MAN!!”

Arven, who had gone through the ‘randomly come back to school’ circus a few times now, didn’t respond to anything, knowing better. No one was actually going to give him a chance to say anything until everyone had had their fill telling him what they had heard was going on, everyone talking over each other in their attempts to get their theories in before Arven had a chance to debunk anything.

Though, he had to put a finger in his ear to stop himself from going deaf as Will shouted to him, Arven giving Will a slightly bewildered look the other student waved and grinned at him wolfishly. He knew Will in the same way he knew everyone here, but the guy had never been this excited to see him before. The heck?

Kaito glanced over to check on Arven… ey! See, look at that! Arven was popular! Before looking back to the homeroom teacher. Though, he kept finding himself looking at the teacher’s hair, then at the teacher, then at his hair. “...sorry, what were you saying?”

“I was saying that we’re the general studies class, he really doesn’t need homework from us. Our class is really more about giving students in-class abilities to work on their homework for the later classes anyway, it’d be kind of redundant.”

“Right, right, right… is your hair natural?” Kaito asked.

Professor Jacq gave him a baffled look at that. “...yes.”

New Flora?? Maybe? Kaito peered at the professor, looking for more signs. New Flora were always good to keep tabs on, meant more possibilities for Miyako to learn from them when she got older… though it’d only work if Jacq was the ‘non hivemind’ kind of Flora, as Kaito asked, “Tell me, professor, what are your feelings about, say… being part of a greater… objective? In a general sort of way? Team player?”

Jacq glanced at Mahiru, who shrugged. “Uh…?”

Minnie just nodded, like it was all contributing to her point. “And then the castle is up in arms about something? Who’s that guy you’re with, huh?!”

“Chika, lay off,” Will laughed, dragging Isaac over to Arven too. “Look, we all wanna know the deets, I got it, but let a brother bask, will’ya? Ya get some tail, suddenly school’s lookin’ way less important, yeah?”

Isaac just sighed. “He probably just went camping again…right? I-it’s absurd to skip school just because you got a boyfriend.”

“...hm?” Ungalo blinked, leaning back in his seat. “Wait, Haru, didn’t you and the others say there was some escort trying ta…proposition students on Friday?”

Rikiel gave Arven a haughty look-over. “...really don’t think he’s escort-material. No way.”

“Are you seriously dropping out of school to be a prostitu--”

“Will you 𝕤𝕙𝕦𝕥 𝕦𝕡.”

Almost in sync, all of the students clicked their mouths shut and backed off of Arven, after a moment just…seeming like they lost interest, like always, and went back to their normal conversations.

From the back of the class, Giovanni sighed in annoyance before he put his head back down on his desk, where he had been unmoving up until that point.

Arven felt the flood of rumors wash over him, though, as some of the rumors started more pointedly talking about Doppio, his mouth tightened into a line, shoulders tensing. Though, uh, the rumor that he had left school for a boyfriend wasn’t… entirely inaccurate, though his motives had been more friendly and more, ya know, ‘keep said friend from dying or being captured by the system’ sorta thing, not…

Escort?? Where the hell had that one come from? No, he wasn’t dropping school to be a prostitute–

Something strange happened.

Arven blinked, and the blink felt… slow… not just the blink, but everything. Like his brain was stuttering. It was suddenly hard to think, but… in a really jarring, obvious way. Like he was watching his brain be dipped in molasses, as he tried to blink again, only to realize he was still in the middle of the first blink where he noticed something was wrong.

He felt underwater…

And when he opened his eyes, Amaina was staring at him. Her hair white, her eyes red, and while she could make it appear when she wanted to, her usually invisible mouth opening up with little, pointed teeth, as her eyes seemed to spiral.

OoO I’ve got you little king

And when he blinked again, suddenly everything was normal. But, no one was talking to him. Like everyone had just decided all at once they didn’t feel like asking any more questions… or like they had never started asking at all.

Arven looked around, and he spotted Amaina again. She was standing at a desk, her hair blond, her eyes bright blue, and she was wearing white. It was unusual to see Amaina focus her attention on anyone that wasn’t himself or Doppio, and it made Arven uncomfortable to see it, as he shuffled over to try to subtly shoo her away from Giovanni.

Unfortunately, there was no non-weird way to shoo away a weird-acting fake invisible angel from someone’s desk, so as Arven wiped his hand over the edge of the desk where Amaina was standing, he said, “Uh, hi, Giovanni… could you remind me where my desk is? Ya know… cause I’ve been gone?” Arven awkwardly lied.

Raising his head slightly, Giovanni fixed tired, dull red eyes on Arven, looking more than a little skeptical for a moment…before almost visibly he seemed to decide he didn’t care, pointing over to an empty desk up a row and over one seat.

While he…didn’t really care, he let out a tired hum. “...are you staying? You don’t usually come with an escort.”

…the last time Giovanni had seen Arven was the last time most of their class had--last Friday. Elijah had come to drag him back home, but not before hailing down that pesky class representative…who had been talking to Arven and some other guy. He vaguely recalled thinking the two had a lucky break, his sister saving them from Nemona’s attention.

…he seemed marginally less pissed off. Maybe something good had happened while he was missing.

“Thanks, man,” Arven said, swiping at Amaina more pointedly– she kept making offended bell sounds at him, before gamely letting herself be swept off the desk– before trying to answer. “Actually, I’m taking the upcoming week off. Normally I just would, obviously, but that guy over there,” Arven said, pointing to Kaito, who was still grilling an increasingly confused Jacq, “Decided I needed to talk to the teachers to see how I can ‘keep up’ with the class.”

“Yeah!? Finally!” Nemona said, bouncing behind Arven and throwing her arm around his shoulders, something that might have been friendly if it didn’t also function adequately as a chokehold. “He going to make you do any of the catch up work either!? Because you sure never did the work I ever brought you!”

“Oh, is that what that was?” Arven asked, scratching the inside of his ear, “I did think it was weird you kept trying to drop off your homework on me, Nemona.”

“Sure, sure, pretend like you didn’t understand. Hey! Do you need any tutoring? If you’re taking the week off, I can come by to show you how to do the trickier stuff! We’re already starting hard in the sciences this year, chemical reactions can be tricky.”

“I’m pretty sure Arven has chemistry down already,” Haruka smiled sweetly, looking over, “Doesn’t Arven make drugs in his free time? Is that why they’re finally keeping you at the castle? Caught you?”

“The kind of drugs I make aren’t illegal, and it’s all grown stuff anyway,” Arven said.

“Arven! You are not doing well enough in school to also have a drug problem!” Nemona scolded, “Get better grades, then you can do drugs!”

Giovanni let out a small hum, lethargically sweeping his gaze over to the man Arven indicated. …what an odd guy, if he could make Professor Jacq look that confused. It seemed like pure buffoonery too, the guy just brimming with genuine determination.

Like someone else they knew.

Sighing as Nemona inserted herself into the conversation (if you could call it that) Giovanni lowered his head, intent on, if not falling asleep, then just zoning out for the rest of the period (and hopefully Nemona would be distracted enough with Arven not to bother him) but…

…hm. Arven was a plant guy, wasn’t he.

Putting his chin in his hand, Giovanni gave Arven a considering look. “...you got any recommendations for something that’ll make me forget the laws of reality? Somethin’ to get me absolutely zooted.”

“Psilocybin,” Arven said immediately, “Little round, brown mushrooms, you can find them in the large community gardens.”

You could find them, but Arven suspected Giovanni wouldn’t. He’d more likely just end up eating regular brown mushrooms, which were good for omelets and not a lot else. And if he somehow got lucky, he wouldn’t know how to prepare them without destroying them. The other kids asked him questions like that all the time. He had never heard of any of them managing to actually successfully get high. No one wanted to put in the actual research.

But that didn’t make Nemona’s offended gasp any less pointed, before she turned her gaze on Giovanni. “You are not doing well enough in school to support a drug problem either! How far along are you with the research paper Professor Salvator gave us, huh?”

Arven groaned, as he backed away from them. They had a research paper in their literature class? Boring…maybe he could dodge that– “Arven! We’re visiting your literature class next!” Kaito called from the front.

“Okay, but, seriously… who is that?” Haruka whispered, leaning in as she said, “He’s, uh… pretty handsome. Is he a guard? Those biceps…”

Arven frowned. “Don’t be weird, that’s Prince Kaito, the heir-apparent’s husband.”

“Oh,” Haruka said, “...the heck is he doing here with you?”

Giovanni let out a disappointed sigh. “Mushrooms, huh? Figures…” It was a gamble anyway, trying to find any sort of plant that’d send him to the moon, but, like with weed, he’d just be laughed at before it got confiscated if he tried to collect any sort of mushrooms. That’s what you get when your aunt is a mycologist, he supposed.

Slouching at his desk, Giovanni just scoffed as Nemona turned her attentions onto him, but instead of drawls or groans…he suddenly went quiet. A rare expression, at least in front of his classmates, as his eyes widened a little, looking over at…Prince Kaito, apparently.

And Giovanni slowly slouched more, trying to entirely hide himself behind his desk. Whispering urgently to Arven, “Go, before he comes over here to…whatever, escort you himself!”

Arven gave Giovanni a surprised look. Giovanni didn’t really react strongly to, well, much of anything. Why… oh, “If this is because he’s a Luminary, like, I get it, but… he doesn’t really match the rumors–”

“Oooooh, a Luminary?” Haruka asked, leaning in more now, her eyes sparkling.

“Did you not know that? That’s incredibly common knowledge… actually, that’s more than common knowledge. The treaty? You’d have to go out of your way to not know specifically that,” Nemona said dryly.

“I hear those guys are all for sale… wonder what he’s worth?” Haruka purred.

“Okay, yeah, we’re going,” Arven grumbled uncomfortably– he had heard that specific rumor too, but had felt too awkward to bring it up– as he headed back to Kaito. “Literature?”

“Yep!” Kaito grinned, reaching over to ruffle Arven’s hair fondly– there were a few murmurs around the classroom for this, along with an ‘aww’ from a few of the more impressionable kids– “Want to say goodbye to any of your friends here before we go?”

“No.” Arven said.

“Cold, kid. You’re so well liked here! Well, thank you Professor Jacq,” Kaito said, bowing to the professor– another small series of murmurs– before saying brightly, “I’ll be in touch soon!”

“You… will?” Jacq asked, still no idea why Kaito had seemed so interested in him, before saying, “See you in a week, Arven!”

Arven grunted, following Kaito.

People were deluded if they really thought every Luminary was some sort of escort, but Giovanni wasn’t fighting that battle. Or any battle.

No, he just didn’t want to get pulled into whatever shitshow would happen if the guy who was best friends with his sister’s girlfriend recognized him. While the rest of his family was chomping at the bit to finally meet Maki, Giovanni…didn’t care. He was happy for Elia, of course, but…so what? He didn’t have to do a damn background check on every pretty girl that had somehow agreed on going on a date with his sister.

…and no, he didn’t think this outlook was because he was in the middle of a “major depressive episode”, thanks, Mom.

Ugh…he just hoped that Arven and Prince Kaito wouldn’t end up running into Elijah or Gabriel… Even if it was the middle of the school day, he had a feeling he’d be pulled into that nonsense regardless.

…he hoped Arven was okay with the prince.

“Well, you see, he will need supervision to run this experiment–”

“And I already told you, he’ll have it! We totally have this equipment at the castle, just give me the instructions and my husband Shuichi will supervise.”

“Some of the chemicals are volatile, it really needs to be a supervisor who’s qualified to oversee a mix like this.”

“Ha ha, okay, I see what the issue is, let me explain who my husband is–”

Arven leaned against the wall, watching Kaito negotiate with the latest teacher about bringing work back to the castle for Arven. Apparently they were doing a chemistry lab at the end of the week that the whole week was meant to be build-up for, and Kaito was currently fervently arguing that he could recreate what Arven would need to do the lab at the castle.

Apparently Shuichi was some sort of poison expert? Kaito was arguing that made him qualified to supervise. Arven would more or less prefer not to do the lab at all, but it looked like Kaito was about to win this argument, as the professor sighed and started bringing out papers, showing Kaito what he was talking about.

The bell rang, and all the kids in the class got up to start heading to their next class, as Kaito put the papers into his bag. “He’s gonna do great! He’ll have all the results ready next week, no worries!”

“Just don’t let him touch his eyes,” the professor stressed again.

Kaito and Arven stepped out into the hallway, as Kaito cheerfully said, “That was the last teacher, right? That wasn’t so bad! And it’s not a lot of work either, which is good! Most of the bigger assignments are due next week anyway; if anything, having all this time this week to start working on them is going to get you ahead of everyone else!”

“Oooooor it means I can slack off all week and just hang out with Aceto,” Arven pointed out, “That’s an option too.”

“Sure, sure, sure,” Kaito said distractedly. “The wrong option, but we’ll pretend you have an argument there. I bet Doppio would enjoy doing this lab with you. Could be something to get him interested in the idea of school itself,” Kaito mused. “Who doesn’t love a cool chemistry set?”

The halls weren’t flooded with people, but it was still fairly crowded during passing periods. And perhaps therein laid the initial mistake. It wasn’t like passing periods were spontaneous, the phenomena that it got crowded rare or unobserved. Perhaps it was the fault of the professor, asking for such a thing during students’ free time rather than taking time out of class time, but later, when Gabriel would ponder such a thing, he would come to a conclusion he often did.

Elijah had been too overzealous and impatient again.

Echoing through the hall, a bright voice shouted out, “LOOK OUT!!”

As a dolly filled with textbooks careened down the hall, speeding alarmingly fast as students jumped out of the way…heading right towards Kaito and Arven.

“Oooooh,” Kaito said, almost absentmindedly pushing Arven to the side, safer to the wall as he chuckled a little, “This one’s gonna hurt.”

“Hey, what are you– AH! Kaito!” Arven shouted, covering his face with an honest wince as the dolly just slammed into Kaito’s hips… before blinking as Kaito kept his footing, looking slightly pained at the impact but able to slow the impact by catching the dolly with his hands, the textbooks shifting forward by the gravity of the impact, but just bouncing against his stomach and chest before bouncing back into place. “Are you okay!?”

“Hmm? Oh, yeah.” Kaito grunted, pushing the dolly off himself a little, rubbing his waist with a flinch, before giving Arven a thumbs up. “Hey, what’s the point being this size if I can’t catch stuff like this? Easy peasy… oof. Hey, who lost this?” Kaito called down the hall.

There were two sets of footsteps…well. Not running down the hall. But very quickly speed walking. Or, one set very purposefully speed walking, while the other kept nearly breaking into a run, only to slow and stop at a threatening glance from yellow eyes.

“Are you alright?” a teen--visibly older than Arven--with short, neat plum purple hair, head-to-toe in black asked as he approached, immediately looking Kaito over. “The nurse’s office isn’t far, if you think you require attention.”

“Sorry!! My bad!” another teen chirped, her light brown (even starting to turn blond at the bottom) grown-out bob bouncing even confined with her red headband as she checked over the dolly. “Silly thing got away from me! Wow, that was a nice catch; you didn’t even drop any of the books!”

Still attentive to Kaito, the purple-haired teen scoffed, his voice chastising. “These carts have wheel locks for a reason, Elijah. I’ve told you a thousand times, someone could get--”

“But it’s so much faster…” Elijah sighed wistfully, before finally looking over at Kaito. Her smile going from sheepish to eager, as she squinted at him. “...have we met before?”

“Hey, I’m alright, something like this won’t do a lot more than leave a bruise,” Kaito reassured the purple-haired teen, giving him a bright, reassuring grin, before peering down at the young lady. “...I don’t think so,” Kaito decided, even knowing as he said it that it’d be a fifty-fifty chance he was right, even as he said confidently, “I think I’d definitely remember you. Your hair is amazing! Look at all that fluff! People must compliment you constantly for it! Arven, isn’t her hair amazing?!”

Arven sighed. “Kaito, this is Elijah and Gabriel. Eli, Gabe, this is Prince Kaito. So, with that done, can we go, or…?”

“You know these two!? Awww, Arven, you’re so popular! How do you ever bring yourself to not get excited to come to school when you have this many friends!?” Kaito gawked, beaming at them all, entirely thrilled. He had really thought Arven’s situation at school was much more dire than it apparently was. People were so nice to him here!

“Everyone knows everyone here. We’ve all been going to school together since we were little.” Arven sighed, not seeing what the big deal was.

“Good,” Gabriel nodded in relief, before his eyes narrowed, now glaring down Kaito with annoyance. “Don’t rely on luck next time, just let the cart hit the wall. It’s far better to replace some paneling and paint than to put yourself in harm’s way. You don’t even have wrist braces or chest armor on.”

“Thanks!” Elijah chirped, already tuning Gabriel out. “And hi, Arven! People were saying you’d disappeared again--back to school now?”

Though, both siblings had their attention focused on Kaito as he was introduced. Gabriel glancing between Kaito and Arven, connections forming in his head as his hands twitched, the thin leather of his gloves squeaking quietly as he settled on forming fists.

“Ah…I see. That does seem characteristic of an Ouma… It’s about time that someone interfere in Arven’s situation; practically criminal, leaving it as it was…”

“Hey!” Elijah, suddenly impassioned, leaned towards Kaito. “What’s up with Maki Harukawa?! Even the royal family can’t be that busy that she can’t take an afternoon off! You got a problem with us or something?!”

Kaito gave Gabriel an amused look, before countering, “Better it hits me, the six foot wall of muscle, than risking it hitting some 14-year-old string bean who doesn’t jump away in time, kid. I knew I’d be fine before it hit me.”

“I disappeared for a bit. Now I’m back. Though, I’m disappearing again for a little bit,” Arven said with a small shrug, before jumping a little as Kaito put a hand on his shoulder.

“Disappearing for the last time for a while,” Kaito said, grinning wide, “You can tell everyone that, by the way. Arven’s new middle and last name is gonna be ‘stability’ and ‘consistency’ now! As in, ‘you're consistently going to school now’.”

Arven growled at Kaito a little, before huffing, looking away. That was not a fight he felt like having in front of people.

“Oh, uh, I’m not an Ouma–” Kaito was about to explain, though his train of thought was lost as Elijah suddenly impassioned up at him, Kaito giving her a bewildered look for a minute before asking, “M-maki? What about her… she’s not working right now! Whatever you heard isn’t true!”

That was great to hear! Sure, Elijah didn’t really know Arven personally, just that he was in Giovanni’s grade, was Professor Sada’s son, and had become a habitual truant, among other general things, but…it was good to hear that he was going to continue his education.

Even better that he was finally getting some adult supervision, in Gabriel’s opinion.

“Is that so?” Gabriel said dryly, crossing his arms. “Then she should have no issue not treating her girlfriend as some casual fling.”

Elijah rolled her eyes a little before she smiled back at Kaito. “Look, we trust Big Sis that Maki’s a good person, but we just want to meet her! If she’s not busy, great! Please pass on that we’re waiting on her visit!”

“Also, I’ll look forward to seeing you around more, Arven,” she nodded to him, before beaming brighter. “If you’re doing make-up work, then you probably won’t be doing it alone! I’ve pulled Miss Class President in to back me up, but if you’ve got an idea for your year project, you’re ahead of Gio. Go on and inspire him, will you?”

Kaito’s eyes widened a little, before sputtered, “O-oh! You’re Elia’s siblings? Oh, wow… uh, nice to meet you both! I’ll pass the message along, sorry, Maki’s actually been very busy! It’s my fault, I’ve been asking her for help with stuff, she’s not working, just being a good friend to me! As she always is! Maki’s great! You guys are gonna love her!”

Arven scratched the side of his neck, shrugging, “I’ve picked a project, yeah, but I don’t know what I could do to inspire Gio… Does he have any… pets? My project was inspired by Chief.”

“Well, maybe my Maki can help inspire Gio! She knows a ton of school stuff, I bet she could get him interested in…” Kaito tried to equate Maki’s field of expertise with school stuff, “Physics! Practical physics. Maki knows a lot about using physics in a practical way, I bet Gio could tap her for ideas about that.”

Gabriel’s eyes narrowed. …was Maki Harukawa avoiding them? Obviously he wasn’t naive enough to expect that every woman his sister started seeing would end up marrying her, but something had seemed lighter about Elia lately (barring the obvious outlier, naturally). Happier after every outing she had with the mystery woman.

If his timing was correct, they had been seeing each other for about a month. Still not always a ‘meet the family’ length of time…but they had been seeing each other frequently in that time. To the point he would make an educated guess that, at times, Elia had been seeing Maki more often than the rest of the family. And that certainly seemed like things were serious enough to prompt a meeting.

Elia had met the royal family, including Maki’s son, after all.

…so what was so wrong with them that Maki would be avoiding them?

Put further in a bad mood, Gabriel scoffed. “Giovanni is sure treating his new wisteria like a pet. Likely just as an excuse to hide out in the garden.”

“Mm, I’m not sure if he’d really pick up an agricultural project…but it could be worth a shot!” Elijah decided, before her energy only ramped up turning to Kaito. “Ooh, really?! Oh, that’ll be so exciting to talk about when we finally meet! You know, I’ve been theorizing the concept of ‘propulsion gel’, it would be incredible to get an expert’s thoughts on it!”

Kaito felt like maybe he had accidentally set Maki up, as he wondered what the hell ‘propulsion gel’ was. Whoops.

…….ahhhhh well, that was gonna be her problem. Giving Elijah a thumbs up, he said brightly, “I’m sure she’d be fascinated by it! Totally up her alley!”

“You know, for technically taking today off, we’ve been here two periods now,” Arven said pointedly.

“Yeah, yeah, I hear you, you miss Doppio.” Kaito grinned, reaching over to ruffle Arven’s hair. “Alright, we’ve got your work week, let’s head back. I’ll be sure to pass along the message to Maki, kids! I’m sure she’s really excited to meet you!”

“...sure she is,” Gabriel muttered skeptically, still wondering what exactly was going on…

But his damper was more than counteracted by Elijah’s enthusiasm, as she gave Kaito an energetic wave. “And we’re excited to meet her! And it was nice to meet you too, Prince Kaito! See you around, Arven!”

“...we still need to get these to Professor Tyme.”

“OH SHOOT! Alright, GANGWAY!!!”

Kaito stepped out of the way, watching Elia’s younger siblings hurry off with the same reckless abandon that had probably lost them the dolly in the first place. “...aww,” Kaito grinned, “This has all been making me so nostalgic.”

“What do you mean?” Arven said, raising an eyebrow at him as they turned around, heading down the hall. “Run over a lot of people with dollies in your time?”

“If you count racing on them down the halls as running people down then… yes!” Kaito said brightly, before explaining, “No, I just mean being in high school. It’s a weird time in your life, entirely different from anything you ever do after this. College is also weird, but it’s a different, more personal kind of weird. High school? Just four years of everyone being way too into each other's business, this weird, like, mini-society around you, where you and every single person around you is acting like an idiot because you all are idiots who don’t know how to socialize or be considerate in a real way or even what you want from other people… it’s a lot.”

“You’re making it sound more romantic than it is. It’s just a bunch of losers stuck in a building together,” Arven griped.

Kaito rolled his eyes, before nudging the kid a little. “Look, trust me, okay? You’re not wrong, but you’re not right either. Maybe ‘romanticizing’ is the right word, but I’m not wrong in insisting it’s a unique experience either. Not too many other times in your life where you’ll be around this many different kinds of people, trapped in a building with them and forced to make them your whole community. After high school, you’ll find it easier to pick and choose who you surround yourself with. Which, great! But being able to cater to those preferences also means you’re losing out on experiencing things entirely out of your own comfort bubble. I guess I just think high school’s good because it’s one of the big moments in your life where you get to be uncomfortable in a truly interesting way.”

“...what?” Arven said, “That’s your big ‘high school is good’ argument to me? You get to be uncomfortable? Aren’t you trying to sell this place to me?”

“Ugh… look, that one is gonna make way more sense to you in, like, five or six years, give that one time.” Katio huffed, rolling his eyes. “I’m ‘selling’ you on high school by saying you have to go and you need to give yourself skills and opportunities for your future, how about that as a selling point?”

“You can’t make me go if I don’t want to.”

“No, but I sure as hell am gonna try still. Gonna make going to school way less annoying than me nagging you about it,” Kaito promised, chuckling at the glare he got in turn, “Yeah, yeah, big bad Kaito, nagging people into making better choices for themselves. Where in the hell do I get off.”

“You probably just feel like this because you liked high school,” Arven grumbled.

“Oh, yeah, I loved high school. One of the happiest times of my life,” Kaito admitted. “Got to spend my days with Shuichi and Maki, got to make a big spectacle of myself in front of crowds of bored kids, started dating… well, sort of. I mean, yeah.” Kaito nodded. “Started dating. Not necessarily in high school, at first but… anyway. I liked high school, it was a chance to be around people I like. And, I’ve noticed, LOTS of people like you here! People have been checking in with you everywhere we go! If anything, it’s you who's been a dick to everyone we’ve run into today. What’s up with that?”

“I’m not being a dick to people.” Arven frowned.

“Oh, noooo, don’t tell me you don’t notice you’re being a dick to people.” Kaito groaned, running a hand over his face. “Oh noooooo, I thought you did it on purpose… oof. Okay. We’ll work on that! Yeah, we can work on that… You need to get more involved in group events. Clubs, social things, that sort of thing. Stuff that gets you to talk more to people,” Kaito mused, talking to himself mostly. “Socializing takes practice. Study groups? Study groups could be good…”

“Why do you care about this so much?” Arven finally asked. “We met a week ago. I’m not anyone to you. And I’m not in danger like Doppio is. It makes no sense why you want to get involved like this.”

Kaito frowned, looking over to Arven. “...cause? It’s just… you said when we first met, that you didn’t have any adults in your life.”

“So?” Arven said, “I’ve got by this long without them.”

“Yeah, but you shouldn’t have had to. And, honestly Arven, I don’t think things are going as smoothly for you as you think they are… Look, ultimately, what I was trying to say, Arven, is that you don’t have anyone else doing this. So I can’t just not do it. If you can find another adult to fill this spot, sure, I’ll back off. But I’m not gonna just pretend I don’t notice you struggling with something.” Kaito shrugged. “That’s just the reality of this situation. I’m doing this cause no one else was doing it… except for that one teacher you were telling me about, who I’d like to meet, by the way!”

“I don’t have any of his classes this year.”

“Damn,” Kaito whispered, “Alright, well, I’ll find him later then.”

“Why?” Arven asked.

“Because us connecting is what makes it a support network, Arven,” Kaito explained, patting him on the back. “One person can’t be your everything. Best thing I can do for you is start finding and collecting the people you can rely on, make them more obvious to you. That’s one of my goals for you. Finding the people you can lean on for support and connecting with them!”

“...you’re just a lot,” Arven muttered.

Kaito shrugged. “I know. It’ll work out though. Always does.”

Lake hadn’t been lying or hyping herself up when she’d shown her enthusiasm for doing dishes, and in no time everything in the practice kitchen had been cleaned up (...without a need for putting away leftovers, as Lake had happily taken Doppio up on his offer for her to eat, and while she did, he couldn’t help taking another helping…or two), even with Doppio’s sudden compulsion to mop the whole room as well.

And from that, he had been…a little more willing to engage her. His opinion improved seeing someone’s work ethic, just as it had happened with Arven.

After that, they had stopped by his room so he could get changed (it had been…more of a breath of fresh air than Doppio had anticipated, finally wearing his own clothes again) and then the two of them had gone to the Guards’ Office, claiming his, er…basket. Given his blessing to more properly sort through, the tests definitively showed that his clothes hadn’t been tampered with (though there had been…one comment from the scientist that Doppio could only give a confused and uncomfortable look too, and boss right there be damned Lake had threatened to pummel the pole of a man unless he took it back) and, well…

Now Doppio had his clothes back. …along with something new, he had discovered as he stopped back by his room again to put them away. Tucked inside was…a fluffy pillow in the shape of a cat head. I-it was really nice! But…definitely not something Doppio had ever owned…

But all the same, he’d placed it on one of the beds, a little flustered.

After that, it was laundry time! Which…confused more than a few people in the laundry room, and a few people had been about half-way through explaining to Doppio the castle laundry rotations before Waku had cut in, inviting Doppio over to an empty basin, and pointing out where all the soaps and scrubbers were. All for the payment of him suffering through blushes as she commented on Kaito’s clothes and Arven’s clothes along with his own, though, mercifully, she didn’t comment on certain other things.

As his things set to dry--Waku promising to send them up herself, so he didn’t need to wait around for them himself--it was…a couple hours later, and Doppio was starting to get a little indecisive and anxious, thinking about when Arven would be back, and how CPS knocking on Boss’s door was going…

So Lake had suggested they work on that shopping list together, and soon enough they were back at the market, Doppio seeming much more in his element as he selected for only the top-notch produce.

…though, now, he secretly had the opinion that Arven would probably be able to find even better stuff.

“Alright, so, one quick trip to the pastry shop to get you a reward for a hard morning’s work, and also a quick pick up of apology gifts to my husbands for being missing all morning–” Kaito explained to a bored Arven as they headed down the market, before he peered down the marketplace, “...oh. Huh! Hey! Lake! Arven, check it out, look who we ran into?”

Arven looked up from where he had been sulkily watching his feet, before lighting up. Smiling as he realized, “Oh. Aceto!”

“Oh? Hey, guys!” Lake waved enthusiastically, while Doppio looked up, blinking owlishly for a moment as he processed what was happening. But the moment he recognized Arven? Doppio lit up, beaming as a light pink blush dusted over his freckles, and it wasn’t long before Doppio and Lake were walking over.

Carrying bags of groceries as he was, Doppio couldn’t really… Well…he wasn’t sure, uh, what that impulse even was? Just…that he was aware his hands were full and, uh…

Lake clapped Arven on the shoulder, giving it a friendly squeeze as she gave Kaito’s back a slap. “Fancy seeing you two here! How’d school go, didn’t give ya a hard time, did they?”

“Hi,” Doppio said softly, just to Arven, looking at him fondly and…honestly with a little embarrassment realizing just how much he’d missed him that morning. “Uh…shopping?”

“Sort of,” Arven said, only having eyes for Doppio… though he glanced at Lake as she clasped him, answering her. “Oh, no, not really. I mean, chemistry class got into kind of an argument with him, but–”

“Pfff, like we can’t do his labs at the castle! Honestly, they probably already do half their labs there, we’re more than capable of making sure the kid doesn’t blind himself.” Kaito huffed, before almost mindlessly reaching over and taking the grocery bags out of Doppio’s hands. “You’re bringing these back to the castle, right? I’ve got them. You guys still shopping? I was just talking to Arven about making a pastry run. You in?” he asked Lake.

“I’m surprised there wasn’t more,” Doppio mumbled, though he looked pleased as he shuffled closer to Arven. “Feel like there’d be something of a vested interest in actually having some purpose in students going to school…”

“Eh, sorta!” Lake chuckled, watching Doppio briefly struggle with wanting to insist he could carry his bags himself (she had already made a solid argument to carry a couple), but realizing this freed his hands up for handholding. “There is some stuff you can only experience actually in school, but they wanna make sure they can accommodate for every student’s situation, you know? Like it’d be pretty awful if some student with a chronic illness had to repeat years just ‘cause they couldn’t always make it to class.”

That said, she raised an eyebrow at Kaito. “...you gonna ask Shumai to proctor his labs?”

Periodically glancing down at Arven’s hand, Doppio hummed lowly. “...what kind of pastries are you thinking about getting?”

“I am~” Kaito nodded, adjusting the bags in his hands to all fit on one arm, before sloooowly and deliberately starting to grab at the ones Lake was holding. Give ‘em… give ‘eeeeeem. “Shuichi’s got more than enough practical experience handling dangerous chemicals. He has an entire poison testing kit he keeps in our closet! He’ll do fine helping Arven with his school work.”

“I didn’t have anything in particular in mind,” Arven admitted, linking his pinky playfully with Doppio’s. “I could be in the mood for something with strawberry filling though, I think. You want to get something?”

Giving Kaito an amused look, Lake subtly let him take the bags she was holding…just to, just as sneakily, take the bags he’d taken from Doppio in his other hand. Not today, Kaito! You’re gonna share that load if it kills ya! “I believe it! Like, ‘course I’ve learned how to give emergency care to chemical burns and all that, but, ha, I’d trust his eyes better to get someone through a whole experiment. Prolly will better keep ‘Ven on course to actually getting a useful result!”

Smiling and linking his pinky back, Doppio shrugged, having some…thoughts about it. Thinking about all the pastries that, now, there was really nothing holding him back from making… But that was a bit much, wasn’t it? It wasn’t like he’d never gotten street food, or had never eaten at a restaurant while he was cooking full time, and he genuinely enjoyed getting to try other people’s work. And…well…even with three servings of breakfast, getting a little something…and maybe a drink too sounded good.

“I wouldn’t mind,” Doppio decided on. “I really only have cooking spirits left to get, so, uh…i-if you wanted, it wouldn’t take long before we’re headed back to the castle?”

Arven laughed, “Only if you don’t throw the coin at them and run.”

Kaito triumphantly took Lake’s groceries, before… what!? How did… ooooh, sneaky. He’d get those groceries, just you wait… “Alright, Doppio, you probably know what you want already! Lead the way!” Kaito said.

As the two adults followed the boys, Kaito whispered to Lake, “I’m going to assume the answer is ‘no’, but were there any incidents?”

Flushing, Doppio rubbed his face in embarrassment before starting to lead the way, grumbling incoherently about miscommunications and customer service…though he made sure not to stray enough to break his link with Arven.

Lake shook her head a little, though she gave Kaito a contemplative look. “...there was a gift--that’s my best guess for it--along with his clothes. One of those cute animal pillows that’ve been popular lately. Kid didn’t seem to recognize it, so that’s why I think it’s a gift from the person who brought in his clothes…” She smirked, a little befuddled still. “...seems like Doppio’s got a guardian angel out there, somewhere.”

“Huh…” Kaito said, “A little animal pillow… that’s cute…”

“...” Kaito gave Lake an uncomfortable look. “Am I being paranoid, worrying it’s, like… not cute? You… you know what I mean, right? People get… weird. With kids who don’t have anyone looking out for them…”

“...... but we’re looking out for him, so, so… this would be a really weird time to suddenly pull, like, weeeeeeird stalkery flirting techniques out of the woodwork. Arguably the worst possible time! So, it’s probably… not that.” Kaito frowned, brow furrowed. “It could just be someone genuinely trying to look out for him… but who? Who would know… one of the guards? I really don’t think it was any of my guys, could it have been one of yours, Lake?”

Again, Lake shook her head, though this time her expression was more serious. “It’s not just you, Kai-guy. And not just me either--Doppio seemed kind of weirded out, but…there wasn’t anything that you could really call a red flag, yanno? Other than the pillow, there was literally only a note with his name on it on the basket, as how it was delivered. No indication of who left it, or any sort of persuasion or anything…”

“He decided to keep it, it seems, and I can’t see a reason to warn him off it…” She shrugged, before smirking a little, glancing at the kids to make sure they were still wrapped up in each other. “I didn’t want to put the idea in his head, and he didn’t mention it himself, but…I don’t want him to get embarrassed having something like a stuffed animal, yanno? Even if he’s an older teen, shit can just be comforting, and if it was just a well-meaning present? Then I’m happy for him to utilize it.”

She sighed, drumming her fingers on the underside of the bag straps. “No one’s said anything, and if any of them were the type to pull something like this, they wouldn’t be a guard. Sure, we’d all like to see kids doin’ well, but if someone was gonna take a vested interest…well, look at me. Bein’ obvious about it is the way to go, huh? And not trying to…yanno, be creepy about it.”

Her brow furrowed a little. “...y’all had met Waku before, yeah? She was familiar when she helped him learn the ropes of the laundry room today…but something like this really isn’t her style…”

Kaito shook his head. “No, Waku wouldn’t do this. I don’t think she’d have the constitution for breaking into someone’s house, honestly. She’s like us; when she decides to help, she just goes to the person and offers help… weh… I miss Waku,” Kaito realized, groaning a little. “I mean, I just hung out with her not even, I don’t know, two weeks ago, and I see her all the time around the castle, but… Wakuuuuuu. I miss youuuuuu… WAKU IS THE BEST!”

“Why are you shouting!?” Arven said, looking over his shoulder at Kaito, looking embarrassed on his behalf, “We’re at the market!”

“Sorry, I just wanted people to know in case they didn’t.” Kaito sniffled, before laughing, “Sorry, sorry, I’ll stop shouting, I promise.”

Arven huffed, before taking Doppio’s hand fully, going back to whispering to him as they walked ahead. Kaito watched them go fondly, before saying, “I want Arven to have a Waku so badly. You should have seen him at school, Lake, everyone likes this kid! Everyone wanted to chat with him! And he gave all of them the cold shoulder. Made me want to throttle him. He’d be swimming in friends if he would just let them in.”

Lake chuckled, enjoying Kaito’s enthusiasm. “Well, you’ve got that fancy new planner, don’t’cha? This past week might’ve not been great for hangin’ out with folks, but you can plan your social time in! No time like the present to make good on your dreams!”

Doppio looked back as Arven did, giving the adults a similarly embarrassed and pleading look before he huffed. Mumbling to Arven that…yeah, his claim that Kaito was only like this while drunk might’ve been preemptive…

“Aw, really?” Lake laughed more softly, looking delighted to hear that Arven was popular at school…before…well. Something occurred to her. And while she didn’t think Kaito was an idiot or nothin’... She gave a more concerned glance over to Arven.

“...did they wanna chat with him ‘cause he’s hot new gossip, or…did you get the feelin’ they were actually friends?” Giving Kaito a sort of kind look, like she was giving him the benefit of the doubt, Lake half-shrugged. “I agree with ya that makin’ friends takes effort on both sides, but… Kids can be brutal, man. From a certain perspective, bullyin’ can look a lot like an overzealous friend.”

Kaito opened his mouth to answer her, and then flinched. Closing it as he looked away.

“...mmm.” Kaito hummed, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand, before laughing sheepishly. “...the answer probably isn’t supposed to be ‘that’s half of how you make friends’, huh.”

Lake laughed softly before nudging him with her elbow. “Sorry, sorry, foot in mouth syndrome again. You hasslin’ some introverts into openin’ up…well, maybe some folks could make some sorta argument for harassment, but that’s not what I mean. You mean well, Kai-guy, and you genuinely wanna be friends. That’s half ‘a how you make friends.”

“No, I mean…” She sighed quietly. “...folks who do that, but who aren’t lookin’ to make friends…you know? People who ask a lotta questions about what’s goin’ on, seemin’ invested, but it’s only ‘cause they’re interested in gossip. Or they think it’s funny, or they’re morbidly curious, when there’s a lot goin’ on in your life and you’re overwhelmed. Folks who press ya, but won’t stick around to offer support when ya fall over…you know?”

“...yeah. I do know,” Kaito said softly back, “That’s the other half.”

Though, not wanting to make her think she had done something wrong, Kaito grinned softly at her. “Hey, look, you’re not putting your foot in anywhere. I think this is just an example of, like… different life experiences. And honestly, you’re probably more right about what’s happening with Arven then I am. But, like… I was a Momota Prince! People approached me because I was a spectacle. Gossip, morbid curiosity, funny, opportunity… the works. Where I came from? That was just how it was. It’s not like here, where the royal family are just ‘some guys’. Our whole social life was spectacle.”

“And you take advantage of that! Make it work! Sure, most of the people you talk to are going to be worthless, but you sort through all the noise and chaos and find in it the gems.” Kaito grinned… before frowning. “Or, well, maybe not, actually. Shuichi and Maki were the closest people in my life, and they weren’t attracted to the spectacle. Ran from it. My introverts that I hassled, ya know? Hmmm…”

Kaito hummed, rubbing the back of his neck… before rolling his eyes. “Well, spectacle friendships make it easier to get laid, I’ll tell you what. Arven might not be making friends easy in that group, but if he wanted to, he could absolutely be a stud… not that he should be. I don’t think he’d make a very good person to sleep around with people like that, it’s emotionally pretty taxing.” Kaito shrugged. “Okay, now that I’ve thought aloud about it, I think I see what you mean. Arven needs real friendships, not just people who enjoy gawking at him. Got it… but other than stalking people you get a good gut impulse about and making yourself big and loud and approachable from a spectacle level, I’m not sure how else to encourage him to get friends. Because I do think he needs a new set of friends. He said all of his old friend group left high school already, and honestly, he sounds like he misses them when he mentions it.”

…ah.

Well, it was probably just as Kaito said--a cultural and life difference. If Kaito had found good friends and had a good time in those circumstances, then Lake was happy for it!

She’d just talked to enough people, along with her own experience, to know that quite a lot of people, at least, in Usott had loathed that kind of treatment. No one had wanted to be the laughingstock of a grade. Even for those who craved attention, it had been…demeaning, and exhausting, to only be looked at when people wanted a show, and not have people actually care about the real person you were.

Lake had thought she had a pretty good time in school! But looking back, it…had made more sense, her anger issues and the struggles she’d had making true friends, when most of the time people only talked to her to provoke her into being ‘Loud-mouth Lake’, or to make jokes about not angering her, unless you wanted to be murdered. She’d laughed along with the jokes and had enjoyed people inviting her into things but…

Well, looking back, it wasn’t surprising how well she and Nazumi had hit it off when one of their first conversations had been Nazumi asking what kind of nail polish she used, and if she would mind showing her one day while she was on probation. When Nazumi had just…treated her like a person.

She supposed it made a difference too, if you already had some true friends. Then the spectacle-seekers would just seem like background noise.

“I gotta say, ouch, callin’ people you wanna make friends with ‘worthless’,” Lake chuckled, “But I guess that’s part of the difference.”

Humming as she thought, Lake just…watched the boys for a bit. “Well, it ain’t like his old friends disappeared when they stopped going to school--could always send a letter out. But…otherwise? Just findin’ people with similar hobbies or interests is pretty standard advice. If he goes to school more consistently, joinin’ a club might do him favors, meetin’ folks in other grades, or even from other schools, dependin’, if his classmates aren’t workin’ with him. Or findin’ some club or workshop or social group elsewhere. Hell, even just takin’ Chief out to a dog park or somethin’ might bring him to connect with some fellow animal-lovers.”

Lake shrugged, glancing at Kaito. “Everywhere you look there are potential friends. The hard part is just being willin’ to put yourself out there and start up a conversation. Bein’ brave enough to try again if all you get the first time is a pleasant, brief talk. Friendship takes effort on both sides…but if you’re looking for friends, ya can’t just bank on someone else lookin’ at the same time and acting first. Ya gotta try.”

“Yeah! Exactly!” Kaito grinned, pumping his fist, “It can’t just be Arven slinking off into the woods with just him and Chief all the time. Or, well, with him, Chief, and Doppio now. We gotta convince him to join more social settings! Like… group slinking off into the woods! That’s a thing! I am certain that very specifically is a thing.” Kaito chuckled.

“Though, for now? The main thing I’m focusing on is finding adults in his life and making them more aware of what he needs,” Kaito admitted, before looking fondly at Lake. “Sorry to tell you this, but I’m pulling you into that dynamic. You’re officially ‘the guard that knows Arven’s parents are…’”

Kaito blinked, before realizing, “Wait. Have we talked about this? Arven’s parent situation?”

“Oh yeah it is,” Lake chuckled, shaking her head. You could make all the safety advisories in the world, but would that keep people from trapezing off into the woods without a care? Not a chance in a million, bud! Given his interests, Lake had a bit more faith in Arven than…a lot of folks, not to stumble into a bear or try to feed coyotes thinking they were dogs, but…still! It was good to have safety measures and accountability!

“Oh, buddy, I’m in this dynamic whether you want me to be or not,” Lake huffed, nudging Kaito’s shoulder, though she gave him a slightly less impressed look. “Yanno, I’ve been meanin’ to ask about it, but I wasn’t sure you knew either. I’ve pieced together some, but…”

She looked up at the boys, frowning slightly in worry. “...Arven’s ma ain’t just takin’ a week off to go to the nearest canyon or somethin’, is she.”

Kaito glanced at the boys up ahead– still in their own little teenage lovey-dovey world. Cute– before shaking his head at her. “Way he’s talked about it to me? And he was really blatant about it, there wasn’t anything subtle in it. But according to what he said to me, his mom’s been gone for, like… actual years.”

Leaning in, whispering, he continued, “She barely writes. She doesn’t even pay the bills. He’s been paying for everything with that basic income thing we get. She just uses the place as, like, a storage place for things she excavates, like a warehouse… and I think that includes her own kid.”

“And on top of that?” Kaito said, fretting a little now, “He took a whole year off school, Lake. And as far as I understand it? No one had any idea where he was. That was last year, so he was 14 and just backpacking across the country by himself. Which, sure, cool and quirky if your guardians have okayed it and made sure you had safety checkpoints and checked in and had a safety net. Less fun if it’s just a kid trying to solve a problem by himself with literally no one he felt okay turning to for help. He’s got this, like, compulsive need to prove how independent he is, and I think honestly it’s just because of how badly his mom let him down… When I was first looking at Doppio and Arven? As, like, ‘how do I help them’? It was Arven that I was originally most worried about. His situation is fucked… but, you know. Doppio’s situation suddenly went from ‘weird relationship with work’ to ‘people are trying to kill him’, so…”

Kaito sighed. “They both have a lot going on, is what I’m saying. Just because Doppio’s went into crisis territory fast, doesn’t mean I’m not still worried about Arven.”

Lake’s eyes widened, even her scarred one fully open just from the force of her shock. Arven’s mom had been gone for…years? The instance she’d heard about years ago just…still the same trip? No…family surrogate, or nanny service, or even regular check-ins from…anyone? …not even paying the bills?!

That was straight up child abandonment. No grey area at all. If Professor Sada had dropped off the damn earth… Lake was no science junkie, sure, but…she was pretty sure the professor had still been publishing papers in the last few years, so it wasn’t like…like she’d died on some expedition, and no one had bothered to inform her son! Or the government!

Arven had just been…

Lake puffed up, her expression set in protective determination. “...well, CPS is already planning on talking with him. And…that’s the most we could do for now, beyond just supportin’ him as we are. Until they decide to officially designate him as a guardianless minor…we gotta wait.”

“...fuck,” she whispered, impassioned, closing her eyes in frustration for a moment.

“No we don’t?” Kaito said, giving her a curious look at that, before grinning at her. “We’re already doing way more than waiting, Lake. I mean, look.”

Kaito gestured in front of him. They were waiting outside of the cooking store, where Doppio was trying to buy more spirits from an older woman who was giving him a bit of a stink eye as Arven did his best to explain the past situation. Arven grinned as the woman sighed, before nodding, bringing out some bottles to show them. Arven leaned into Doppio, nudging his shoulder before beaming at him, Doppio smiling back at him, before the two quickly snuck a kiss while her back was turned… before both started flushing and giggling when she turned back. Flustered at their own boldness as she gave the two giggling teens a bewildered look.

“Not even a few days ago, even if those two had gotten to this point on their own, both of them would be going home to either an empty home or a dangerous one,” Kaito whispered, “And it’s not easy now, I won’t claim that… but at least today? They’re both ending the day eating pastries and making whatever they’re planning to cook and hanging out somewhere safe and friendly and warm… and we’re gonna do our damndest to make that the new normal for them.”

“That’s way more than waiting, Lake,” Kaito whispered, “You can accuse us of a lot. But we’re not waiting.”

Lake watched fondly, snorting at bit at the boys’ antics (though she’d probably step in in a moment, giving the proprietor a proper adult’s ID and vouch of supervision to make the purchase of alcohol [even for cooking] an above board transaction) as they smooched, probably forgetting that the woman’s eyes weren’t the only set on them.

Kaito’s point was a good one. Arven and Doppio may not be that happy about their lives being turned upside down, but the changes were undoubtedly good ones, Lake felt confident in saying. They were safe, they were looked after, they still had the freedom to express themselves and explore new things…

Still, she lightly kicked Kaito’s shin. “Fancy words, Kai-guy, but I recall I did say, ‘beyond just supporting him as we are’. We gotta wait for bureaucracy to give us the go for, for example, gettin’ Arven his tax refund, or buggin’ adoption agencies to get goin’ findin’ ‘em good folks, or throwin’ around that weight of bein’ their temporary legal guardians to get these damn kiddos a therapist. But everything else? Hell yeah, we’re kicked into gear.”

…and speaking of those things… Lake stared at Doppio’s light, focused look as he examined cooking wines.

“...you still gonna try an’ convince him to see a healer today?”

“Hey man, let me make my fancy speeches, it’s literally my super power these days.” Kaito grinned, before following her gaze. “Ugh, yeah. That’s gonna be a whole damn battle, let me tell you. Hopefully he’s in a good enough mood today that I’ll only have to beg, rather than actually get angry. I don’t want to have an actual argument with him about it, but fuck, the kid was practically dying the last time I managed to drag him to one, and I think that’s the only reason I succeeded.”

“But, he needs it again.” Kaito sighed, closing his eyes and rubbing his temple a little. “Even if the only thing I was worried about was wanting Seiko to check on his chest again, just to make sure he’s still good. I just want to make sure he’s good in general, especially since the fall. Why, did you have something in specific in mind?”

Lake snorted softly. “Sorry to dash any hopes, but I got nothin’. It’s been on the back of my mind all day, while we were hangin’ out but…I just dunno. Kid hates bein’ treated like he can’t do things, even if it’s just someone offerin’ to do their own job, and he always looks surprised when someone offers help. But I still have no idea how to even begin tryin’ to convince him to see a healer. Not without half-way gaslightin’ him into thinkin’ his damn body’s gonna fall apart if he doesn’t get medical help.”

“...still ain’t the best, but…” Lake gave Kaito a doubtful shrug. “...think we could ask Arven to convince him? Dippin’ Dots has a soft spot a mile wide for ‘im, and gettin’ healthy for your loved ones is a pretty convincing reason.”

Kaito hesitated. “...yeah. That could work… but…”

Kaito bit the inside of his cheek, brow furrowed… before leaning into Lake and whispering, “I’m really trying to avoid that with Arven. I mean, maybe just asking Arven to talk Doppio into going to a healer isn’t itself what I’m worried about, but it’s tough being the person in the relationship who’s, like… in charge of the health stuff. I don’t know… I might be being overly sensitive about it.” Kaito admitted, his face getting a little grim, “I spent my first night married to Kokichi making sure he took his medicine every three hours… and Kokichi spent it terrified I was gonna randomly take up a sword and go cut Aiichi down. Me trying to manage his illness and him trying to manage my fucking temper…”

Kaito closed his eyes, putting his hand on his forehead, feeling it shake with the memory. Take a breath… take another breath… keep breathing…

After a moment, Kaito felt the shaky adrenaline die down, Kaito letting his hand drop as his heart rate slowed down, looking a little exhausted. “...sorry, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Yeah! Yeah, maybe we should,” Kaito cleared his throat, shaking his head, “we should ask Arven to talk to him. That’s not the same thing. I’m just projecting shit again. I’m really sorry. I swear, I’m gonna stop just fucking dumping things on you Lake, I’m really sorry I’ve been doing that for the last few days, I can’t fucking stop talking to people about shit, I’m really sorry.”

It was a reasonable worry. While the boys might gripe about it, genuinely the last thing they needed were more responsibilities, especially ones that were about the well-being of each other. More than just the normal responsibilities that came with respecting and supporting another person’s emotions while in a relationship…

It was why Lake was hesitant to suggest it. However, advice from a trusted peer did carry more weight than demands from busybodies…

But, uh…

Lake looked over at Kaito. Transferring Doppio’s groceries into her other hand, she reached over, giving Kaito a bracing squeeze of a hug. “I can handle it, man, though I appreciate the apology. …we do have a responsibility to consider the boys, but…you holdin’ up alright? It’s been a lot, and for all we’ve been discussin’ it, your own social network is important too. Therapy too… Seriously, you got a session comin’ up? If you feel like you’re burstin’ and talkin’ to anyone who’ll listen, that’s a pretty big sign you could do with some concentrated support, Kaito.”

“We’ve got one coming, yeah, though I keep meaning to reach out to Miss Crystal about all of this. My brain’s been doing this, like… thing,” Kaito murmured into Lake’s hug, before letting himself rest against her a little, closing his eyes. “Sorry. Everything with the boys lately has been making me think about stuff, and like, you have any memories that make you feel, like, ‘shaky’ just kinda thinking about them… that’s, like… the only sort of thing I can think about lately.”

Laughing sheepishly, Kaito admitted, “I think spending time away from my husbands has been making it harder not to think of the bad times. Being with them isn’t always easy, but they make me happy, ya know? And I love being busy! I love helping! But man…” Kaito sighed, letting out a breath. “...it’s not even a new thing, honestly. I’ve been emotion-dumping on anyone who will listen to me, like, all year, honestly. I wish I’d stop. It’s not fair on everyone, that I can’t get this under control.”

“Yeah,” Lake sighed. “Yeah, I know what you’re talking about.” It wasn’t so much a rule in the Guardforce, since it was hard to standardize that sort of thing, but…well, it became a lot harder to do things when you ended up in a situation that reminded you of your personal trauma. No one thought it was odd if Lake requested to not be put on any filicide cases. She was duty bound to help every Dicean! But she was far from the only guard, and she counted as one of ‘every Dicean’.

She didn’t think anyone would blame Kaito for letting others take over, taking care of Arven and Doppio from this point either…but she also knew he was too attached and stubborn to step away. Even for his own health. And while she could warn him, she couldn’t make him step away until…well, in a sense, it was too late. The damage apparent and visible, rather than just…draining in quiet moments.

“...the boys have more people lookin’ after them, Kai-guy,” Lake said softly, rubbing his arm. Laughing softly as she pointed out, “I know they’re already kind of annoyed with how much we’re insistin’ on following them around. They’ll be okay if you want to spend more time with your family. You won’t be abandoning them, promise.”

“...and it’s not every folk on the street’s job to be your therapist…but it’s not your fault for needin’ help either. For needing someone to reach out to…and I mean that as multiple someones, ‘cause we all need multiple someones. If it feels out of control to you, it just means your needs aren’t bein’ met.” She huffed a small laugh, swaying his body gently. “Sounds a bit redundant to say after sayin’ all that, but…talk to your therapists about it. Your family. Your friends. Ask for help. We already love you, man, that’s what we’re here for. You’d do the same for us. And if someone says they can’t handle it at one point…well, then lucky you, you have so many people that love you. Go to ‘em.”

Kaito relaxed, listening to her. Nodding and, okay, yeah, the swaying was nice… before gently pulling himself out of her hug, giving her a grateful look. “Yeah, you’re right. Thank you, Lake. I think that’s why I got so caught up shouting about Waku earlier too. I think I’ve been a little overwhelmed. A-another reason to make sure the boys have a support network! Because, man… I am not emotionally stable enough to do this by myself,” Kaito admitted, glancing warily at the boys… before realizing, “Oh, they might be waiting on us, actually. I don’t think they can buy those on their own.”

Stepping back from her, Kaito gave Lake another grateful look. “Thanks for being patient with me. I, uh, I’ve been told I do this thing where I keep doing things until all at once I can’t. All or nothing, sort of thing. I never really see the wall coming, not really, but if I’m getting all weepy and whiny with just whoever’s around to hear it, probably means I’m running into that wall. Phew… alright. Alright… but I can keep it together for today. Getting Doppio to a healer, that can’t wait. We’ll… How about when we talk to Doppio, we just make sure Arven is a part of the conversation. Arven cares about Doppio, I bet he’d encourage him to see a healer if we were all talking about it just naturally.”

“Oop, haha! Yeah, that might be our cue!”

As he stepped back, Lake gave Kaito a wink and a thumbs up, beaming at him. “It’s my pleasure, Kai-guy--what’s family for? It’s the little secret for us invincible folk--that we’re not. It’s just a learning curve to find out what best keeps that illusion. It turns out! Being supported by our loved ones is a damn effective way.”

Giving him a nod, agreeing to talk about Doppio’s visit as a group, she strode into the store, loudly greeting the keep and pulling out her ID, and, ah, of course ma’am!! Gonna keep an eye on these knuckleheads, don’t you worry! Dippin’ Dots is actually an incredible cook, why, he made a full course breakfast that morning, always wanna encourage young folk to pursue their passions--safely! Not ruining their livers, nope, gonna definitely keep this liquor in a cabinet and cook all the content off (???sure? She guessed?) and, aw, that’s sweet of ya, turnin’ 34 this year, ma’am! Yupp! Gotta--

…whenever they’d have it, their talk about Doppio’s healer’s visit would at least not happen for a good…15, 20…minutes more.

The magical community relied on secrecy to protect itself. To maintain a place in greater society. And…for the most part, it worked out quite well. Yes, they needed to create their own agencies for certain social services, sure, they needed to have people keep jobs in certain fields to make certain lies easier to maintain, but it worked out.

But it did propose a certain issue, when someone wasn’t born into the community.

And that was what Nell had been struggling with, since she had heard about Aceto Doppio being taken into royal custody. He wasn’t human, that much was obvious for all of her questions, but…did…Kaito know that? Had Maki known that? Aiichi certainly did not…

But if they took Aceto to a human doctor… But she couldn’t just say outright…

When Lake, Kaito, Doppio, and Arven returned to the castle, they’d be given a message, one of the guards passing it along. Dr. Pacuvius had prepared an examination room, whenever Doppio was ready to have his health assessment.

“Really?” Kaito asked, surprised at that. Getting the message confirmed before the guard headed off, rubbing the back of his neck in confusion as they left. “Huh… well…” Looking back at the group, he grinned brightly. “That’s great! Nell, as in Dr. Pacuvius, is another really great healer, Doppio! She’s looked after Kokichi most of his life, she’s fantastic! And he was also a squeamish patient, so she totally knows how to be sensitive about nerves… right, Lake? I’m sure you’ve seen Dr. Pacuvius before too.”

“Quite a bit!” Lake laughed, the sound booming in the entrance hall. “Dr. P’s one of the old castle guard, been here forever, well, forever as you two’d define it, and for good reason! She’s brilliant and with a damn good bedside manner, whether you need a kick in the pants or a hand to hold. She’ll take great care of ya, Dippin’ Dots!”

Doppio’s expression hadn’t changed much since the guard passed on the message--stony and pale as he eyed Kaito and Lake warily. His heart suddenly feeling like it was beating far too fast. “...I’m not going. I feel fine, and…a-and even if CPS needs an age… They’d be just guessing anyway! S-so I don’t need to see a healer for that.”

“Right, right,” Kaito said carefully, “But, Doppio, you remember that whole… being on a ventilator thing? That happened, oh, I don’t know… five days ago? After which you decided to sleep outside a lot and do a lot of running around, instead of those three days of rest you were supposed to do? I think it’d be wise to make sure none of that had hurt your chest, kid. Not to mention after that big fall.”

Arven frowned. “If Doppio says he’s feeling fine, then he’s feeling fi–”

“Not to mention,” Kaito said, glancing at Arven, “You want to be there to advocate what age you’d like to be recognized as, right, Doppio?” Kaito looked back to Doppio. “If it’s really just gonna be a guess? You don’t want to leave it entirely in their hands, right? The best way to get recognized as 15 is by going in there and telling them you’re 15, Doppio.”

…he had been told explicitly to rest, he remembered that much. And…well…his notebook mentioned medication, but…Doppio couldn’t remember that part at all, including, er…taking any medication. B-but he was okay! So it was fine! And he didn’t…

He could feel himself starting to sweat, as he glowered at Kaito. The hand not in Arven’s trembling slightly. “...they…can’t declare something if a healer’s never seen me…” he mumbled, feeling like…that had to be right, right? “I-if I just say…”

What if the agency just put down something, no healer consulting at all? Well, it’d make this whole conversation null anyway, and, well, he wasn’t not used to just going along with the whims of others…

What if they say you’re 11 to keep you in the system longer like Kaito said because you’re stupid and broken and can’t take care of anyone else and that’d be horrible for dating Arven even if you both knew better but--

“Hey, bud?” Lake said soothingly, gently squeezing Doppio’s shoulder as he visibly started spiraling. “You don’t have to get everything done today, you know. If you say you’re feelin’ okay, then there’s no rush. Try it out, and if you want out, then stop for the day. Gotta get answers one way or another, but they don’t all have to be today.”

Doppio made a soft, stressed sound.

Kaito gave Lake a wary look. He understood why she was going that path, but they really should push for him to get at the very least the chest stuff looked at. It was the bit Kaito was actually worried about.

Glancing at Arven, Kaito decided to maybe try leaning that direction. Though, how to do it that didn’t make Doppio’s health Arven’s responsibility… “Arven, actually, can I ask you… when’s the last time you got a health checkup?”

Arven raised an eyebrow. “Huh?”

“I just mean in general,” Kaito said. “You were traveling all of last year, so you’d miss any checkups they may have done in school. Have you been independently? My family doctor used to see us once every six months just as a rule, back in Luminary, so maybe this is just a culture difference or even a class difference, but I can’t help but think it’s important you get a checkup too if you haven’t in a long time.”

“But I’m not really feeling bad either.” Arven frowned.

Kaito shrugged. “You don’t have to actually feel like there’s anything wrong. That’s why it’s a checkup. And sometimes you don’t notice something’s wrong until an expert’s looked at it. Last time I got a checkup? It was literally because I was pushing Kokichi to get something looked at, and the healer made me get looked at at the same time cause Kokichi asked them to. Same situation as this, really, just people wanting to look after each other. And it turns out that I had some old scars that were still a little inflamed that I needed to take care of. Put some ointment on them, they’re all smoothed out now. Had no idea they hadn’t completely healed. Any old injuries you got traveling that have healed but were never looked at?”

Arven frowned, before tellingly, glancing down at his feet. “...”

Kaito grinned sympathetically at him. “You two could go together? Keep each other company while you get checked on?”

Ooh, Kaito, you sly dog!

“Yupp!” Lake nodded, giving a fist pump. “Makes it all go by faster with a buddy! In the Force, we’re all required to get routine check-ups every three months, actually, though I end up seein’ docs more often anyway. Even if I don’t feel like there’s anything wrong, it’s a nice relief to have it confirmed. And if it turns out there is, then BAM! I’m in the perfect place to get it fixed, and I don’t have to worry about endangering anyone else. Just a good idea to keep up to date with your health, really!”

Doppio glanced over, giving Arven…honestly a kind of scared look. As in, being scared for Arven. He hadn’t meant to drag Arven into this too…just like the CPS stuff…

“I-I can go on my own!” Doppio suddenly declared, still pale and sweaty and eyes just a little too wide. “Don’t, don’t need anyone else to come!”

Arven gave Doppio an equally concerned look, though his concern was over how concerned Doppio looked, as he squeezed Doppio’s hand reassuringly. “Hey, no, I don’t actually mind… and, uh. Well…”

Arven winced, before admitting, “... I lost feeling in my pinky toe? Uh, a few months back? …and the nails turned black–”

“What!?” Kaito shouted, now no longer being sneaky, more just actually really fucking concerned as he said, “What do you mean you haven’t gotten that looked at!? Do you want to lose a toe!?”

“I thought it’d stop on its own!” Arven said defensibly.

“Yeah, it’ll stop when the toe rots off! Atua fucking give me patience, will you two just shut up and come see a healer before you give me a damn aneurism!? I am not the person who can afford to get sick, because you guys are hiding things like your chest needing vacuuming, or your toes losing bloodflow, fuck! I need a second, sorry.” Kaito grumbled, pulling his pebble out of his pocket and his polisher out of the other, walking away and grumbling as he started to furiously wipe at it.

Arven watched him go, before huffing, “I don’t know why he’s so upset, he was the one who asked. It’s fine, I’m sure the healer will agree with me.”

While her reaction wasn’t as loud as Kaito’s, Lake had startled in shock as well, mulling that over before she grinned wide, baring her teeth as she clapped hands down on the boys’ shoulders. “Big doubt, buddy. Now, healer’ll tell ya for real, but that sounds like frostbite to me, and that’s somethin’ ya don’t wanna mess around with. Alright, everyone agreed? Off to the med bay we go~”

Unable to fight against Lake’s pushing, Doppio just squeezed Arven’s hand, giving him a more worried look. “...that…doesn’t sound great, Arven… Losing feeling somewhere is, uh, usually a pretty bad sign…”

“Right you are!”

“I’ve lost feeling in my feet before, after dropping things on them and wearing bad shoes for a while and stuff. They’ve always come back before,” Arven said, also being pushed forward by Lake’s hold, “...admittedly, it’s never taken this long before.”

“The nail’s turned black, he says,” Kaito muttered, following behind them, still furiously rubbing his pebble. “Can’t imagine anything’s wrong, just a little numbness and visible signs of rot, no big deal. What, I’m not feeling that great? Yeah, couldn’t have anything to do with all that water I choked on, nooooo, that’d be crazy. Oh, but no, Kaito’s being an overreacting nag, it’s totally fine that your chest has been hurting for months, that’ll totally go away on its own even though it started before you were pregnant, that’s a totally normal thing to ignore for months, gonna lose my mind on these people…”

By the time they got up to the medward, Kaito had mostly calmed down, pocketing his pebble before assisting Lake in catching Nell up to speed, both about what Doppio needed checking up on, and now also Arven. “So, yeah, if anyone has time to look at his feet? We’d appreciate that too.” Kaito grinned warily. “Just need to make sure our guys here are good.”

Nell was frowning slightly, displeased seeing someone who was neglecting their health, though…seeing just how visibly distressed Doppio was, she kept it toned down. “I see… Well, Arven, if you don’t mind things taking a bit longer, I could take a look at them after Doppio,” (she’d been corrected) “Has gotten his check up. If you’d like, though… Dr. Green could check on you simultaneously.”

“...now,” she gave Kaito and Lake a look. “Even acting as temporary guardians, Doppio is entitled to medical privacy, if you wish to have your examination done in private. What would you prefer?”

Doppio didn’t respond right away, just staring at everything with a wide, unfocused gaze. Then he shrugged, mumbling something unintelligible.

Nell didn’t let her brow furrow, though she felt it on the inside. If she could avoid it, she’d really rather not ask the boy what he was in front of an audience. And it would be more helpful to know what to fake on his records if she knew what would be different from the start.

Kaito glanced at Doppio, as Lake showed Arven who Dr. Green was, Arven wandering away with him a few feet, though he kept looking back at Doppio worriedly as he explained to the doctor what had happened to his foot. “...Hey, kid. A quick word? Sorry, sorry, just let me borrow Doppio one second,” Kaito begged, taking Doppio’s shoulder and, not necessarily leading him away, but turning him aside so he could lean in and whisper to him.

“Hey, I know it feels like things I did lately were me going back on my word, so maybe this doesn’t seem as confidence-inducing anymore, but,” Kaito said, whispering to him, “What I said about not letting you become an experiment was true then and is still true now. You being an experiment is not keeping you safe, it’s, like, the opposite of being safe. I vowed to take responsibility for you, and in plain, black and white language? Safety means no one gets to try weird, untested medicine on you, or gets to poke and prod at you trying to figure things out about you that you don’t agree to…”

Kaito paused, before amending, “Okay, the age thing feels like a gray area…”

“...” Kaito frowned. Suddenly uncertain. “...does trying to figure out your age feel like an experiment? …we can fight this if it does. That wasn’t a promise to you I wanted to break…”

Doppio went along with Kaito’s pushes like he was made of taffy, and while just turning around didn’t…exactly help him forget exactly where he was? He could hear Kaito, and understand the point he was making.

Kaito wasn’t gonna let anyone cut him up. If nothing else, he could trust that. But…

(it was a lie it was a lie she was trying to scare him it wasn’t real)

Doppio sucked in a breath. His chest was fine! Wasn’t that what he told Kaito and Lake earlier? They’d fixed his chest, he’d gone on the scary machine and he was fine, s-so he could breathe just fine. Just keep breathing!

“...dunno…” Doppio said breathlessly, staring at Kaito’s shoulder. “I-I dunno… It’s gonna happen anyway, right? Just…just should get it over with… Don’t need to scoop out my guts to get a number…”

Doppio paused, an uneven breath hiccuping out of him before his eyes flicked up to Kaito’s, looking a bit panicked at the thought. “Right?!”

“Right.” Kaito nodded, risking putting his hands up and placing them on either side of Doppio’s head, cupping his ears and placing his thumbs protectively against the sides of Doppio’s face, framing himself to be all of Doppio’s vision as Kaito said quietly, “Let's do it like this, okay? You tell me, right now, exactly what you want to avoid. And if I think it’s reasonable to avoid it? I’ll swear on my god that we won’t do it.”

“Doppio? I swear on my god, I’ll pull you out of here if anyone wants to scoop your guts out… unless it’s something like you have a blockage in your intestines and they’re just trying to flush the blockage out or something. Like, does that make sense?” Kaito frowned. “There’s certain medical procedures that are established and known to be helpful and would help you if you were sick in certain ways. We’d talk about those. But experiments that cut you up and poke and prod and hurt you? I’d never allow anything that hurts you. I’d protect you from anything that hurts you.”

Everything went…muffled. And while it wasn’t much, Kaito limited his vision and… Doppio wasn’t an idiot! He wasn’t a goldfish, o-or a baby, he still knew where he was. But…with Kaito limiting his senses it got a little easier to…think. Breathe.

He frowned a little hearing that there were certain cases where Kaito would just let someone cut him up…but he wasn’t delusional either, and he could understand the point Kaito was making. So…other than that? What was…

“...what if there’s something wrong with me?” he murmured quietly. “Like…not like you said but…really wrong? I don’t… I don’t want a healer to…” His eyebrows furrowed, not…entirely sure himself what that fear actually was. What exactly he was scared of a healer doing or…knowing, in that sort of…case? His eyes flicked around for a moment, just searching for…anything.

…and it wasn’t his point, he didn’t think, but after a moment, Doppio licked his lips and settled on, “...they’re not allowed to…tell people things, right?”

Kaito grinned reassuringly, nodding. “They’re not. And you know what? They haven’t. These healers know things about me that I don’t want spread around too. And so far? No one knows what those things are.”

This was not, strictly, true, though Kaito meant it sincerely. He didn’t want people to know about the cuts in his sides. Sure, he knew people knew about them, in a general sort of way, everyone had seen him cut himself up in ribbons when he had been getting spiked by despair pollen, and people had known he was doing his bloodletting rituals, uh, a lot… but even he had recognized that the cuts at his sides, which he had done when he was particularly afraid of people noticing how much he was cutting himself for bloodletting, had been a bad sign. That had been why he had tried to cut in less noticeable places, because he recognized he was overdoing it and was trying to make it harder to spot. Those cuts had embarrassed him, when pointed out.

And Kaito had no way of knowing if the healers talked about things like that to others… but! No one had mentioned it to him yet! So… yep!

“They have a confidentiality agreement, as healers. They can tell you more about it themselves, the details, but in general ways? No. They’re not gonna tell people what you tell them in private,” Kaito promised, “And like they said, you’re allowed to talk to them in private. I won’t push myself in, I’m not entitled to anything you want to keep private too. You just be sure to tell me if anything makes you worried or uncomfortable, okay?”

Doppio nodded slowly before he glanced up at Kaito, an embarrassed, ashamed expression pulling his lips down before his eyes followed. A strange, unsure grumble in his throat before words finally made their way out. “...s’hard to think. It’s like my brain just goes blank ‘n I can barely hear what anyone else is sayin’ either…”

“...think…I should…do some in private, though…” he mumbled. Some of himself just…unsure why he felt that way, but others… Er. He was…pretty sure healers asking if you were sexually active was a standard health question, and Doppio did not want that to be the way Kaito found out about…things.

“How about this? You can pick and choose. I’ll wait nearby, and when you want someone around, you can call me over,” Kaito offered, biting back the urge to offer Arven instead. He knew Doppio would be happier with Arven, but also, Arven had just admitted to ignoring a foot injury for months, so… no. Arven wasn’t going to be the only other person who knew about things Doppio was too nervous to talk about in private.

“...okay.” Doppio glanced to the side, though Kaito’s hand was still blocking the view. “...she’s a healer you trust?”

“Nell?” Kaito nodded. “I’d place Kokichi’s life in her hands. I have. She’s never let us down.”

…that was a pretty glowing endorsement, and solid track record.

“...okay. Okay.”

Taking a deeper breath, knowing that they weren’t actually all that far away, Doppio raised a hand to wave down the healer. “I-I’d like to do my examination in private, please!”

“Of course,” Nell nodded, ready to lead Doppio to the room. Whenever he was ready.

“I’ll be right over here! I can’t hear you, but if you shout for me, I’m gonna be there right away!” Kaito called to Doppio. “...be nice to Dr. Pacuvius! …unless she’s not nice to you, then you’re allowed to be mean, but she won’t be! …just want to make that second point clear!”

Okay, well, they were in another room now, so… Kaito looked over at Arven. Who stared grimly at him back. “...don’t.”

“Sorry, no can do, time to intrude, what the heck happened to your foot–”

Amaina wasn’t there. And then she was.

She was looking around the various objects in the room, though there wasn’t much to see.

Hey look! A few tools for checking on the body.

Hey look! A poster saying the patients’ rights.

Hey look! A table to sit on.

Hey look! A doctor who was peering at Doppio now. Amaina flew around the doctor’s head, leaving little light particles in her wake as she did so, before settling down on the doctor’s head, also now peering at Doppio curiously.

Doppio wasn’t…fully back in panic mode, but…it would be clear at least to Amaina that he was paying more attention to her, staring at her on the healer’s head with wide eyes, than listening to Nell finish up telling him about his right to privacy, and right to stop any part of the examination if he felt uncomfortable.

Though…he did focus a bit more of his attention as she sighed, tired pink eyes glancing at the door before fixing him with a gentle, yet…apologetic? Expression.

“I hate to be so blunt this way, but…Doppio, what are you?”

…huh?

“I’m non-human too, so there’s no worry about me fixing your papers for the others, but…I can’t place it. What are you?”

Something in Doppio’s stomach clenched painfully as he gave the healer a wary and discomforted look. “...I-I don’t know if…you’re trying to make a joke to…make me less nervous or something, but that’s really not working.”

Nell sighed softly, offering the boy her wrist. “You know how to take a pulse? I’m a vampire, I don’t have one. You don’t need to worry about hiding.”

Doppio shrank away, looking distinctly more worried. And…yet he still reached forward, pressing on the healer’s wrist.

…he wasn’t…bad at recognizing a pulse, he knew. So…

“...I-I still don’t know what you’re talking about…”

O.O

O.o

Amaina reached over, and with big, blank eyes, started to smack her little hand against Nell’s forehead.

WOW RUDE WHAT THE HECK YOU CAN’T JUST ASK SOMEONE WHAT THEY ARE SHARON!!

And, huffing a little, realizing Doppio was too whiny around this woman to defend his honor, dammit, Amaina flew down off Nell’s head and landed on Doppio’s knee. Staring up at her with her big, intense eyes, before saying in her musical tone, Also why are you asking him to take YOUR pulse you are the PROFESSIONAL he’s never been to medical school what sort of time do you think he has to do that for fun!?

Nell blinked in surprise, caught off-guard by…everything. All of that. A part of her considering, well, yes, that’s why she had started off with an apology, and she had offered up proof of her own inhuman-ness to confirm to Doppio he didn’t need to keep playing dumb but…

There was a soft gasp as Nell knelt slightly. Her eyes alighting in wonder as she took in the little creature on Doppio’s knee. Reaching forward just slightly, but keeping herself from touching as she murmured, “Oh, look at you… I haven’t seen a Fusion in years… A perfect Fusion…” The vampire smiled softly. “Oh, someone really loves you, don’t they. You’re made of love…”

Doppio was stuck stiff, watching in… He didn’t even know. He didn’t understand what was happening. Why the healer…could see Amaina, and…well, was…being quite nice about her, actually, which Doppio did appreciate, but also…talking about vampires and…and not being a human…

His heart pounding, he looked between his angel and the healer, tearing his lip to shreds.

OoO I am the P O W E R OF LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP and ANIME IS ON MY SIDE!

Amaina glared at the healer for a moment… before sighing like she was taking on the weight of the world on her small little shoulders, as she stepped forward a bit before taking Nell’s finger, pulling it into a hug and petting it as she whispered, There there it’s okay I forgive you.

-_-...

OoO Now! Apologize to Doppio you’re FREAKING HIM OUT he doesn't know about this stuff he is a WEE BABE IN THE WOODS!

Precocious thing, wasn’t she? But most Fusions Nell had had the privilege to meet tended to be. Though, Nell’s eyebrows raised in surprise as the Fusion explained something that…honestly? Nell hadn’t considered.

…Doppio didn’t know he wasn’t human. Raised by humans, most likely, and…well, this whole business was because of an abuse case, so it wasn’t like he would’ve had much opportunity for someone else to step in…

Her expression softening, she gave Doppio a nod. “My apologies, Doppio. It was not my intention to catch you off-guard or overwhelm you… I had thought you knew, and were simply keeping your own secret.”

A little startled at the apology, Doppio just kind of shrugged before he made a stressed sound. “S-sure… But, I still don’t… I’m human. I-I’m a person…”

Still gentle, Nell explained, “There are plenty of people that aren’t humans. The world is full and vast with experiences…something I believe you’ve discovered in part, thanks to your friend here,” she nodded to the Fusion. “You may have been raised human, but…”

She offered a small, tired smile. “I happen to be someone specifically equipped for one realization, at least. You don’t have blood, Doppio.”

His next look was…a little more like he thought she was an idiot, than just the trepidation and discomfort from before. “...I-I’ve seen myself bleeding…”

“You have a red liquid moving through your body, yes, but…it’s not blood.”

Shaking his head, Doppio closed his eyes. “...I’m human.”

Amaina frowned up at Doppio. He was getting stressed…

There was the sudden sound of seagulls, distant and cawing, as they fluttered through warm, salty air. A gentle breeze rustled through both Nell and Doppio’s hair, in a way that was indistinguishable from the reality that they were still in the observation room, which Amaina for the safety of their footing never really let them entirely forget, when she did these illusions. Beneath their feet was the floor tile, but also was soft sand, muddied slightly by the ocean water, coming in soft waves to their toes. An orange, setting sun dimming them into a golden, auburn glow.

Amaina flew up, nuzzling onto Doppio’s shoulder and resting against his face, petting his cheek with her nubby hand. O.O You can be more than one thing. It’s allowed. I give you full permission. Anyone says you can’t have more than one thing will have Chief and Upgrade sicced on ‘em. And baby senpai will give you face kisses as a reward, just because.

Doppio had told Arven that the presence of the ocean, in some form, was always included in his happy place. And…honestly, that had been true even before Amaina. While his most common happy place had been that small darkness, there had been others. And now hearing the waves and sea birds, the warmth of a day ending and the smell of salt and, admittedly, decay…

He opened his eyes with a stuttered breath and brought a hand up to hug Amaina back. Grateful for her comfort.

Nell gave the two a little space, but she did chime in after a moment. “It doesn’t have to change…pretty much anything. You are still you, no matter the circumstances of how you got here or where you’ll go. And the latter is entirely up to you still.”

Doppio looked out at the ocean and the sunset. If…Maki wasn’t lying, then…

“...what am I, then? I don’t want to be anything else…”

“You’re you,” Nell said softly. “And that’s wonderful. But finding out the properties of your body… If you would allow me so, I’d like to run some blood tests, and standard physical evaluations…”

She gave the Fusion a thoughtful look. “...you wouldn’t happen to know more, would you, little one?”

OoO he is one of the beautiful things.

O.O

OoO AND I AM ONE OF THE BEAUTIFUL THINGS WE ARE THE SAAAAAAME i will explain in song.

With that, Amaina flew back down onto Doppio’s knees– it was a decent stage setup between the two, honestly– before she started to sway and spin, as music filled the air.

We dip and bow and dance the line

One toe in, one toe out

Of all the secret things you keep inside of youuuuuu

O~WOOOO! CLAP ALONG TO THE BEAT!!

We twist and twirl and sneak

One hand in, one hand out

Between all the secret places inside of youuuuuuu

Reality is a bitch who wishes she coooouuuuuuuuld

Me and my homies all love skirting that liiiiiine

We are the beautiful things inside of you

O.O

OoO you may applaud now.

Well, what could they do? Both Nell and Doppio applauded the performance, Doppio fond in his anxiety and Nell looking genuinely tickled. Though, she softly sighed and gave Doppio a gentle look. “We can rule out you being a Fusion, considering you are not a foot tall, and have a physical body.”

He gave a hesitant nod.

Starting on a few tests--having a paper rubbed against his arm wasn’t bad, Doppio supposed--Nell hummed. “Normally I would rule out you being a psychic construct as well, given the point of you having a physical body, but if your friend says you have, at least, some similarities, I can’t fully discount it…”

Psychics???

(...)

Frowning slightly, Nell gave them an apologetic glance. “...it is a bit invasive to ask, and as with everything you can say no, but…Little One? Do you know if you can find out how old Doppio is? As in his existence. Even as a construct, there should be a definitive moment where your ego became ‘you’.”

Doppio gave Amaina a small shrug.

Wow, rude. You didn’t have to be a foot tall to be a construct. Amaina CHOSE to be a foot tall, thank you very much. It was comfier.

But Amaina bore the weight of this offensive stereotype bravely for Doppio’s sake, just scoffing a little and fluttering her fairy wings a little. Though, she gave Doppio a small, inquisitive look at what the doctor asked. Was that alright?

Seeing as he seemed okay with it, she nodded, before looking at them. Sure either of you wanna come?

Nell’s eyes gleamed with curiosity…but she was a healer first. “Thank you for the offer, but that is a breach of privacy I cannot take for a patient.”

…the start of his existence? What did that even mean… Constructs, Fusions, psychics… He…he had been born, right? And all that…

Doppio gave Amaina a nervous look. “...I mean…this was all about finding my age anyway… Um…you can just tell us, Angioletto.”

Nell’s eyes narrowed a bit as she considered the slide of skin cells she was observing. Interesting…

Amaina nodded. OKAY one sec be patient STOP RUUUUSHING ME this takes time and patience and–

Diavolo knew he was on the precipice of… something.

He knew what that something was. But at the same time, he wasn’t sure. He knew what he wanted it to be. A manifestation. A creature to assist him. Maybe a… an octopus. Lots of hands, octopus… did octopus have hands? No. No they didn’t. Worthless!!

In rage at the worthlessness of the otherwise many limbed creatures, Diavolo flung his wine into the fire, causing it to roar for a moment, before simmering down. The fire the only source of light in the otherwise cold, lonely cabin in the woods, literally submerged beneath the snow.

Diavolo was starving.

He had been starving for weeks.

He had needed to lay low in a safe house for a while, which was why he was in the cabin in the first place, but… he had been supposed to leave it before the winter snow hit. There wasn’t enough supplies in it to last him the whole winter, when the snow crawled high like walls, like a dome over his head, like a grave. He had been supposed to leave months ago.

But the men he had utilized to help him move to the next safe house before winter hit had made a grave error.

They had dared to observe him.

So of course he had discarded them, as was only suitable. He wished he had kept their bodies, rather than leaving them in the woods for the wildlife. Their bodies would have greater use, in the cabin with him, now that he hadn’t escaped the snow in time. The food had run out so quickly… it hadn’t helped that when he didn’t like the food, he tended to dramatically throw it into the fire… like the last of his wine.

This was agony.

If only he had real help. It was impossible, working under these conditions. That was what he had decided, as he slowly starved, his food either consumed or dramatic ash at the bottom of his dwindling wood supplies. If those men hadn’t been so incompetent, he wouldn’t be in this predicament. Truly, the world was against him…

Maybe a racoon… raccoons had hands…

Diavolo had been building something, as he sat alone in his fury, letting his power build and build in the cabin. He could feel it. It was so close. Swollen and swelling inside of him, kicking and grasping for form. It was ready. He just… couldn’t decide on what it was. What would be enough. Racoons had tails. Tails seemed very inconvenient, to Diavolo. What had hands but no tails…

…his eyes widened with sudden insight. True, utter brilliance. A revelation worthy of his status as a genius.

He knew what had hands and no tail and would also be a better assistant than worthless men who dared to observe how he had changed the parting of his hair the last time he had seen them, those cretins… he knew. He knew!!

And laughing in his deep, baritone cackling of his own genius, Diavolo suddenly clutched his chest as his heart pounded. Eyes glowing white as the power manifested around him, before Diavolo lurched forward. A white light forming out of his chest, cradling into his arms. At first small, and then bigger, and bigger, stretching out until it was laid out across his lap as Diavolo collapsed, panting and sweating, eyes wide both with wonder and the effort of his expulsion, as Diavolo gave a final, guttural scream as the white light thinned, thinned, thinned… and disconnected from himself.

And the boy in his arms opened up his eyes. Blinking lightly, as he looked up at Diavolo. Mind empty, but full of potential. All the potential of Diavolo himself… theoretically.

“...” Diavolo, lovingly, brushed some of the pink hair out of the boy’s eyes. Tracing his thumb down the side of the boy’s face. “...I will name you…” he whispered, looking up lovingly at what still lay, now empty, on the counter, “...after the last decent thing I’ve had to eat.”

“Aceto,” Diavolo purred, hugging the boy close to himself, “Hopefully you will be just as satisfying.”

–okay I’ve got it OvO… OoO!! Doppio! It’s your birthday in a few months! Your birthday is in late winter! You’re gonna be two years oooooold! Aw, terrible twos~

“...o…kay?” Doppio said, a little confused, before that confusion just grew. “...um…Angelo, I dunno how to… I know we’re not sure how old I am, but…I-I’m pretty sure I’m not 2.”

Nell’s eyes widened. His skin cells weren’t decaying. They weren’t aging. And looking at the scar on his arm…it wasn’t that it had healed, his body producing new cells. The old ones had repaired themselves. It was…in a sense, a form of immortality she wasn’t very versed in, but…

Usually people thought of immortality as something very old. As a millennias’ old vampire, Grinnell was quite accustomed to that connotation. But Doppio wasn’t old…he was young. He was a being that was quite new.

She looked over at him.

…he was a toddler, with the sense of someone old enough to, well, have reasoning. But…

“Oh, my dear,” she said softly. “It’s difficult, having a body, isn’t it.”

Doppio stilled, looking up at the…vampire healer. Seeing a form of sympathy that…he’d never seen before. (That only one other person would’ve had the opportunity to give, and hadn’t.)

(...it was hard. It was hard, and there was so much he didn’t understand, and it was confusing and so much…)

“Oh dear…” Nell whispered, getting out tissues to dab the tears suddenly falling from Doppio’s eyes. “It’s alright… you’re not alone in this.”

Amaina did not see what the big deal was. Lots of people turned 2! Most, she’d argue! She was 15, herself! Oooooh, wait, was that the issue? Was he sad he wasn’t 15? Or…

Amaina tilted her head as Doppio started to cry. She fluttered to his hand, rubbing her face into his palm comfortingly, even if she still didn’t entirely understand why he was upset.

Maybe it was because she had never had a body. It did seem like a lot of work. Being over a foot tall seemed like a lot of work too, honestly. Awwww… she could understand, actually. She’d be sad if she was physical and too tall too. It was a lot more fun being a manifestation of thoughts and bite-sized~

Still! You’re okay, pretty boy… I am here~ and little king is outside. And upgrade. And loud hero lady. And I guess now this chick too i guess?? Alright she can be one of the gang i suppose i’m cool with her if you are. But yeah not alone baby.

Maybe…he wasn’t…totally human. But apparently a lot of people weren’t, and it worked out fine for them. His relationship with Arven wasn’t a red flag--though Nell did warn him that it would be something to discuss in the future if they stayed together--and, uh, well, you couldn’t get STDs from “heavy petting” and “rutting”, and Nell doubted he could contract any sort of blood disease anyway, given his lack of blood. Or…certain organ diseases, since, uh, he miiiiight be missing some organs? But his body was functioning like he had them anyway, which was kind of the theme of how his body worked so…they had agreed that Nell would just examine him looking for human signs, but not being too surprised with anything that deviated.

…along with agreeing that…

“So, Doppio is 14, though his birthday is in Late Winter,” Nell caught Kaito up to date as he entered the examination room. “And, as I said, we’ve finished with that portion of the examination, and he asked for your presence while I check up on his chest.”

A little dryly, she asked him, “He’s said he can’t remember taking the antibiotics Dr. Kimura prescribed, but do you know if he did?”

Kaito’s eyes sparkled, as he clapped his hands together. “14? Awwwww, he did listen…” And it was a decent compromise, honestly. Doppio would only be officially 14 for a few months, and then would get to have his full fifteenth year. Considering Kaito came from a country where adulthood was legally 13, it still meant Doppio had a certain ability for self-agency if he needed it, but considering that Luminary’s last legal adult age had been 18– the law had changed with, uh, new words from Atua with Kaito’s great grandfather– and societally Luminary had never really given that up, that meant culturally had Doppio four years of breathing room to emotionally reach adulthood, and in Dicea, that meant six more years of emotional maturity! Fuck yeah! Six more years was plenty of time for Doppio to recover, grow, and become independent in a healthy way!

And that second question was a great reason why Doppio needed that extra time, as Kaito gave her a dry look in turn, his enthusiasm and pride edging away as he said, “I know he did the first two days. Once he ran away though? I have no idea. I can tell you he doesn’t have the pills anymore at all though. My guess is he could have lost them while he was traveling.”

Following the doctor into the room, Kaito hurried over to the bed station and, grinning proudly down at Doppio, drew him into a hug. “Late winter, huh? You’re gonna have to put in my calendar exactly what day, we are absolutely celebrating you turning 15 this year! Awww, a deep winter kid… no wonder you’re so broody!” Kaito said affectionately, still holding the hug.

Doppio hadn’t really been pleased…but Nell had been convincing. 14 gave him more wiggle room for…things. Things they weren’t sure applied to him, but could, and so it was better just to future-proof and…well…

He sighed softly as Kaito hugged him, eyes a little swollen from crying earlier, and a tinge of exhaustion over his body, and…it was nice. Getting a hug like this. Even if he could only give Kaito a confused look at him declaring he was going to…celebrate his birthday? What was there to celebrate…?

“Hm… Better than nothing, I suppose,” Nell sighed, just letting Kaito get his hug in for a long while. “Not ideal, though. Doppio? I’m going to need to listen to your lungs--you said Dr. Kimura did that before for you. May I?”

“Mhmm,” Doppio tiredly nodded, already pulling his arms into his sweater to take it off (no reason to hide his arm here)...as soon as Kaito got off him.

Kaito felt Doppio shift in his clothes beneath him, and just to be a butt, kept holding on anyway, grinning playfully as Doppio started to grumble, then wiggle out of his arms. Making him work for it for a second, Kaito finally pulled away, ruffling Doppio’s hair before backing off a bit, leaning against the wall. “Alright, he’s all yours, doc…”

Noticing Doppio’s eyes as he had held him, Kaito asked with his tone cheerfully neutral, “Everything okay otherwise? You doing alright, kid?”

“S’fine,” Doppio mumbled, looking away. And…well, it was fine. Like Nell had said, he was still him. Doppio had said before that some number wouldn’t change him, and…well, admittedly this felt bigger than a number, but…he didn’t go through some big transformation as Nell had looked at his body and Amaina looked at his mind. He was still him.

…it just…turned out that being him was kinda different.

…had Boss known? (Of course he did.) (Boss knew all along and…)

(...and he’d never told him.)

(He’d never…)

Doppio sighed, rubbing one of his eyes. “...just tired.”

“We’ll try to get you out of here as soon as we can,” Nell gently promised, before pressing the stethoscope to his chest, asking for breaths.

…gaining a slight frown as he did. Asking him to…breathe into a weird tube…

“Well, the good news is you don’t have a respiratory infection,” Nell sighed. “The bad, is that your lungs are very irritated, and that’s why your chest has been feeling tight and uncomfortable lately, Doppio, and the panic attacks and sleeping outside certainly haven’t helped…”

Looking through her clipboard, she made some notes. “...I’m prescribing you some antibacterials, and some rest. No running around, no aerobic activities… Rest. Today and tomorrow, and the next to be safe, then come back so we can check. The best thing you could do today is lie down with a heating pack on your chest, and relax.”

“If that’s what you’d recommend, that’s what he’s going to do!” Kaito said cheerfully, grasping Doppio’s shoulder, leaning in, and practically growling, “You are resting the entire time this time, kid. I’m about to guarantee it…”

“...by totally taking you up on your offer to let me read to you!” Kaito said cheerfully, leaning back up. “Sure hope Arven likes adventure stories with funny voices!”

Arven couldn’t hear any of this, but as Dr. Green gave his pinky a shot of something that burned, he flinched… and not just entirely because of the suddenly burning pinky toe. Something was afoot… (bad-um-tsh).

Doppio pouted, but gave Kaito a resigned look. Before something occurred to him and he gave Nell a pleading one. “...I can still cook, right? It’s not that physically demanding… I-I just bought all those groceries too…”

“You can cook,” she nodded. “I’m just advising against anything that will make you breathe heavily. That said? If your chest starts feeling tight or uncomfortable again, or you feel out of breath, come back.”

Nodding to Kaito, Nell added, “If you can hear him coughing and it sounds deep or wet, that’s a warning sign too. But taking some time to read sounds like a great way to spend that relaxation time. …oh.”

She turned back to Doppio. “Can I tell him about the…?”

A sigh and a nod.

“Kaito, Doppio reported some abdominal pain the other day. I couldn’t find anything in particular that would cause it, but bring him in if it starts flaring up again as well, please.”

…they weren’t sure how his body would react to…pretty much anything. So it paid to be cautious.

“Abdominal pain?” Kaito asked, glancing down to Doppio’s lower stomach, like he’d be able to see something wrong there. “Alright, I’ll keep an eye out for it. Wet coughs, or, really just coughing in general, I’m gonna make a call on that one, we’re not fucking around with coughs right now. Any cramps or stomach pains or anything like that. Shortness of breath, keep him off his feet, maybe Doppio can leave some of the more strenuous parts of the cooking to me and Arven, supervise us, rest… Arven’s probably gonna need to stay off his feet for a while too, actually, okay, that both makes things neater and more complicated…”

Kaito continued to murmur to himself, his eyes distancing a bit, before asking, “Any diet restrictions? My guess is spicy foods are a no go zone for a bit, though that could just be me being baselessly optimistic.”

As Kaito asked Nell some more qualifying questions about Arven and Doppio’s care– is there anything I can give them to make resting a little easier on them, sleeping pills if they start feeling restless or pain killers for Doppio’s chest or Arven’s feet, ah, right, that’d hide Doppio’s symptoms, okay well how about one of those heating pack pads you guys give Kokichi, can we take– Amaina cheerfully flew around Doppio, before hovering next to his face, happily watching Kaito work.

Gods I’m so good just admit It I super called it I am the best at picking people

Doppio gave Amaina a tired look, though he couldn’t help smiling slightly. Amaina just had that effect on him, unable to stay truly mad at her for any amount of time. Though…what she said…

He glanced to Kaito and Nell, and figuring they were pretty deep in conversation, he slumped over, putting his chin in his hand like he was resting, while covertly covering his mouth.

“...were you the one that got Dr. Nell to set up this appointment?” he just barely whispered. “Is that what you mean?”

What no I don’t know this lady vampires are boooooring they have boring dreams. Amaina sighed, shaking her head, annoyed at Doppio’s obliviousness. No stupid-head I’m talking about Upgrade this is why I picked him he’s good at this part. The boobs are just a highlight.

HEY! VAMPIRE LADY! Amaina suddenly called over, Kaito the only person in the room unaware of this, HOW’D YOU KNOW ABOUT DOPPIO, STOP GAWKING AT MILKY BOI AND TELL UUUUUUS thank you~

She was just…obsessed with his tits. If there was ever a version of the world where Doppio could talk to Kaito about Amaina, he had no idea how to explain that. Knowing Kaito, though, Doppio’d half guess that the prince would just be flattered.

…Kaito…was pretty good at taking care of people though… Even if he went kind of overboard. And there was very little ‘strenuous’ stuff that Doppio would pass off onto him. …except maybe moving big pots or something. Or…delivering food to Arven, if he needed to stay off his foot…

Doppio frowned, looking at the door. …he hoped Arven was okay…

Nell heard Amaina loud and clear, but didn’t so much as look away from her conversation with Kaito, simply tilting her head and tapping her nose--which could look like a scratch, generously--before continuing on.

O.O

OoO Oh shit Doppio I think she’s saying she smelled you heads up she gonna eat ya

…he didn’t think Nell would eat him. He didn’t have any blood.

(nnnng)

However…

Doppio’s gaze jolted from the door to Nell, his eyes widening before he looked down and flushed, hunching in on himself. What the FUCK these were clean clothes and he’d showered last night! How did he still smell?! That’s it, he was showering and changing as soon as they could leave!

Smelly delicious boooooooy oooooh gonna get chewed on like gum

As Amaina tried to freak Doppio out, Kaito thanked Nell again, giving her a small bow, before motioning to Doppio. “Alright, runt, let’s go, up and at’em. Time for you to start your regime of substantial and meaningful rest! No adventures, no escapades, no shenanigans.” Kaito said the last one meaningfully, as they headed out. “Dr. Green! What’s our verdict?!”

“Not frostbite,” Dr. Green called back, nodding as Arven winced but managed to wiggle his toe a bit. “Though still just as bad, if left alone too long. Turns out Arven broke his pinky toe in his travels at some point, after a rock rolled on top of it. The bone’s healed, but it healed a little crooked and was pinching a nerve that was killing the toe itself. Gave him a shot to encourage blood flow back into it, re-broke the toe and we’ve reset it. Not in that order, it’s much easier to break a toe when it’s numb, got it done lickety split! We’re just showing him how to put a brace around it now as it heals for the next few weeks.”

“Next few weeks, huh?” Kaito frowned, going over to Arven, who was giving the little metal brace clamped down on his pinky toe an annoyed look. “Gonna affect his walking?”

“Walking, not as much as you’d think. Don’t expect him to run for a while.” Dr. Green chuckled a bit, “Toe breaks heal fast even when not properly looked after, and since we’re looking after it now, it’ll be quicker and easier this time. I’m sure it was miserable walking on it in the mountains.”

Arven pouted. “Sometimes your feet ache, it’s not a big deal…”

Doppio huffed and followed Kaito out, but was briefly stopped by Nell, the doctor giving him a soft smile. “You don’t smell. I’m just attuned to the smell of blood.”

“I’m sorry for frightening you,” she said softer, giving his shoulder a pat. “If you need anything, dear, I’m here every day. You have a lot of people in your corner--as scary as it seems, you have the support to make it through. Now, please rest up.”

Looking off to the side, he nodded, a little embarrassed, but he softly thanked the healer for her time. “...thanks. I…guess I’ll be around.”

Meeting back up with Arven and Lake, a concerned expression slowly grew on Doppio’s face as Arven’s deal was explained. It sounded like it was all solved, but… Doppio went over to Arven’s side, brushing his arm with his knuckles, giving him a worried, questioning look.

But before he could actually say anything, Lake made a…weird, excited noise. “Oooh, this is one of my favorite parts! Ven-Ven! Ya gotta let me piggy-back ya where ya wanna go! We all heading back to your room?”

“W-what? I don’t need a piggy back, I walked through a mountain on one of these bef–gah!”

“Nope, you heard the lady, this is one of her favorite parts,” Kaito said, grasping the back of Arven’s collar and hoisting him up, ignoring Arven’s thrashing as he half pushed, half hoisted him to Lake. “Seriously, this woman’s gone above and beyond to help you out, could you seriously not make her try to sell you on letting her help you more? Be grateful and take the help.”

Arven growled at Kaito… before giving Lake a sheepish look. “Uh… thank you– hey!”

“You forgot to bow,” Kaito said, pushing Arven’s head and shoulders down.

“That’s not a thing here!!”

“Oh… oh, right, forgot where I was, my bad,” Kaito said, pulling Arven back up. “Alright! Lake, let me get you caught up on Doppio’s stuff while we go, Arven, that’ll catch you up too, since you two are basically about to be one two-headed creature in a second. Doppio, anything you don’t want me to tell them specifically?”

With a giddy little giggle, Lake squatted down, giving Arven a wink as Kaito half-deposited him on her back, waiting until she could feel his hands on her shoulders before she enthusiastically popped up. Spinning a little before she glanced over her shoulder with a more sheepish grin. “Honestly, it’s as much for me as it is to help you out, champ. My little brother almost never lets me do this anymore, can you believe it?!”

“Nooo, instead he has a big ol’ husband to toss him around like those swinging acrobats he loves so much, poor big sis can’t compete. I’m being driven out of the market!” Lake laughed, giving Kaito a teasing look.

Making a stressed little noise as it certainly looked like Lake was swinging Arven around--though…it didn’t look like she was straining with his weight at all…--Doppio gave Chief a few head pats before their group set out. Giving Kaito an uncomfortable shrug…and glancing nervously to Arven for a moment before shrugging again.

“Didn’t rest enough for my lungs to fully recover, so I gotta do that now. ‘N gotta have another appointment if my stomach starts hurting.”

“...”

Doppio glanced around, before nervously starting to scratch at his arm. Taking a shaky breath. “...and, um… I’m 14, I guess…”

“Oh!” Arven said, looking down at Doppio from atop Lake’s back, “14… are you oka–”

“Oh, and his birthday is late winter!” Kaito cheerfully added in, patting Doppio gently on the back, “So you got a little bit of breathing room to think of a good present, Arven, but not that much. Trust me, that’ll sneak up on ya!”

“Oh, so you’ll be 15 in a few months,” Arven mused, “...so I’m a little older than you. Officially. Not that it really matters.”

“....’s kinda cute,” Arven muttered, looking flustered, glancing away, “Not that it matters.”

Kaito gave Arven a blank look, before reaching over Doppio’s head to poke Arven meaningfully in the cheek. “I am begging you to remember where you physically are right now.”

“DON’T MAKE IT WEIRD!” Arven shouted.

Chief barked cheerfully. Happy to see everyone in a good mood.

(...a present? Doppio hadn’t done anything to warrant any presents… Why was knowing his birthday a present-worthy thing?)

(...was it cute that he was officially younger than Arven?!?!)

Kaito, predictably, had been very gung-ho about laying them out each in one bed (though Doppio…really didn’t know what to think about the stink eye he’d given the cat pillow he’d gotten), setting them up for some quality rest with no shenanigans… But Lake brought something up that made Doppio deem her as his favorite busybody adult.

School was getting out soon. And Kaito’s son and, likely, his friends would be in prime homework-nagging time. And with that as leverage? He and Arven had been able to team up, claiming they actually wanted rest, which they couldn’t do with Lake and Kaito bothering them constantly and…

Eventually, they were left alone in their room. Arven’s foot elevated, and Doppio lying down with a heating pack on his chest. …in the same bed, since Doppio had promptly moved over once their door was closed.

…

“...I…need to tell you some stuff, Arven.”

Arven had just been thinking it was kinda odd, how they had gone into the healers two totally healthy guys, and noooow look at them. Laid out. Foot all (re-)broken, chest needing heat packs… It was like they had gone into the med ward and had come out beaten up. Truly, medical wards were dangerous places.

Though, Doppio sounded serious, as Arven scooted ever so slightly closer to him. “Oh? What’s going on, Aceto?”

Doppio swallowed, scrunching his eyes closed for a moment. Just to gather his bravery. “...you’ve already stuck by me through a lot of shit. And I’ve pulled you into a lot. So, um…I-I am sorry, about everything…”

…they still weren’t exactly sure what he was. But they’d talked through some theories…

“I’m not… I mean, I’m… It’s…” He cut himself off with a frustrated, nervous huff. “...I might be immortal?”

“...huh?” Arven said.

Amaina fluttered out of Doppio’s shirt, as she was wont to do, and laid out on his heating pad. Stretching out and looking warm and content, rolling from side to side a bit, stretching again, before flopping out on her back starfish style, ‘enjoying’ the heat.

In the time she took to do that, Arven thought about it, before trying again. “...eh?”

Doppio let out a breath, “ruffling” Amaina’s hair. A convincing mimic of reality… “...Dr. Nell is a vampire. A-and she could smell I, uh…I don’t have blood. And, um…well… We’re not… But… I-it, um, seems…like… My body is doing everything it can to i-imitate what…what a…” …he couldn’t say it. Couldn’t distinguish himself like that. “...what, um…normal. Bodies do, I guess… But without…actually being one.”

“Apparently I’ve, uh…” Doppio’s voice died, his hands trembling a little at his sides as it hit him again. “...I’ve only had a body for…maybe a year and a half.”

“...” Arven leaned back on the pillows a bit. Staring at the ceiling. “...oh.”

“..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... vampires being real is pretty wild …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. I don’t know, maybe should have saw that one coming, there’s so much lore about vampires that maybe it would have been weirder if they didn’t exist ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Wasn’t expecting it to be the castle doctor. You think the Oumas know? I‘d imagine they do, that seems like a pretty important thing to know, generally ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Did you have something else before a year and a half ago?” Arven asked.

Don’t start hyperventilating, if you start breathing weird they’ll send you back to the medical ward.

Doppio had really been trying to not think about it. But at the same time…how could it not consume his thoughts? His entire existence…

Had been lied to him.

“...do…” His voice failing, Doppio cleared his throat and tried again. Just…trying to keep breathing evenly. “...do you remember when…sometimes I’d talk about being somewhere dark? I-I…I don’t…really know myself, but… I think…that’s something to do with it.”

“...I’m sorry,” he whispered, closing his eyes tightly.

“Oh, you don’t need to apologize,” Arven said, lightly spacing out. “Just, ya know… processing.”

Arven laid there in silence for a bit, staring at the ceiling… before he noticed the strain in Doppio’s voice. In his breathing. Looking over, Arven frowned. “...are you… okay? Uh… did you just find this out too?”

There was quiet, before a sniffle. A shaky voice whimpering, “....I thought I was a real person…”

“Aren’t you?” Arven asked, concerned as he turned over on his side, ignoring his foot as he reached around Doppio, pulling him into a hug. “What are you talking about? You’re a real person. You’re right here, what makes you not real?”

Sniffling again, Doppio made a low sound, pushing Arven to lie on his back again…though he just turned himself, huddling into Arven’s shoulder. “...Th-that’s what she a-and A-A-Amaina kept saying a-and… I-I’m talking to you! You can touch me, s-so I have to be real! But…I-I…”

He let go of a sob, before biting his lip, trying to regulate his breathing. “...I-I always thought it was memory problems…not that I just never had a past. N-Not that I was just some…s-some weird thing that’s just… W-why did Boss lie to me?! H-he had to ‘ve known, I-I wasn’t… Arven, I’m missing organs.”

“W-well, that’s okay!” Arven shouted, his brain scrambling before he said, “Minnie is missing a kidney and she’s fine, and I’m pretty sure Nemona got an appendix removed back in the second grade so??? People sometimes are missing organs!”

Amaina tsked– Arven was not always very good at this part, poor little senpai– before she heard Doppio trying to regulate his breathing as Arven poorly tried to comfort him. Remembering what the doctor had said about his chest, Amaina decided to help a guy out.

O.O

-_-

((-_-))

The next breath that Doppio sucked in was…clearer. Easier. Marginally calmer. And his chest was already warm from the heat pack, but… He let out a slow sigh, pressing his forehead to Arven’s shoulder. “...Dr. Nell said that age can be…weird. A-and that it’s not…concerning, that we’re dating. A-apparently my body is, uh, very firmly pubescent, and, um, I have reasoning skills congruent with the age range, so… W-we just…decided on 14 in case I don’t…a…age, normally… So it gives me more time to…figure things out.”

But.

Doppio peeked up, giving Arven a nervous look. “...does it weird you out? Dating me even if I’m…yanno.”

“I want to date you either way,” Arven said immediately, that part easy. “... I still don’t entirely understand what ‘yanno’ is. Sorry, you said a lot of things at once, and the vampire part was the easiest bit of it. Which organs are you missing? Any, uh…” Arven glanced down towards Doppio’s waist involuntarily, even if considering yesterday, how– “Any in particular I should think about or–”

((-_-))

((O.O))

OoO I SHALL EXPLAIN IN SONG

Amaina then proceeded to stand up and do a dance and song number about the organs that Nell had theorized might not actually be there, up to and including Doppio’s blood, his kidneys (“Well, again, totally normal! At least missing one, anyway.”), his stomach was there, but it was kinda a funky shape (“I don’t see the big issue if it’s kinda triangular, it’s inside your body anyway.”) and that was the same for his intestines, which were all sorts of odd sizes and shapes (“Again, if it’s not hurting you, who cares? Pure aesthetic!”) and a bunch of little stuff no one cared about anyway were gone, no big loss (“Uuuh I’ll take your word for that.”).

But sweet boy has the most important thing of all still… his heart… to go BADUMP BADUMP BADUMP every time Arven does something cute or Doppio sees the booty

O.O you may applaud now.

Arven dutifully clapped. “Well, okay, that was comprehensive… and being immortal is… kind of amazing actually, a little hard to get my mind around, but I’m not about to be the freak that says being immortal doesn’t sound like a sweet deal for someone I care about,” Arven admitted, tilting his head, trying to think it all through more. “And… you never aging… I mean, you’re beautiful now, so…”

…Arven started to blush, as he realized, “Wow, I could end up being, just… way bigger than you someday… like… maybe even the size difference of Kaito and his husband… Well, not that extreme, you’re already taller than Kokichi and I don’t know how tall I’m getting but… huh…”

“.................. that could be fun.” Arven murmured, eyes distanced… before he gasped, smacking himself in the forehead as he said, “That’s not even the point, I don’t care about that! I just care about you, Aceto! I just…” Arven looked to Doppio, reaching out for his hand as he said softly, “...you make me so happy. I don’t want to lose you.”

Doppio had been flustered and red-faced through Amaina’s song, mumbling certain clarifications (There was a certain theory that he was mostly viscera-y goo inside, and just kind of…got all the benefits of the chemicals bodies regulated without actually having any) but by the end he was so embarrassed and exasperated and…well, genuinely comforted by Arven’s reassurances that he applauded Amaina as well. It was a big day for song-writing for her.

“It…is kinda nice knowing I could heal from just about anything…i-in theory, at least,” Doppio muttered. As for the…longevity side of immortality, he…wasn’t really sure what to think about that, but Nell had assured him that was normal. It was a pretty big thing to cope with, and if he needed time to figure out how he felt…well, he certainly had an abundance available to him.

And…other things…

Doppio flushed deeply, looking up at Arven honestly with some surprise before sighing. Squeezing Arven’s hand gently. “...I care about you too. I…I feel horrible for just…constantly dumping ridiculous shit on you, but…I’m happy that you want to stay. I don’t want to be anywhere else.”

…flushing a little more, he looked up at Arven, flustered. “...is it really that cute that I’m younger than you?”

“...huh?” Arven said, before looking away, blushing. “Well, no, I mean… kinda yeah, but no, you don’t have to be… young. For me to like you. Just so we’re clear. But I dunno… it does make me feel a little more… Wow, I really don’t know the right words…”

Arven struggled to put words to a concept he hadn’t discovered until about forty minutes ago, putting his hands out and forming a ball in the air. “Like, you know… it kinda makes me feel protective and… like it’s more natural how cute I think you are…” Arven laughed putting his head into his hands, as he admitted, “I keep wanting to say, you know, how it’s cute when someone calls someone ‘Senpai’?? Does anyone else find that cute??”

O//O//O is baby senpai suggesting Amaina is cuuuuute!?

She squealed, flying up and attaching herself to Arven’s face, saying happily, Oh, I knew I was cute, senpaaaaai! Baby senpai! ADORE ME!!

…he didn’t really get it, he didn’t think. But…

Doppio smiled slightly, huffing a small laugh as Amaina adored over Arven, expecting the same in kind. “Sei molto carina, Angioletto.” (You’re very cute, Little Angel.)

“...I don’t think I’ve ever really thought of it that way, but…most of the people that demanded I call them ‘senpai’ were assholes,” Doppio admitted, before he shifted, putting an arm around Arven’s waist. “...it makes me happy that you want to protect me. Kinda scared too, but…happy. Just don’t forget that I’m protecting you too, okay? We promised.”

Doppio blinked, blanking out. “...I have…so much to write in my notebook.”

A sudden hurt look crossed over his face. “...you think the reason my brain’s so bad is ‘cause I’m missing it too?”

Awwwwwww~ Doppio you smooooooth talker give me kisses!

Amaina fluttered over to Doppio, kissing the tip of his nose before snuggling against his head, entirely pleased to be absolutely, certifiably adorable and she knew it, thank you very much.

Arven laughed a little, before saying, “I know, and that’s the main reason I’m so flustered saying all of that, because none of it actually reflects reality. You’re still just Aceto, exactly as you were an hour ago. And if anything, you being, uh… maybe? A year and a half? Kind of makes the 14 age marker even that more irrelevant. We just sort of have to work out what you need by ear, I think; I don’t know if ‘milestones’ mean anything to someone like you. We’re just in this, figuring it out together.”

“Hey,” Arven said, taking Doppio’s hand and squeezing it, using his other one to reach out and place it against Doppio’s non-Amaina squished face. “Your brain isn’t bad, Aceto. I don’t care if it’s there or not, because I know what you mean by that, and it’s not true. You’re smart. You just have memory issues. That’s not unique to you. There’s nothing bad about you. You’re perfect.”

Doppio grinned a bit, snuggling Amaina back. He wasn’t sure if he was just, like, confirmation bias-ing it, but…it did seem like she was more affectionate lately. Or maybe this was just how Amaina was a lot, and they’d just…known each other long enough for her to feel free giving it. But…it was nice. Nice in a different way from Arven’s affection, or Kaito’s, but…Doppio liked it. And he liked returning it too.

Amaina may be a unique being…but, well…now he knew so was he. Neither of them had to be alone in it.

Neither of them ever had been, he’d wager.

But especially now, and… Doppio’s eyes widened, the gold like saucers as he burned red, that word in Arven’s voice bouncing around his head.

…perfect. Arven said he was perfect.

(...that was better than exceptional. And more…personal.)

Making a soft, sort of, “weeeeh,” sound, Doppio scrunched himself down and hid against Arven’s shoulder, his ears still scarlet enough to clue Arven in. “Y-you can’t just say something like that…”

Arven smiled, his heart– which had admittedly been beating pretty hard by this point, ever since Doppio had originally dropped the news– easing, feeling lighter and warm, as he saw what Arven could only interpret as embarrassed joy on his boyfriend. Better. He liked that better. He loved Doppio happy so much better.

Wrapping his arms around him, Arven grinned as he leaned his head against Doppio, warm and happy as he said, “I can’t help saying it, not when you’re sitting there in front of me, being all c-cute and wonderful and complimentable. Stop being all of those things and I’ll stop telling you all the ways you’re perfect. That’s the trade.”

Doppio groaned, but there was an undeniable smile where he was tucked against Arven. Holding il suo tesoro just as snugly. “Only if you stop being all of those things first…geez. How did I end up almost getting in a fistfight with the coolest, cutest, most perfect guy in the world? …glad I didn’t end up punching you.”

Arven grinned, placing a small kiss on the top of Doppio’s head, as he said, his voice a little low, “Glad I caught you.”

Doppio let go of a little breath, honestly a little surprised by how…genuinely happy he was. And a little not because, well, he was talking to Arven, ya dummy. Of course he’d be happy.

Tilting his head up, Doppio stole a light kiss. “...me too.”

It was stupid, how immediately Arven’s heart started thumping. The way his skin immediately heated up like it was burning. He wanted to kiss Doppio back, and felt excitement and nerves realizing he could. It didn’t feel like a natural thing. He didn’t kiss Doppio like it was the next obvious move. He kissed Doppio like he was trying to make a particularly difficult climb up a mountainside, or was about to take a risky dip into water that could lead to another tunnel system or could hide a creature that would want to nibble at pinched toes.

It was exciting. And still a little scary. Actually, a lot scary. Both because Arven didn’t entirely know how to touch Doppio, but also, Arven didn’t entirely know how he wanted to be touched. It all felt like dark, murky waters… but with a potential massive, glowing reward on the other side.

When he broke the kiss, he whispered, “Do you… feel better?”

Doppio tightened his arm around Arven’s waist, quiet for a moment. Not because it was such a difficult question to consider, or that he was trying to figure out how to break some terrible news to Arven (again), but…really, just that he was feeling better, and he just wanted a moment to bask in it.

“...yeah, I do,” Doppio murmured back. “It still feels like…a lot. But I don’t need to have everything figured out immediately, so…right now? I’m okay. It’s okay. And…I mean, I like being here with you so…I think that’s just what matters, and what I should focus on.”

Smirking a little, Doppio pecked Arven again. “S’what I want to focus on, at least.”

OoO Your chest pad thing is falling off you are RUINING MY BED LITTLE KING

“Gah!” Arven jolted a little as he felt a sudden kick against his chest, shifting away from Doppio a little as he stared in bafflement down at Doppio’s chest. “Amaina, you were not there when we started!”

I sooooooo was you were just too busy making bedroom eyes ya perv my eyes are down HERE!

“Gods,” Arven muttered, reaching down to pick up the heating pad that had slid onto the bed, passing it back to Doppio as Amaina huffed and pouted on Doppio’s lap. “It’s like being watched by a little sister… aaaaand now Chief’s here,” Arven realized, looking down at his feet as he felt a hot breath panting against them, Chief’s head resting at the end of the bed as he looked at Arven with somber, heartbroken eyes. “I guess I haven’t given him a treat yet today.”

Chief whined at the word. Yes. Treat.

Doppio’s eyes widened in surprise before he scoffed, rolling his eyes a bit. Though, he muttered as he took the heating pad back, “Think she’s older than me, actually…” But it was the same concept. Little voyeurs peeping in on their time together.

Though. Uh.

Doppio’s gaze softened as he looked down at Chief. “...not a lot of room on here for, uh…all four of us, huh… At least without Chief accidentally laying on your foot. And…I doubt putting pressure on my chest would really count as rest…” (...nor would making out.)

Sighing, Doppio held on the heating pad with one hand and wriggled out of bed, tilting his head at Arven. “You still have some treats in your bag?”

“Side pocket,” Arven nodded, watching fondly as Doppio went to Chief’s rescue, “I mean, I really can do it myself, I can walk… but thanks. Don’t let Chief bowl you over, he can sometimes forget how big he is if he’s excited about treats.”

Chief’s tail was wagging happily, now that one of the boys was heading to where Chief knew damn well the treats were. Yesssss. Mothereffing treat tiiiiiime.

Settling back down against the stacked pillows, Arven glanced warily at the door. “How long do you think they’ll actually let us rest? You want to bet any coin who’s gonna come bother us first? I know the safe money is on Kaito, but it really could be Lake.”

“You can walk, but especially after the bone’s just set, the less strain you can put on your foot, the faster and easier recovery time will be,” Doppio hummed, getting one of Chief’s treats out of Arven’s bag. …well, maybe two treats. He’d been a very good boy, dealing with all this nonsense right along with them. Crouching down to offer them up, Doppio smiled with a serene contentment as Chief came over. “At least for now… If I can get you anything nearby, it just makes sense for me to do it, yanno? It’s not like walking around our room is gonna make me pant, so I’m not breaking healer’s orders either.”

Snorting, Doppio glanced at the door before scratching behind Chief’s ears. “I’m…really not sure how serious Lake was about canceling her shift this afternoon to check up on us. But that’s at least a barrier to entry for her. For Kaito…I dunno. How long does doing homework take? And I’d assume he’d want to spend more time with his son than just for that.”

“...if we wanted a real outlier guess? Maybe Kaito would ask one of his husbands or someone to pop in on us. It’d never happen, but I can hope for his husband to come show off his snake, as like…a treat for suffering through all that medical ward bullshit.”

Arven’s eyes lit up at that, sitting up. “Right! The snake. Oh, hmm…” Arven’s eyes suddenly lit up with mischief, as he wondered, “I bet we could find Kaito’s husband ourselves… No one said resting meant specifically staying in our room, right?”

Actually, they might have said specifically that, yes. Or, if they hadn’t, maybe even Arven had? Didn’t matter! Resting was resting, and walking around petting snakes was just as restful as sitting around in a bed being gawked at by a fake angel fairy lady, uh, ‘fusion’ thing.

Doppio looked up at Arven, feeling himself get excited at the prospect just from Arven’s enthusiasm…before his lips scrunched to the side in a mildly displeased look. “Not…in our room, no… But we are supposed to be, yanno…lying down. Not straining anything.”

…but that was so boring. And…well, he could help take at least some of the weight off Arven’s foot as they searched… Lake had picked him up so easily before! It couldn’t be that difficult to lend his shoulders.

Looking down at his heating pad, Doppio frowned, wondering how he’d easily keep it on while also helping Arven… With a huff, he tucked it under his sweater, hoping this one was form-fitting enough to hold it in place. Standing up, he took a few small hops, testing it out…

Tentatively, he offered a grin to Arven. “...it couldn’t hurt just…looking around a little, yeah?”

Arven grinned in turn.

The heating pad had slipped out, but after a moment they had wrapped a bandage around Doppio’s chest that kept it in place. Doppio’s lungs– presuming he had them– taken care of, Arven had wrapped an arm around Doppio’s shoulder, letting some of the weight he’d otherwise put on his foot get accounted for by Doppio. With those accommodations in mind? They were off!

And immediately hit a ‘stairs’ issue.

“...ya know, I hear in-building lift systems are right around the corner.” Arven pouted, as the two considered the obstacle together. “That’ll be a game changer, when those start getting installed…”

Huffing, Arven looked around as he admitted, “I’d be more motivated to just bear with it and climb, if we knew he was up there. But the castle is big, and what are the odds he’s just hanging around his room? Also, I don’t feel entirely confident my vague memory of Kaito talking about what wing he lives in means we’ll figure out where his room is anyway…”

Doppio pouted a bit, looking at the stairs. “...the third floor west wing couldn’t be that big… It’s a subdivision of a subdivision.” He sighed. “...but you have a point that we don’t have any reason to be sure he’s in his room… It might be more likely than any other random place, but…”

“...do you think it’d be worth it just looking around on this floor? There’s still a chance, I’d think. And, um…” Doppio searched the air, thinking. “...I could…make a case that I wanted to check on my laundry? If we run into someone and they start being a jerk about things. I…guess that doesn’t explain much why you’re with me, but…I dunno. Teens travel in packs, we could make that argument.”

“We’re a couple, no one’s gonna be surprised we’re stuck at the hip. There are couples at my school who will literally try to talk to you while kissing their partners,” Arven said, wrinkling his nose a little as he followed Doppio’s lead, the two now wandering the floor. It was a huge building, it still left plenty to look at. “I’m talking no break between smooching for air, they’ll just mumble at you on the other person’s lips.”

…a couple?

…a couple…

Doppio…supposed that was true. He and Arven were dating, so…that made them a couple. Boyfriends. Boyfriends? People in a relationship. A couple.

Doppio…completely blanked out, a soft red slowly dusting over his face. After a few moments, he distractedly mumbled, “...that’s kinda gross… And inconsiderate. Ya don’t have to stare right into someone’s eyes, but…should pay them at least some attention if you’re talking.”

“Highschoolers are kinda gross, sometimes,” Arven agreed, before pausing, “Well, actually, that was middle school. I haven’t been to much of highschool yet, really. I’m assuming they’re still gross.”

They wandered to a pair of large, massive doors, with little colorful mosaics bordering it. Opening it up, Arven realized, “Oh, library… think he’s the type to hang out in here? His name is Shuichi, right? I really don’t know anything about him. Before he became pregnant, there weren’t even rumors about the guy, I had never heard of him.”

Ugh. Another reason never to go, Doppio supposed. …he wondered if he could get out of Kaito’s nagging (though he was aware that at this point Kaito hadn’t even begun to truly harass him into going to school) by pointing out he was technically not even 2. Sure, that’d be a great conversation to have.

“...whoa…” Doppio mumbled, looking into the enormous room, just filled to the brim with books. Even for someone that didn’t read much, it was impressive! But for someone who did read? Hmmm….

“That does sound right… Um…” Doppio furrowed his eyebrows, trying to remember. “Uh… I…think he… He was in law enforcement, in Luminary? I don’t remember what part, though… And I don’t think I’ve really heard anything else about him, other than…you know. Kaito fawning over him.”

“Law enforcement?” Arven mused, the two stepping in, looking around. It really was a nice library. Arven bet the cooking section was big. “Maybe he was a guardsman? A Luminary guardsman… I bet he’s as big as Kaito… or, wait,” Arven said, eyes widening a little, “Didn’t Kaito say a bunch of weird stuff about being a good size for ‘giants’? I bet that’s why he brought that up. Maybe Shuichi’s, like, the opposite of Kokichi. Like a giant of a dude, while Kokichi’s all small like that… that would be why Kaito called Kokichi the ‘small’ husband! I bet Shuichi’s, like, Mr. Nidai’s size.”

Pointing to the counter, he said, “Let’s ask the librarian, maybe he’s seen him come in, Though if he’s what I’m imagining, I bet he’s hard to miss.”

“Oh…that’d make sense,” Doppio nodded slowly, before more confidently. “Yeah, like…well, I-I don’t think I’ve heard Kaito call Shuuichi his ‘big’ husband, but…he tried out something with me and the others at the bar, ordering us by height. Which was just strange… Kaito’s got some weird ideas about people; just call people by their names, geez. But he’d prolly think of himself as ‘big’ husband if he was doing that…unless Shuuichi was bigger than him? …I think that makes sense…”

Looking where Arven pointed, Doppio nodded and led them over to the help desk, giving the librarian--he presumed--a light smile. “Hello! Sorry to bother you, but have you seen Prince Shuuichi around?”

Two teens draped over each other, similarly, were also hard to miss, and Malcolm had watched their approach, bemused. “Hello. No, Mr. Saihara doesn’t spend much time here, if you were hoping for that. Do…” He raised an eyebrow. “...do you two need help to the medical bay or…?”

“Nope!” Doppio said quickly, immediately reversing direction. “Thank you for your help, goodbye!”

“Wait!” Arven said, following Doppio’s pull, but looking over his shoulder at the man, “Where does he usually hang out? Do you know?”

Malcolm shrugged--he had never even had a conversation with the man--though he called out, “He has a study on the third floor, I believe.”

Doppio dropped his head, groaning. Stairs.

Arven pouted, before looking to Doppio. “Well, okay, but what are the odds he never comes down to the first floor? Like, it’s not like he only ever goes to two places, his room or the study. That’d be crazy. It’s such a big castle, I bet there’s plenty of things on the first floor he’s tempted by.”

As they shuffled out, Arven looked around. “Alright… some days the only thing you can do is explore. Let’s see what we can find.”

The next place they found was the record archive. Well, Arven and Doppio didn’t know that’s what this room was, it just sorta looked official and a little stuffy, but there was someone working the counter, so… “Excuse us!” Arven called in from the door, he and Doppio peeking their heads in, “Have you seen Shuichi today? Prince Shuichi?”

“He…has to come down for food sometime, right?” Doppio mused, looking a little unsure, even though he felt the logic was sound. “Kokichi said that Kaito was the cook among them, so…it’s not like he’d make food himself and never come down…” Though, it was quite a while until dinner, so unless they just wanted to wander for hours and hours and use up the time before Kaito or Lake would come looking for them…

Doppio looked around the next room they peeked into, figuring it was…some sort of bookkeeping room, by the number of shelves and files in it. Way more than he had ever seen…which made sense. Since the castle operated on such a huge scale and…well, storing records was not something Passione was particularly…er, focused on doing.

However, his attention was stolen back as the woman at the counter looked up from…the ledger, he guessed, she was working on and…

Eeeep! That was…a very impressive glare!

“...no.” Yuliya said flatly, staring down the boys.

“A-ah, okay, thank you!” Arven said, scooting back, letting the door close. “...she’s kinda intense, huh?”

Walking down the hall, Arven mused, “Actually, that was really intense. Do you… think she doesn’t like him? Like… maybe Shuichi has a reputation around here? Maybe he’s the intimidating husband Kaito’s always kinda alluding to?”

“Like, Kaito’s kind of a weird example of what I hear Luminaries are all about,” Arven explained. “Mr. Nidai and Maki are closer, but they’re also assassins, and even still, Mr. Nidai still isn’t really what I pictured, when I picture Luminaries,” Arven continued, not noticing as a man in dark clothes with gray-golden eyes stepped out of the art room, holding some supplies he intended to bring to his husband. “He seemed a little too happy and easygoing to be the kind of mindless brutes Luminaries are supposed to be.”

Said golden-gray flashed a slight, bright pink as eyes flickered in the uneven lighting of the hallway, following the boys before moving towards them, walking quietly behind them.

“That’s kind of my same issue with Kaito. That’s not how Luminaries are supposed to be. I thought they were all, ya know… stoic, chest thumping, like, kinda dumb warrior types,” Arven explained, “Come back with your shield or on it, type of thing. They’re a warrior culture, that’s why they all wanted the war for so long. Because battle is the only way they can prove themselves, in Luminary, it’s the only skill they actually value.”

“Maybe…” Doppio hummed uneasily. “We…did talk about that, actually. I was, um… Confused, I guess, by how nice Prince Kokichi actually is, and Kaito was like, totally, but he’s also super scary and that’s awesome. I…don’t really get it, still, but…I think that’d make sense, though, for Prince Shuuichi to be scary too, since that’s something Kaito’s into.”

“...though I don’t think it’s a Luminary thing,” he said quietly, adjusting his leverage under Arven’s arm slightly. “Mindless brutes’ is…pretty harsh. I-I’ve always heard that, mm… I dunno. ‘Culture’ doesn’t seem like the right word, but ‘society’ or ‘life’ isn’t right either…but things can be pretty cut-throat over there. My, uh…”

Doppio took a nervous breath, lowering his voice. “...Boss never could do business in their cities, because as soon as he tried to set something up, it was something lucky if anyone was alive long enough to send word back that it failed… But I really don’t think that’s…emblematic of Luminary people. Maybe…self-sufficiency, w-which would make sense since their government doesn’t really help anyone out, but…not just mindless subjugation.”

The man tilted his head at that, placing a delicate index and thumb finger to his chin as he mused, “Oh, that’s actually quite insightful. Very well done, Doppio.”

“Gah!” Arven jolted, the two stopping as they looked back behind them, realizing they were being followed by… wait, Arven had seen this person before. Where…?

Arven hadn’t really been paying attention to the table– too worried about Doppio– when he had eaten breakfast with him that morning, but after a moment Arven could remember him a little. The man had been sitting with Prince Kokichi. He was very pretty, in an elegant, subdued sort of way, dark blue hair framing his pale features, long eyelashes that gave Arven’s a run for his money. He had a little extra weight to him, but he carried it well, especially around his hips. Maybe it was just the outfit he was wearing, but Arven got the sense this person’s natural environment would be an office, or even a courtroom. He just gave off a ‘book learned’ sort of vibe.

There had been something else about him… something important…

“Oh! I saw you holding Miyako Saihara, Kaito’s daughter, while sitting next to Prince Kokichi,” Arven realized, pointing to the man, “So that must make you…”

The man tilted his head. “Yes?”

“...Princess Miyako’s nanny!” Arven guessed. “Could you help us find Shuichi Saihara? We have a question to ask him.”

“....” The man smiled. “Sure. Walk with me. I want to hear more about what Luminaries are like, Arven. You both were having such a fascinating conversation, I couldn’t help but get drawn in.”

“AAH!” Doppio’s scream was…a little louder than Arven’s, his heart immediately pounding as he whirled around, one hand keeping Arven steady, but the other, well, entire bit of Doppio’s body moving in front of him. A horrible defense, but…D-Doppio couldn’t just leave Arven without any support, even if the healer had said he could walk, and…he hadn’t even heard footsteps behind them what the fuck!

But…the man behind them wasn’t…doing anything. Just…standing there. And while he knew Doppio’s name…

As Arven made his own connections, Doppio squinted at the man, a puzzled expression coming over his face. …he…knew who this was. But…but not in terms of work, he was sure. So…who?

…maybe a nanny. Sure. Though Doppio still gave the man an uneasy glance as he got back in position to help support Arven.

…man… That…that really got his blood pumping! Or, uh…his red liquid.

“Oh, uh… I…guess you’d know more about what Luminary is actually like, huh,” Doppio stuttered softly, following after the man. “Even if, um…” Doppio blew a shaky breath into his bangs, trying to remember. “...Prince Kokichi said something to you, right, Arven? About how his family’s kinda outliers?”

“Yeah, you’ve probably talked to the royal family about Luminary a ton,” Arven agreed with Doppio, never once considering that someone who seemed this calm and refined could possibly be from Luminary. “And he did. He said it took him a while to realize that his family's situation in Luminary was unique.”

Shuichi nodded, slowing down a little to walk more in line with the boys, enjoying himself. “Most of Kokichi’s Luminaries are high-ranking indentureds, which in itself is a fairly extreme rarity in Luminary, or the lowest ranking member of the royal family itself, an equally unique situation. While the statement is less true here than it is in Luminary, your station in life affects how the culture around you treats you. A prince in the capital is living in a different reality than, say, a farmer at the border of Danganronpa, for example. It’s almost not comparable, and both stations would have wildly different interpretations of Luminous social norms.”

“Right, sure, but some things must be universal for the country,” Arven argued, “Kaito himself said everyone there learns some sort of fighting style as a rule.”

Shuichi nodded. “That’s true. It’s part of not just Luminary culture, but Luminary religion. The official religion of Luminary is Atuan, and there’s an established belief that some method of fighting will be useful for getting through the trials of the afterlife, so knowing even just basic fighting is considered a religious practice. Most people, at some point in their childhood, pick a style and claim it as ‘theirs’.”

“Right! See, warrior society,” Arven said, looking a little proud to have understood the culture.

“Hm… would you consider yourself a mathematician?” Shuichi asked Arven.

“Huh?” Arven asked, brow furrowing. “...no?”

“That’s fair. What about just a scholar in general?” Shuichi asked, before looking to Doppio. “Doppio? Are you a scholar? A man who devotes himself to his scholarly pursuits?”

High-ranking…indentureds? Shoot, uh… ‘Indentured’ was the term Kaito had used for the people who had been slaves--but don’t call them slaves to their face--in Luminary, so…what the hell was a high-ranking slave? Well, something rare, apparently…

And…well, it did make sense that people had very different experiences in life, even in the “same” culture, since…well, Doppio knew that was true for Dicea… But there were certain things that were…hm. True? Across the culture. Like, any sort of organization managing drug trade in Luminary probably looked really different to Passione. And Kaito had explained himself that the school systems were totally different. So there were “broad” things about the culture that were probably true…

“Hm?” Looking up, Doppio looked confused for a moment before snorting, almost letting out a genuine guffaw before he shook his head. “Not in a million years. If I was ever the picture of a scholar, I think we’d be doomed.”

Shuichi nodded, humming a little. “That’s how learning a fighting technique is, in Luminary. Based on Dicean culture and practices, anyone who wasn’t more intimately familiar with how a school system worked might say something grandiose and maybe even a little romantic that your country is, by default, filled with scholars. After all, you’re raised in education, and anyone can continue their higher education as they please. It’s a system designed to create scholars. Mathematicians, literaries, historians. You’re all required to learn the basics, after all.”

Shuichi shrugged. “So are Luminary’s citizens, actually. That crosses the border. But no one is accusing Luminary of making the perfect little scholar out of all of its citizens, in the same way it’d be laughable to say that of Diceans. I think, since basic education is so common in countries these days, it’d seem foolish because everyone already knows from their own countries how simplistic that statement would be. It really doesn’t suggest the reality of the diversity of skills and lifestyles the country actually has.”

“...so,” Arven reasoned out, “What you’re saying is just because everyone knows how to fight in Luminary, doesn’t make everyone fighters?”

“Yes,” Shuichi nodded, “That’s exactly it. Same way all citizens of Luminary, by default, fall under Atuan religious law. I’m sure the laws were put in place with the expectation that would put everyone in the same religion, acting the same way, but the reality doesn’t actually reflect that. It’s not even a particularly secret thing, how many Luminaries are open atheists, or ‘also’ follow other religions, alongside Atuan. It’s not actually illegal to have a secondary religion, in Luminary, and many people do. Kaito told me once, that Kokichi actually summed it up well, when they first started talking religion in their marriage: while Atua is the framework for Luminary law, because it gives the Momota family the authority to rule, the actual religion itself is set up to be as easy to ‘follow’ as possible. It asks almost nothing from its people. I agree with him, I think that was set up on purpose. Hard to rebel against a ruling religion that you can literally otherwise ignore. Where do you find the motivation?” Shuichi hummed.

“Didn’t Luminary just have some really quick civil war, not long ago?” Arven asked.

“That was about who the head of the religious family was going to be. Forceful change in leadership. Religious rituals you don’t have to practice are hard to rebel against, policy influence tends to be a much more efficient rallying point,” Shuichi explained. “What else? Sorry, I’m actually enjoying myself. My husbands made discussing culture differences incredibly overly emotional and high octane events, so it became really unrewarding to discuss around them, but it really is very fascinating stuff. I’m enjoying getting to share my thoughts on it.”

“Your husbands?” Arven asked.

“Oh, right,” Shuichi said, pouting a little, “I suppose that was a slip too many–”

“You have multiple husbands too?” Arven asked, “Like the princes?”

“...” Shuichi gave Arven a genuinely befuddled look, before glancing at Doppio. Was he… fucking with him?

Oh…oh, okay. It did seem a little weird from their perspective, because not everyone in Dicea knew how to fight, but…okay. Saying that people in Luminary were warriors because they knew the right way to swing a sword was like saying people in Dicea were scholars because they knew how to read.

…hm. Something about the analogy still seemed a little…stretching it, to Doppio, but…well…

He wilted a little, looking away. …as someone who’d never been to school and…had no idea how he knew those educational basics…maybe he wasn’t a good person to comment on it at all. Like…it wasn’t like he had actually grown up in any kind of culture…

Couldn’t comment either about…how confusing it was that a religion picked a leader, or…well, hold on…

Doppio squinted, mouthing a few words after the man as he genuinely tried to understand what he meant about…uh…rituals and policy and changing those and… Ugh. This was totally Boss stuff. He didn’t get it.

Rubbing his temple a bit, Doppio blinked, realizing the man was looking at him…and he just looked uneasily back. Glancing between him and Arven. Uh…did he miss something?

Think…

Silently trying to replay the conversation in his head, Doppio gave the man a confused look. “...Are? …uh… Are you Prince Shuuichi, sir?”

“What?” Arven said, looking to Doppio, before peering at Shuichi, “...no, Shuichi’s going to be, like… six foot, five inches and really ripped and stuff. There’s no way this guy is a Luminary guardsman.”

“I feel like you have a very odd idea of what our average guardsman looks like, too.” Shuichi smiled lightly, before teasing a bit, “I feel a bit bad. I think a part of you, Arven, would really like Luminary to be a warrior nation full of giant, beefcake meatheads. It’s starting to sound like longing rather than derision. I’m sorry to tell you that the massive population of buff warrior jocks you’re picturing doesn’t actually exist.”

“What, but… Kaito and Mr. Nidai are both big!” Arven said, not particularly letting that idea go. “Mr. Nidai is huge!”

“Look, I could go outside, throw a stone, and hit a six foot tall Dicean woman with my eyes closed, just based on probability, but it’d still be wrong to say all Diceans are giant warrior people too,” Shuichi pointed out dryly.

“...also, wait,” Arven said, “Is Aceto right? You’re Prince Shuichi!?”

“It’s very odd to hear someone call me a prince. Please just call me Shuichi, thank you,” Shuichi said, bowing his head lightly, “You said you had a question for me?”

“Why did you lead us around to find Shuichi if you’re Shuichi!”

“Is that your question? I have to say, you came to this situation very prepared.”

…well, he still wasn’t sure Shuuichi had been a guard. And while Lake was undoubtedly strong, she wasn’t a giant. And neither had been any of the guards Doppio had tried not to make eye-contact with when he got his clothes that morning.

They had probably just run away with an idea again…

Not that Shuuichi had helped any. And hearing him…

“...pff…snk.” Doppio ducked his head a little, unable to keep down a snicker. Oh man…Prince Shuuichi was an asshole. He was the menace husband.

“We wanted to ask you if we could see your snake,” Doppio explained, giving Shuuichi a moderately shy and sheepish look. “Um… Prince Kokichi said yesterday he was gonna ask you about it, but, I-I mean, things have been kinda busy… Um.”

He gave Shuuichi a slightly tired, hesitant look. “...is your snake on the third floor too?”

Shuichi’s eyes lit up a little, smiling as he said, “You want to see Nini? Oh, I’d love to show you Nini. He used to be a classroom pet, so he’s used to a lot of activity, and sometimes I think he gets so bored, not having new people to meet or watch or fuss with… hmm.”

Shuichi looked down at Arven’s foot, Arven wearing sandals, his metal clasp viewable on his pinky toe as he leaned against Doppio. “It is, I’m afraid…”

Shuichi’s smile turned into a bit of a smirk, as he said, “But. If you boys will wait for me in the north garden? I just need to drop off these supplies to Kokichi. After that? I can meet you there.”

Turning around, heading down the hallway, Shuichi audibly snickered to himself, as he said a tad menacingly, “Walks aren’t one of the ‘conditions’, after all…”

Arven watched the elegant Luminary leave, snickers following menacingly behind him, before finally saying to Doppio, “Okay, but why are Luminaries weird? Maybe they’re not a warrior race, but they all love giving off random super villain vibes.”

As much as Shuuichi’s particular brand of asshole-ish-ness set Doppio a bit on edge, the way he seemed to light up at the mention of his snake? …that was a little comforting. Doppio would hope so, if he had a pet, but…someone who was so delighted with animals couldn’t be that bad.

“The…north garden? That’s just the backlot of the castle, isn’t it…” Doppio murmured, before he gave Shuuichi a hopeful nod. It was a bit of a walk, from where they were in the castle but there shouldn’t be any steps. So that made it doable! And it’d be pretty cool, getting to see more of the castle gardens… Maybe that cat from before would be hanging around again.

Tensing a little at the…threat? Was that a threat? Doppio just sighed and started off towards the back of the castle. “...maybe just the ones we’ve met. I really am telling you, every other Luminary I’ve met has been normal…”

…he pouted a little. Thinking. “...Kaito said those pastries we got earlier were apologies for his husbands… Do you think I could convince Shuuichi not to get Kaito involved if I promise to bake him something?”

“We could try that, but won’t the snake itself keep Kaito away?” Arven asked, before realizing, “Oh, you don’t mean like that. Right, I forgot we’ve kind of snuck out of our room, huh. Yeah, he might tell on us.”

As they limped to the north garden, it was obvious why Shuichi had picked this one in particular. While beautiful, the bushes were high and the foliage was thick in the way the other garden hadn’t been, and there were twisting, winding paths that couldn’t quite see each other, almost like a maze. If someone were to, say, be trying to show off a large snake that otherwise might alarm people? This was the best spot for relative privacy.

Though, as they found a bench to sit on near what could only be called the ‘entrance’ of the garden– or at least the one they themselves had come in by– it felt to Arven like a nice spot to maybe steal another kiss… which he’d do any second… any second… Come on, it was a beautiful, private garden, Doppio was right there, all kissable and cute and perfect, just… where were his nerves coming from??

Ah, right, this wasn’t the bedroom. Arven flushed a little, looking around. No one was around, but it still felt different, outside, the urge to make out. A little more embarrassing… but he still wanted to… just…

Arven swallowed, looking around. “I’m gonna kiss you,” he whispered, before asking, “Okay?”

Doppio nodded, sighing and adjusting his heating pad a little. “No one said we had to stay in our room…but I have a feeling the actual words aren’t gonna matter much. He’s expecting us to lie down in separate beds and sleep in the middle of the afternoon, as dumb as all those expectations are, and no amount of precaution is gonna matter, I think. He’s gonna be all…Kaito-y.”

…the north garden was really nice. The “main” area of it, he guessed, was a wide open swath of grasses and mosses, perfect for…he didn’t know. Running around or hosting some sort of event--whatever people used open outside spaces for. But surrounding that area on all sides were just…the vegetal abundance he’d seen from the other gardens, but somehow feeling…bigger and denser and more ‘wild’, in a sense. The other gardens curated for guests, but this one left to the whims of nature…but not really, since it was obviously well-maintained, and the castle was in the middle of the city so it wasn’t like the backyard opened up to the woods or anything…but it was still a cool feeling.

And it was cool to observe even just from a bench. Which…Doppio was kind of thankful for, honestly. He and Arven hadn’t been doing anything crazy, but…he was a little tired, if he were pressed to admit it. The bench was a welcome place to wait.

Though Doppio had never been good at waiting without doing something else too.

His attention wrested from the nature around them by Arven’s whispers, Doppio lit up before nodding. Giving Arven a fond grin before he leaned in, pressing his lips to Arven’s. Feeling kind of giddy and silly for it, kissing in such a beautiful place.

A little awkwardly, he found one of Arven’s hands and laced their fingers.

Arven felt his grin turn giddy and wibbly, easily entwining his fingers back with Doppio as he kissed him back. Doppio still smelling like warm sunshine. It’s not like the other guy ran all that hot, no hotter than Arven himself, but… he always smelled like someone who had been staying in the sun for the day. Warm and friendly and inviting and familiar.

For someone who had never kissed anyone else, and had never given much thought to love or romance before…man, Doppio loved kissing Arven. It was all the comfort of being invited…well, into a friend’s home, but considering that had only ever happened to him once? Fuck it, it felt like Arven boasting about his kitchen, inviting him in, a sense of cozy comfort and familiarity all with the excitement of something perpetually new. New, yes, exciting, incredibly, but…not scary.

It was Arven! How could it be?

They kissed for a bit more before breaking for air, and like what often happened now, Doppio giggled softly, flustered and happy. Tracing his thumb along the side of Arven’s hand, he huffed a small laugh, the air against Arven’s cheek as he admitted, “...this is kinda out of nowhere? …I think your teeth are really cute.”

Arven flushed red a little, flustered as he looked away at that, even as the tip of his tongue couldn’t help but trace the outline of a few of his teeth, wondering what Doppio was seeing right now that could have led to that. “Y-yeah? I mean… yeah?” He grinned, even as he felt a little embarrassed to now show off an aspect of himself Doppio had just complimented. “Can I ask why? Cause, yeah, that is kinda random.”

“Just…thinking about you, I guess,” Doppio laughed sheepishly. “I didn’t notice for a while, e-even if I could kinda obviously see them? But, uh, you kinda have fangs. And I think it’s cute… I, uh…”

Doppio glanced away, flushing red. Feeling like this was a little…much. Despite it being how he thought. “...Um, your smiles already are really nice? But, uh…when I noticed, when you grin… It’s cute. Already wanna make you smile a lot but… I dunno.” He shrugged a little, bringing up his free hand to cover his face a bit, having flustered himself trying to articulate what he meant.

Again, Arven found himself licking lightly at his teeth, though this time it was his canines. It was something he had noticed himself, actually, over the years. When he was a kid he had to bare his teeth at Chief too, because he had thought his pronounced canine teeth might be something he and Chief had in common and he had been proud of it and wanted to show it off to Chief.

Looking back at it, he must have looked very goofy, to the dog. Maybe like a puppy trying to look tough to the big dog. The memory made Arven more grateful for how good tempered his dog was. Chief had never so much as growled at him Arven’s whole life. He was a patient and good dog.

“Well, it should be easy, since you make me smile a lot.” Arven grinned, reaching up to take Doppio’s hand that he was hiding behind, before leaning forward to give him a small peck. “Pretty easy, when I’m around you.”

Doppio let out a quiet “gah!” as Arven took his hand, just further flustered by the sweet, smooth-talking words. Leaning forward to hide his face against Arven’s shoulder with a slightly louder, “Gaaaaaah!”

While whatever next sneaky thing Arven would do to combat his hiding might be interesting to see, Doppio was already throwing a damn disco his his stomach for the butterflies so he didn’t spend long down there, sitting back up to press a kiss to Arven’s cheek. “You’re too cool…ugh.”

Huffing, Doppio gave Arven a sheepish smile and a peck before sighing. “Glad I didn’t lose you to your classmates today. Don’t think I’d have it in me to fight off a bunch of teenagers trying to impress m-my…my b-boyfriend…” Doppio’s throat gave a small squeak as he stuttered through the word, face bright red at his first attempt.

Arven blinked at Doppio.

…before his shoulders raised a little, a tight, giddy smile on his face, literally biting down on his lips trying to repress the small ‘eeeeeee’ sound that hummed out from the bottom of his throat. He really needed to get that under control. That was the opposite of cool. Doppio was cool.

Arven should tell him so.

“Y-you’re cool,” Arven said wobbly, before snickering, leaning closer to him, not kissing him back this time, just feeling the heat radiating off of Doppio’s face as he said, “Way c-cooler than anyone from class… between you and them? No one else stands a chance. I’d pick you every time.”

“See?” a voice said behind them, “That. That’s what you two look like, all the time. That’s why people groan when they see it.”

Oh… He supposed it made sense, but…Doppio hadn’t expected Arven to just…look so happy.

Doppio still didn’t really understand what being in a relationship, er…h-having a boyfriend meant. But…he liked this. He liked Arven, and their time together, and kissing or just sneaking out from their room and…whatever ‘this’ was? He liked it a lot. And designating it with a weighty word like that… Well--

“Eeep!” Doppio jumped, quickly looking around as a nasally voice chuckled softly.

“I still don’t get the groaning. It’s sweet! Aw, sorry for scaring you--we didn’t want to interrupt!”

Doppio looked over, bright red, as…Prince Shuuichi and Prince Kokichi approached. Though, his expression lit up in wonder, his eyes widening in awe, at the massive python draped across Prince Shuuichi’s shoulders. Quite…comfortably draped, it looked like. Doppio had never seen such a content, chilled out snake.

“Whoa…”

Nini was, so far, having a fabulous day.

Every day was pretty good, honestly. He had drank some water, curled in and out of some rocks, then napped on the big branch right beneath the sunshine lamp. Solid day already. But when Shuichi came by to spend time with him, which was already a wonderful development to his day, then there had also been Kokichi, and it was always nice to see other people, and then???

Nini licked the air happily, tasting the new smells as Shuichi brought him downstairs and into the gardens. And oooooh, look… new people…

Arven gasped, excitedly getting up– still holding Doppio’s hand– before hurrying over to the princes. Eyes sparkling as he gushed, “Wow! Look at her–”

“Him,” Shuichi corrected, “This is Nini. You can touch, but not all at once, one hand at a time.”

“Oooooh…” Arven reached out to pet the snake, before hesitating, looking to Doppio. “Wanna go first?”

Doppio absolutely wanted to pet the snake. But he knew Arven really wanted to too, and while, hopefully, they weren’t really on a time limit…

Doppio squeezed Arven’s hand before letting go, giving a short nod to Nini. “Go for it. U-um… he’s really beautiful, Shuuichi. Kaito said you got him from a conservation in town?”

Kokichi nodded brightly. “A birthday present I never have a chance of beating, but I think I’m okay with that, because Nini’s such a joy.”

…while this was something fun for the boys, and Kokichi really didn’t want to spoil it…he couldn’t help glancing down at the brace on Arven’s toe, and…while he couldn’t really see anything on Doppio…

“Are you two holding up alright? Your check-ups go alright?”

Doppio’s eyes suddenly became entirely fixed on Nini as he nodded stiffly. “...mhmm.”

Arven gave Doppio a sheepishly grateful look, before reaching out and carefully running at first just the tips of his fingers down Nini’s scales. When Nini just looked curiously at him, Arven got a little bolder, petting down the smooth, wide curve of his long body. “...woooow–eep.”

Arven stiffened up a little as Nini, still curious, raised his long head and rested it on Arven’s arm, sniffing the air with little psss-psss sounds, before starting to curl and turn around Arven’s arm.

“Awwww, he likes you~” Shuichi said fondly, before adding in mischievously, “Or he’s trying to eat you, but, well, unlikely. We fed him last week, he should be good for a few more weeks. Doppio, go ahead and pet him, Nini’s made his own decisions. It should be alright.”

“My check-up went fine, Prince Kokichi,” Arven said almost breathlessly, watching Nini curl around his arm with wonder. Snake hug… “I mean, they broke my toe, but otherwise.”

“What about that laundry and gift you received, Doppio?” Shuichi said, turning his calm, cool gaze to him now. “Nothing’s shown up the guards may have missed in their search?”

OoO

SNAKE HUG SNAKE HUG AAAAAAA

Doppio could absolutely understand, though. Arven was a friend to animal-kind, and his arm was very nice to hold, so it only seemed obvious Nini would be interested. Still, Doppio looked a little reverent as he reached over, gently petting down Nini’s curling side. So smooth… He could practically feel the muscles underneath the scales too, something more difficult with smaller snakes. Cool~

Kokichi winced a little. “Ooph. Yeah, I noticed the brace… Bullshit how that works out sometimes, but, well. Healers know what they’re doing, and some discomfort in the meantime is worth better health later.”

Doppio startled a little, looking at Shuuichi in surprise. He…oh. He supposed it made sense Kaito had told them… Shaking his head a little, Doppio stuttered, “Oh, um, no sir. The, uh, the, uh, I guess, scientist they contracted was, uh, pretty thorough, and…I didn’t notice anything weird when I was putting things away. Just…my clothes as they’ve always been.”

He gnawed on his lip a bit. “...the pillow’s pretty soft. I-I’ve seen the style around town before.”

Shuichi smiled lightly– ‘prince’ felt weird. ‘Sir’ felt very polite. And satisfied a small, professional itch in Shuichi that did long to be a ‘sir’ sometimes– as he nodded. “That’s good. You know, if you’re ever uncomfortable, or want a second set of eyes on something? To confirm it’s safe, if only for your own peace of mind? Please feel free to reach out to me. I’m professionally trained to be adequately paranoid, and better than that, trained on how to confirm or deny those paranoias. I’m happy to be utilized in such a way.”

Arven considered asking about the hitman that had been sent after them. Half curious, half a little nervous and hoping knowing more might ease some of those nerves, but… at the same time, a part of him knew it’d do the opposite. He and Doppio were already doing everything they really could, keeping themselves safe. Maybe he’d just leave the gritty details of what was happening to the adults.

So instead he said, “It’s a cute pillow. Cats are cool… and, uh, we’ll keep that in mind, Shuichi. Were you an assassin too?”

Shuichi raised an eyebrow, before shaking his head. “Detective.”

“Ooooh… Cool,” Arven said.

Oh no… Well, it’d work itself out one way or another. It wasn’t an intense feeling, Doppio’s nerves and discomfort, but…well, Kokichi could recognize that it was enough to call Shuuichi ‘sir’. Which, in turn, made his husband satisfied and happy. Well, maybe it’d just turn out to be a speech habit from Doppio. Didn’t have to be connected.

If he’d been of a different temperament, Doppio could’ve laughed. ‘If he felt uncomfortable’? Uh, then could Shuuichi check the whole castle?

…still, he could recognize the offer for help he’d been given, and appreciate that. Huh, he wondered if…Shuuichi had worked in forensics or something back in L…

Doppio stiffened. Just staring into space before glancing up, giving Shuuichi a nervous look. “...oh. …you, um… You weren’t assigned to this case, were you?”

Kokichi frowned softly, looking at Doppio consideringly. “...no, other than being castle residents, and thus, partially responsible for your safety and well-being, we’re not involved in your case, Doppio.” He offered a small smile. “...would make hanging out a little awkward, huh?”

Doppio stiffly nodded, silently petting Nini.

“I don’t have any cases. I’m a Luminary detective, I don’t have credentials here,” Shuichi explained, “But I still have the skill sets, and I don’t mind using them as a favor.”

Nini was in heaven. Yesss… warm arm… many pets… his boy not far. Mmmmm, life was good.

“How is your chest feeling, Doppio?” Shuichi said, giving Doppio a slightly knowing look, as he noted, “Kaito seemed fairly convinced you two would be sleeping, right about now. He’s napping with Miyako in our window seat as we speak, saying something about wanting to get up around dinner when you two would be up.”

Kaito had been doing homework with the kids, but there hadn’t actually been that much homework to check on. And once they were done, Timothy, Kimiko, and Cali had started begging Haneda to take them to the arcade. Apparently there was some sort of rolling pin game the three could compete against each other with, and apparently, they were getting competitive about it. As far as Shuichi had understood it, Kimiko was winning, and Cali and Tim were fighting viciously for second place.

Shrugging a little, Doppio seemed less shy about blatantly disobeying Kaito’s expectations. “M’okay. We were in our room, but got bored, so…” He shrugged again, giving Shuuichi a nod. “Wanted to see if we could find you and meet Nini. Worked out.”

“So it did,” Kokichi laughed softly, before giving Doppio a gentle look. “Though, we wouldn’t just send you to lie down if your chest was hurting. Believe me, I really get just wanting to be outside or do something fun when you feel shitty…”

Looking around a little, Doppio shrugged again. “...I have a heating pad on, like they told me to. But it really doesn’t feel that bad. Um… Nell said they were pretty irritated, my lungs, I mean, but… I don’t need to cough constantly or anything.”

…huh. ‘Sir’ for Shuuichi, Kokichi had heard that Doppio barely ever addressed Seiko directly, and the kid was terrified of healers… But nothing, talking about ‘Nell’.

“Well, that’s good! Still gotta keep up the regimen, but not having annoying symptoms is a big plus!” Kokichi grimaced, rolling his eyes a little. “Remember once they had me on an inhaler for a bit, ‘cause my throat hurt and I couldn’t stop coughing. Way better than a ventilator, so you know, but still annoying. If you can heal just being a bit bored, that’s ideal.”

Shuichi gave Kokichi a slightly amused look, before leaning in to give him a slight kiss on the cheek. “You are so very biased. My Kokichi here spent far too long, far too often being sick throughout his life, so his tolerance for just laying in it is very low, and his endurance for dealing with sickness while running around is very high. I’m fairly certain unless your body literally can’t move, it’ll always be moving, regardless of how you feel, Kokichi,” Shuichi teased lightly, “That’s just how you are.”

“Meanwhile, I adore getting the excuse to rest.” Shuichi sighed, straightening up, looking a bit forlorn as he admitted, “It’s the only thing I miss about being pregnant. I wanted to just randomly go take a nap? Try to stop me. Don’t you dare question me. Who cares what time it is or if I just woke up from a nap? I’m pregnant, your argument is invalid.”

Arven raised eyebrows at that. “Right! You were, like, for real pregnant… What was that like?”

Shuichi smirked. “Being pregnant?”

“Yeah. I mean… was it weird?”

“Near the end of my pregnancy,” Shuichi said, leaning in, smirking darkly, “I discovered that you can feel ticklish in certain parts of your stomach… and I figured that out because Miyako went through a phase where she likes to spread out her toes against the bump of my belly button.”

Arven gasped, shuddering. “No.”

Kokichi laughed sheepishly, looking all too pleased with the kiss on the cheek. “Maybe so. But I don’t think I’m totally wrong.” And considering the boys had, likely, immediately left their room for adventure, he had a feeling that he was on the money for them too.

Doppio gave Shuuichi a mildly curious look, as he explained a bit about being pregnant, but uh…very quickly that curious look turned into a horrified one. “Nope. Nope, nope, nope, I’ve had enough body horror for one day, don’t need to know that.”

Snickering a bit--’body horror’ was…a bit concerning, just from a check-up, but, well, Kokichi figured that it was different for someone with a medical phobia--Kokichi gave Shuuichi a fond look, giving him a cheek kiss now. “Even reading every pregnancy book ever written, it was a time full of discovery for us. And our Miya had tons of personality even before she was born, so we probably got a lot of that courtesy of her.”

…existing before you were ‘born’. Maybe it wasn’t…all that…completely different…

Shuichi laughed lightly, covering his mouth lightly with the tip of his fingers. “Great reactions, very worth telling you. If you’re ever morbidly curious, feel free to ask again.”

“I-I think I’m good, thank you,” Arven said, nose wrinkling, still trying to imagine feeling, like… toes. Inside of you. Shiver.

“Oh, and Arven, I’ve heard there’s a chemistry lab you need a supervisor for?” Shuichi said, smiling at Arven’s nod. “I’ll be happy to help with that. Chemistry was one of my favorite subjects in school, so that’ll be nice to revisit.”

“Oh, uh, thank you,” Arven said, “...you guys are really eager to, just, do things, huh?”

“We’re people accustomed to being told to do the impossible like it's a matter of course.” A woman said, “High school chemistry is the easy stuff.”

“Oh,” Shuichi smiled, “Hello Maki. I hadn’t seen you yet today, was starting to worry.”

“Scoping out a potential date area for Elia and me,” Maki said, “Turns out Dicea has this strange sort of ‘secret’ underground caged boxing culture? It’s not really a secret, they just seem to enjoy the aesthetic of pretending it is. It’s all a bit silly, but it could be fun.”

It felt a little too late. Doppio’s brain only reminding him now that they were like…two subjects away. But maybe that was for the best… Kokichi and Shuuichi talking about Kokichi’s health woes had reminded him of Kaito mentioning that Kokichi also got really horrible migraines that impacted his memory and…well? Doppio wasn’t even sure if he wanted to ask anything about that. There wasn’t…really a good way to ask, like, ‘how do you deal with that?’ because…the way to deal with it was just to survive it, then deal with the headache after.

…maybe he had just wanted to make a connection with someone. Even if his body was just…what it was, still finding similarit--

Doppio froze as another voice joined them, missing purple eyes snapping over to him and immediately filling with worry.

It was… It made Doppio feel bad, to consider hiding behind anyone else, but as Maki approached, his gaze started jittering around, trying to find a way to…leave. Get out.

Maybe she hadn’t been…lying and just trying to freak him out before, but…Nell hadn’t mentioned anything like gears inside of him! So he still didn’t know what that was! A-and it was scary, and…and she’d told him to leave and that he was hurting everyone and…

Doppio swallowed, his breath coming a little short.

“Hey, Maki-chan!” Kokichi greeted, still happy to see her…regardless. Though he gave her a bit of a raised eyebrow. “Underground fighting? That’s… Well, if it’s not actually secret and they have regulations stuff…” He shook his head, clearing up his muttering. “I hope you guys have a good time, seeing it.”

…but then he turned back to Doppio. Not wanting to embarrass him, putting him in the spotlight, but… “...Doppio, are you alright? We could move over towards the bench if you need to rest?”

Most of Kokichi’s words just sounded like static in his head, and Doppio just shrugged. Arms crossed over his chest and keeping the heating pad up, since…he didn’t really trust his hands around Nini right then.

“You could just come see it with us, Kokichi,” Maki said, “Kaito would have fun, and Shuichi wouldn’t want to go, so he could watch Miyako.”

Shuichi shrugged. “True, though, I could also just babysit Kaito, so he doesn’t end up third wheeling with you and Elia if Kokichi doesn’t want to go.”

“Sure.” Maki nodded, before looking to Doppio. “Actually, I wanted to steal him for a bit, since I see he’s out and about anyway.”

Arven, who was starting to worry over Doppio’s discomfort, squared his shoulders and raised his chin at Maki. “No? Didn’t you tell Doppio to kick bricks? You have some nerve just walking up to him after that.”

“I do,” Maki agreed, “It’s a gift. You can come with us, then, if you want. Might stop the panic attack that’s brewing, anyway.”

Kokichi did appreciate the offer, but, uh… As impressive as MMA showcases could be, an ‘underground’ fight that valued its performance as something unregulated? He’d probably pass. Better to let people have their (better be safe) fun without him wincing and worrying over everything.

…kinda like now.

Doppio just paled as Maki wanted to talk to him, and he managed to wheeze out, “N-not having a panic attack…”

Frowning, Kokichi slowly went to Doppio’s side, not touching just yet. “...we’re all here to protect you, Doppio. You don’t have to trust or like us, but no one here is going to hurt you…alright? Maki-chan’s not going to hurt you.”

…though he did send her a worried, mildly questioning look. Not because he thought she would hurt him, of course, but…if Doppio was getting this freaked out by her wanting to talk…?

Staring at the grass, Doppio took a startled step away from Kokichi, before shuffling towards Maki, giving her a small nod.

…just get it over with. If she told him to leave again… H-he didn’t know, but…it was better than her just being around.

Arven fretted a bit, still wearing Nini, before calling to Doppio, “Aceto, do you want me to come?”

Maki stared expectantly at Doppio.

Did he want Arven to come? What would that even do? What would it not do? What…

The movement was small, but Doppio nodded quickly, shifting his weight on his feet…before he blinked, a little dazed, and turned around to offer his shoulder to Arven again. Still not looking at anyone.

“A-ah, okay, I’m coming, uuuuuh, Shuichi– ah, thank you,” Arven said, as Shuichi deftly untangled Nini, who pouted. Noooooo, he had been enjoying himseeeeelf.

With Arven untangled from snake hugs, he limped over to Doppio, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. Maki seemed impassive to it as the three walked away into the garden. Shuichi watched them go before sighing a little. “Been a minute since I’ve seen Maki that nervous. Guess the last time they talked really was that tense… You gonna listen in?”

Kokichi sighed, watching them go, before he shook his head a little. …before giving Shuuichi a guilty look. “...I wouldn’t be able to prove it, without getting more evidence, but…it was really bad last time, Shuu-chan. I won’t…eavesdrop, but I’ll…” He huffed. “...Maki-chan would be able to get him to the med bay if he really does have a panic attack, but…I’ll keep an ‘ear’ out for that. Should keep Arven from trying to run after them…”

Arven, in turn, was warily looking back and forth between Maki and Doppio. The three of them just… walking? Weren’t they going to talk about something? What was happening…?

“...sooooo–”

“I assumed you’d have questions for me,” Maki said, sounding impassive about it. “Now’s the time.”

Doppio didn’t want to talk, really. It was kind of hard with the ringing in his ears. But staying silent when you were specifically told to talk never turned out well, s-so just say something, anything, just whatever comes up at the top of your head--

“Where’d you put it?” Doppio murmured, words barely a sound on the breeze.

“Mm?” Maki hummed, before realizing, “Ah.”

Lifting up her hand, almost like a magic trick, she flicked her wrist, and the gear was in her hands. Looking over it, she said, “I got it looked at. No chemical reaction in the metal that’s particularly unusual. The fluid on it had the same consistency and reaction as mucus and stomach bile. Cut into it here,” she said, pointing to a small chip in the gear, showing it to him, “Nothing unusual inside it either. Here. See it for yourself,” she said, handing Doppio the gear.

Arven looked curiously at the gear, before glancing at Doppio. “...why’s the gear important?” he asked.

Doppio flinched as the gear appeared, making a wheezing noise as Maki just…talked about getting it tested. Inspected and experimented on… He couldn’t take it from Maki either, screwing his eyes shut as he involuntarily held Arven tighter, his arm trembling slightly.

…as much as it seemed useless to say it wasn’t true anymore…

“...m-missing organs,” he mumbled to Arven, about as coherent as he could make himself.

“Oh?” Arven whispered back, before glaring suspiciously at the gear, “...oh.”

Maki held it out for a while, before sighing. Taking the gear back to herself and looking down at it, she considered it for a moment… before clenching the gear tight into her hand, she stopped. Stepping in front of them, giving the boys a stern look. “This gear makes sense to you, Arven?” Maki asked.

Arven balked, unsure how to answer. “Uh… I mean… sort of…”

Maki’s lips thinned, a brief look of irritation running through her face… before she sighed. Tucking her hair behind her ear a little, as she admitted, “I should take responsibility. I imagine my reaction might have given you a bit of a complex. You should know, Doppio, that I was planning to give you the speech I gave you from the beginning. This was just…” Maki spun the gear between her fingers, “An interruption.”

“And when I sent you away because you were dangerous, the reasons I had were true, but,” Maki huffed, “But my answer to those problems, you leaving, was given with ulterior motives. I knew once he calmed down, Kaito wasn’t going to just quietly let you leave to return home. If you didn’t leave on your own, the situation still wasn’t going to get solved, and that idiot was going to get himself into trouble trying to salvage the situation. So I took a risk, tried to send you home, and tried to send you a bodyguard that could collect evidence of the abuse before pulling you out himself.”

Maki paused, before admitting, “I didn’t think you had running away in you. It felt like a very surefire plan. You caught me off guard.”

He still couldn’t look up at her--or look at the gear--but…well, he could listen. Something in him bracing to…he didn’t know.

(...have someone call him disgusting. Insist that he was still ‘wrong’. Send him in for examination, e-even if the stuff Nell had done was…okay, he guessed, but…)

…he wasn’t expecting something that sounded a lot like an apology.

“...you weren’t wrong,” Doppio muttered, shifting his weight a little. Lip firmly in the gnaw-zone. “...’n I didn’t think I had it in me either… I was just gonna…” …go home to his death. Resign himself to that since…he’d only bring trouble to other people, and the one person who wanted him would only be helped with him six feet under. But…

“...Arven suggested running, though ‘n…seemed better than dying.” He still couldn’t look up, but…he gave Arven a small squeeze. Hoping to convey his gratitude.

Arven squeezed Doppio’s hand back, a shudder of fear at the idea that Doppio might have been killed that same day, had Arven not offered what in retrospect was a long shot… before he squared his shoulders, glaring at Maki again as he stepped forward a bit. “Your plan risked killing him.”

Maki didn’t really think so. Mr. Nidai was very reliable. But in theory… “Yes.” She agreed.

“So… so you should apologize!” Arven demanded, “That wasn’t okay! That’s crazy!”

“Hm.” Maki hummed, tucking her hair back behind her ear again, since it had fallen away pretty quickly. “Fine.”

Looking as dignified as she could about it, Maki smoothed down the bottom of her dress before kneeling down onto the grass, before looking up at Doppio. “Are you aware of what a submission bow is? It’s a fairly serious gesture in Luminary. It’s a motion that invites the person being bowed to, to physically harm the bower as they please, in the hopes that by the end of the ritual, the person being bowed to might feel that the issue has been resolved in at very least a cathartic way, if not actual justice. It’s the sort of ritual that really only accounts for feelings of vengeance in the individual. There’s not much else to it.”

Maki let that explanation sit for a bit, still just sitting on her ankles, before asking, “Would you have any interest in a submission bow?”

Doppio tensed as Maki knelt, but…well. It still was uncomfortable, just as when Kaito did it. But the calmer, more serene look on Maki’s face did…help a little. Give off fewer alarms than before.

…as was her actually explaining what she was doing.

“Oh… That…explains that, I guess,” he muttered, before shaking his head, still giving Maki an uncomfortable look. “...I don’t want to hurt you. ‘N…I-I’m not mad at you either. Maybe…you made a plan with some risks, but…”

Something deadened a little in Doppio’s eyes as he looked away again, shrinking into his sweater. “...you still weren’t wrong. The c-castle is a public place so I guess…that’s kinda… B-but…you have a right to…protect your family, n’ all. Tell me to fuck off. That doesn’t…require an apology, really…”

Arven frowned at Doppio, before saying, “No, it does. Maki risked your life with some stupid game she was playing. She knew you were in danger and did it anyway. It’s not okay for anyone to treat you like that. In fact… in fact!”

Emboldened, Arven shook himself out of Doppio’s grip, before limping forward to Maki. Glaring down at her, as he stammered out, “Th-this is a submission bow, right? That’s the a-apology?”

Maki raised an eyebrow. “Technically, no–”

Skrrt-skrrt!

Maki stared, genuinely too stunned to say anything, as out of nowhere Arven whipped out of one of his tool belt pockets a small water squirter, shooting it at her forehead. Maki just stared at him, water trickling down her face a little, as he did it again, before stammering, “B-bad! That was a bad thing to do! Y-you can’t treat my boyfriend like that, got it!?”

Skrrt-skrrt!

Doppio shrugged, half-way murmuring something like, “Well, it’s not like I’m not used to it…” before he jolted, watching Arven with a non insignificant amount of worry. He…did believe Kokichi that Maki wouldn’t hurt them, a-and…Mr. Nidai hadn’t hurt them, so Doppio knew that just relying on vibes wouldn’t help him out, but…

He stared in astonishment as Arven squirted Maki like a misbehaving pet. He didn’t even know Arven carried around a water gun. Just…scolding her like…

Doppio turned cherry red, covering his face…before his shoulders started to shake. Quietly, small sounds coming from him before they became more audible. Little, incredulous giggles, sounding more delighted with each little bubble.

That was so silly what the heck?! AAAA Arven was so cute and protective and he called him his boyfriend! AAAAA--

“Hhk-hhk!” Doppio leaned forward, caught off-guard as he coughed through his laughs.

Arven looked over his shoulder, flushing red, looking a mixture of still pissed and also delighted as he watched Doppio’s giggle fit. Sure, he knew this was a little ridiculous, but… well, if it was good enough for Chief…

Arven couldn’t help but squeak a little, taking a step back, as Maki cleared her throat from the ground. He had kinda forgotten this in his outrage for Doppio, but Maki was, like… an assassin. And, briefly, when he looked back, the look in her eyes reminded him of that…

But then she pulled a little black handkerchief out of nowhere– that seemed to be a preferred trick of hers– wiping down her face, before sighing a bit. “...do me a favor.” She said, looking at Arven seriously, “Don’t pull that trick on Kaito. I’m very serious. Do you understand me?”

“What… uh. Sure. Yes?” Arven said, still holding up the squirt gun, now a tad defensively.

“That said. That was very sweet,” Maki said, before looking to Doppio, and bowing her head. “I am sorry that my plan put you at risk, and that it might have made you feel more alarmed in an already alarming situation. I can be cruel, in my attempts to help people. I’m sorry my help was cruel.”

“O-oh, uh, i-it’s - hhk!” Doppio coughed, covering his mouth with his arm and clearing his throat before he shrugged. “Um…è una piuma nell'oceano. I, uh, accept your apology? Hhm.” (It’s a feather in the ocean.)

Wincing a little, Doppio rubbed his chest, blinking a little from how warm it was…before he remembered the pack there. …hm. It would be…best if this stopped soon.

Shuffling over, Doppio took his place to become Arven’s stability again, looking at the water shooter curiously. “...where’d you even keep that?”

“This big pocket here,” Arven said, pointing to the open clasped pocket hanging on his multi-tool belt.

“Alright.” Maki said, standing up and brushing some of the grass off her knees, “Well, with that done. Time to talk about what’s actually important to you. I know about your magic bullshit.”

Arven blinked. “...what?”

Amaina gasped on his shoulder. Whaaaaaaat? What magic bullshit? Girl you craaaazy.

Maki looked distinctly unsurprised by Amaina’s sudden presence. Just glancing dryly at the small pseudo fairy.

“Huh…hhk!” He could see all the assorted pockets and…things Arven had (ever-prepared) but…Doppio had never really thought about it. He wondered what else Arven had stashed for…very niche and particular situations.

Unfortunately, though, this situation wasn’t over.

Doppio just blinked at Maki along with Arven, uncomprehending, even as Amaina showed up…

Until Maki looked right at Amaina.

And then his expression grew a bit distressed again. “...she said healer visits were private…”

“Who did?” Maki asked, briefly looking genuinely confused, before shaking her head. “Don’t assume. No one had to tell me. You threw up a gear in front of me. I won’t explain myself further, except to say that I have my own magic bullshit.”

“Really…” Arven leaned forward, before whispering, “Are you a vampire?”

“What? No. Stop making assumptions. And I just told you I’m not explaining my situation,” Maki said. “I don’t even particularly want to know your situation. But my brothers are all offering you certain levels of protection and expertise, Kokichi government, Kaito oversight, Shuichi investigation. And since you seem to be dealing with potential magic problems, it felt stupid to hold back offering you help if you needed defense or guidance there, just to keep the fact that I know such things exist a secret.”

“That said,” Maki said, her eyes narrowing, “I offer this help under the criteria that you do not expose me to others. You should keep that in mind for anyone who helps you with magic stuff. Vampire–” Maki glared at Arven, who flinched, “Or otherwise. Even just knowing about magic stuff opens you up to annoyances. You can come to me for help if you need help. But don’t tell others it’s me you’re coming to. Understand?”

…he supposed that was true, but in fairness, if someone threw up a gear in front of him, ‘magic’ wouldn’t be his first guess. And, you know, maybe that was just on him--he had been talking to a fake angel that could read his mind for a week, and he still had a tough time believing Dr. Nell that she was a vampire.

But it was probably…good, that someone was offering their help with…magic bullshit. Sure, Doppio had Amaina, but…

Nodding slowly, Doppio shifted his weight. “...o-okay. And, um…thanks, I suppose. A-and for…” He gave her an uneasy look, coughing briefly into his shoulder. “...not? Telling people about the gear? That, uh…”

Doppio looked around the garden nervously, before looking almost startled as a nearly hysterical-sounding laugh bubbled up from him. “W-well, uh, the whole ‘endangering me’ thing might’ve been even more of a moot point than it was, it turns out. So, uh, don’t really need help right now, I-I think.”

Maki tilted her head at that, before shrugging. “You can explain that if you want to. But like I said, I don’t actually care. Just know that if you have weird magic shit that’s putting you in danger, I’m a resource. And, seriously.” Maki held out her hand, and flicked her thumb. The gear flew through the air, landing at Doppio’s feet. “You should keep this. It’s foolish to ignore things about yourself, just because you don’t understand them. Keep that in case it’s ever helpful, if the day comes where you do want answers for that sort of thing. Since you seemed just as surprised as I was to see it, when it first happened.”

“...okay, but seriously. Are you some other sort of, like, ‘fantasy’ creature then? Like vampires?” Arven asked.

Maki just glared at him. A heat starting to radiate off of her. “It’s none of your business.”

Doppio flinched a little as the gear landed in front of him. …how laughable was that, huh? ‘Foolish to ignore things about yourself just because you don’t understand them’... Wasn’t that just a tag-line for his whole damn life? The whole…t-two fucking years of it. Two years of ignoring and not questioning anything because…

He grimaced at the gear, still covered in…wet, red stuff. Coughing a few more times into his arm, he pulled off his sweater, carefully catching the heating pad and adjusting it back into place before he used the cloth to pick up the gear, wrapping it up.

And…not quite looking at either of them again, he gently nudged Arven. “S’cool if you wanna pet Nini some more, but…think I’m gonna head inside. Don’t…feel great.”

Arven gave Doppio a worried look, before shaking his head. “I’d rather stay with you, if that’s alright. Besides,” Arven laughed lightly, adjusting his arm around Doppio’s shoulder, “You’re kinda my ride home.”

Maki didn’t seem all that surprised about Doppio’s reaction. He was far from the first person to walk away from a conversation like this with her looking absolutely exhausted. But, still, she didn’t regret how the conversation went. Honestly, she wasn’t very ‘magical’ herself, dragon ancestry or not, but she knew enough people to make her a valuable resource. And since the actual magic people in her life couldn’t expose themselves without risk, she figured she might as well take that particular mantle up. Hopefully they’d never need to bother her. But they knew she was an option now, at least.

Her duty to Kaito done, Maki headed back to where she knew Kokichi and Shuichi still were.

Doppio shot Arven a guilty look before smiling softly. “I suppose so. Um…” Looking down, between the bundle in his arms and Arven’s waist, Doppio dithered for a moment before tucking his folded sweater under his arm and putting the other around Arven. He took a bracing--thankfully not cough-interrupted--breath before holding himself up with more strength.

“You…okay with going back to our room? I, uh… Well, I hate to prove Kaito right, but I think I might actually take a nap or something…” His chest still wasn’t hurting…but it did feel a little…itchy. And, uh…his head wasn’t in the best place…

…what the hell was he going to do with the gear?

“Actually? In all honesty, my foot started throbbing, like, twenty minutes ago,” Arven admitted, grinning sheepishly, his limp notably a little more pronounced as they moved. “I think getting off of it for a while might be good, maybe take a pain killer… not that that makes Kaito right,” he stressed. “We totally didn’t need to stay in our room to rest. Did plenty of resting out here!”

“Mmmm?!” Doppio made a strained, worried noise as his head whipped to look at Arven, eyes wide. He…sort of wanted to ask why Arven hadn’t said anything, but, well, 20 minutes ago they had been petting a snake, so he got that, but…oooh, and he’d asked Arven to come with him to talk to Makiiiiii, fuuuuuuuuck.

“Okay…okay, um? I-I could try to piggy-back you? I don’t think I could lift you straight up, but that’s a little easier and…i-it didn’t look that hard when Lake did it,” Doppio fretted, looking around as he tried to think about how to get back to their room as painlessly as possible. “Oh, but… Mm. Do you think you could hold th…my sweater, and just…lean forward? Nng, but you’d need the balance if my grip starts to slip… Um…”

“U-uh, if you think you can lift me?” Arven sputtered, giving Doppio a startled look. “I mean, I can force myself to walk, it’s not, you know, can’t walk bad.”

Oooooooh, should I get the upgrade? He’s stronk, he could probably carry you one handed~ Amaina said, sounding a little dreamy, One finger… with his brain. Well, maybe not that last one but A GIRL CAN DREAM

“No! Absolutely not! Do not do whatever mind trick thing you do to bring him, Kaito can not know that he definitely wasn’t right about us resting in our room!” Arven said, suddenly looking determined as he said, “Doppio, bend forward, we’ve got this!”

O/////O

Giving both Arven and Amaina a determined (if confusedly flustered) look, Doppio lowered himself into a sort of bent over squat, holding his free arm out to steady Arven whenever he got on. “W-we’ve got this! Kaito can keep napping with his daughter, we’re totally fine on our own! …the room isn’t that far. I can totally carry you…yeah!”

“Get on, Arven!”

Arven scurried on. Or, well, he attempted to scurry, but the way Doppio’s body bent immediately as he tried to get on made him gasp, and then he did something that was less ‘scurrying’ and more ‘oh geez, okay, you got this, let’s be careful now’. But after a moment, he was on! Arms wrapped around Doppio’s shoulders, linking his legs together around Doppio’s waist to try to help Doppio keep his grip on him, as he said, “H-ha! See, w-we’ve got this! Can… can you walk?”

Amaina flew ahead and, wearing what could most simply be called a ‘cheerleader uniform’, raised some pompoms as she shouted, Doppio, Doppio, he’s the guy! He can move Arven through the sky! Doppio, Doppio, rye rye rye, please don’t drop our little senpai!

Doppio liked Arven a lot, so he wouldn’t say this in any context outside of clearly joking and teasing, but…

Oh fuck, he was heavy. What the hell was Lake pumping?

Buckling almost immediately under his boyfriend’s weight, Doppio sucked in a few breaths and braced his legs, trying to take the bulk of…the bulk against his thighs and hips. You’ve got this, Aceto, you’ve carried WAY bigger bodies way longer, you can carry your boyfriend to your room without collapsing, you can do it!

“Hhhaaaainnnnk!” Doppio honked, wheezing his answer, and with a puff of his cheeks he was…slowly trudging forward. Arms bent tight back over Arven’s thighs, as he was…not completely bent over, but still fairly horizontal but…well, no one could say he wasn’t carrying Arven.

And little by little…ha! It wasn’t even the worst pace Doppio’d ever had!

As Arven went back and forth between openly worrying and cheering Doppio on, Amaina continued to do cheerleading routines around them, dancing around them for every step. As they moved into the castle, they got a, uh, bit of an audience, people glancing at them as they went, a few housekeepers curiously just ‘happening’ to need to clean around them as they giggled to each other.

Arven, good naturedly, waved at a few of them, before chuckling into Doppio’s ear, “We’re almost there. I could walk the rest of the way, if you want to call this far enough?”

Doppio was a shade of red yet unknown to him, and not just from physical exertion. Everyone…watching them. Laughing. Looking on like they were prime entertainment… Being so conspicuous and causing a scene--not long ago, this would be a nightmare for Doppio.

…now?

He was still kind of embarrassed, but…there was also a certain sense of excitement to it that was fluttering in his gut. Which wasn’t entirely welcome, since Doppio was relying quite a bit on his core at the moment, but…still? Just…doing something like this, that was still meaningful, but, he could admit, probably looked pretty silly on the outside?

…it was kinda fun.

Hearing Arven so close in his ear, Doppio almost wavered for a moment before he drew himself up again. Shaking his head, as words were beyond him at this point, before he bolstered up for the final push. His back straightening a little, Doppio almost managed a brisk walk as he stared dead-set on their bedroom door, ignoring, no, unable to see anything but his goal as he put his all into bringing his boyfriend back home safe.

Arven couldn’t help but be impressed as Doppio seemed to get his second wind, storming– slowly, but steadily– to their bedroom. Amaina got more and more excited, as suddenly, there were many Amaina’s around, doing coordinated cheer routines and flipping and dancing through the air.

And again, she wasn’t the only one. A few of the housekeepers, having realized the boys’ destination, watched from a distance… and clapped, laughing lightly, when Doppio got to the door, even managing to open it up on his own, heading inside.

Arven laughed, expecting Doppio to put him down at the door, but was genuinely surprised as Doppio kept going, stomping and shuffling forward, until they got to the closer bed… and Arven laughed as Doppio turned, and then flopped backwards. Crashing them onto the bed.

“Ha ha! Aceto!” Arven laughed, wrapping his arms back around Doppio, as he panted on top of him, staring at the ceiling, “You did it!”

“Hhhhhhhhhhææææææh” Doppio wheezed, the sound seeming to come from somewhere deep inside him, rather than his vocal chords. Now that they were in the room, he went completely limp, panting and wheezing, his face all the way down to the collar of his shirt bright red as he trembled slightly.

Though, he put in one last burst of effort to throw an arm up and flash a thumbs up…somewhere. The ceiling probably appreciated it.

Eyes shut, Doppio turned his head slightly, coughing.

He’d done it. Truly a victory.

Arven laughed more, hugging him close, before kissing him on the top of his head… before making a low, appreciative humming sound. “You smell like sunlight~” Arven whispered, “...I think that’s becoming my favorite smell.”

That really wasn’t helping the redness or out-of-breathness, Arven!

Doppio made an odd, gutteral sound at that, bringing up a hand to pat at one of Arven’s around him, and he tried to form actual words, but-- “Hhk-HKK-KK-KKU-HHK!”

Arven blinked, before sitting up, bringing Doppio up with him as Doppio seemed to cough his lungs out on his lap. “Aceto…?”

“...oh,” Arven realized, a shudder of fear running through him. “Right… you weren’t supposed to…”

Arven blinked once. Twice… before turning to Amaina. “Amaina, go get Nell. Aceto may have o-overdone it… a-and do your mind trick thing to Kaito, my foot’s throbbing too much if Aceto needs something quickly!”

OoO on it Little King!

“N-No! St--HHK-HHK KOOOH!” Doppio furiously shook his head, since he couldn’t get the words out around his coughs. He was fine! No need to get a healer or alert Kaito or anything, really!

…it just…kind of…felt tight. And achy. And he couldn’t stop coughing…

Boneless in Arven’s lap, Doppio tried to wipe his mouth and suck in a gasp of air. “I-I’m fi--KKH--fine!”

Arven hesitated, seeing Amaina also seem to hesitate, still just hovering there. “Y… you sure? You don’t sound fine… you were literally not supposed to lift anything heavy…”

O.O Amaina just stared at Doppio. Waiting to see if his coughing would smooth out.

…he wasn’t supposed to lift anything heavy…or do literally anything that would make him breathe heavily.

…but Arven had been hurting! He couldn’t just do nothing! And…and he had felt fine… Why did it still apply when he…h-he might not even have the organs to be irritated…

Doppio winced, his coughs continuing and, uh…kind of hurting his ribs. “Hhk-hhk-HHK, s’HHK, f-fine…”

O.O

OnO

OoO Yeah buuuuulllshit going with little king on this one folks brrrrrrrrrrb!

Arven opened his mouth to protest, but as Doppio curled into himself in Arven’s lap, he couldn’t really bring himself to stop her. She disappeared in an instance anyway, and Arven felt a small bit of relief, knowing help was coming as he tried to help Doppio sit up more. “Come on, come on, let’s, uh… I’m not sure. I think I heard once sitting up straight helps breathing? Um… should I get you water?”

Fuck. Fuck.

Doppio did try to follow along with Arven’s nudges, but…well, it was the whole problem, wasn’t it? Sure, he’d been a little out of breath, but…but he’d be fine if he’d just stop coughing. That was literally it! But because he was coughing it was hard to breathe a-and hard not to curl into himself, i-it felt like that’s just the way his muscles were convulsing with the coughs, and…

He shook his head a little as he coughed and wheezed. He didn’t think he’d be able to swallow.

Arven swallowed, no idea what to do. Doppio was still coughing. His face was turning colors. He didn’t know what to do. He hoped someone got there soon. Arven started rubbing Doppio’s back, vaguely hoping that would help, as he murmured to himself, “Some of my herbs are good for coughs… but that’s more like throat inflammation, not whatever’s going on with your chest… t-try to breathe, Aceto, help’s coming…”

…the rubs on his back did feel kind of nice…though they were a drop in the pool compared to everything else. So…Doppio just took Arven’s advice and tried to breathe around his hacks, trusting Arven to keep him up until…

“Boys?! I’m coming in!” True to her word, Nell pushed the still half-open door open, taking a quick look at the situation before she sighed softly. Asking Arven to help prop Doppio up more as she put together…well. Heh. Maybe it had been a sign.

It looked like an inhaler with some sort of baggie on top, and Nell shook it before holding the mouthpiece up to Doppio. “Just breathe in as much as you can, Doppio. Try to hold it.”

Arven did his best to follow the doctor’s orders, helping Doppio sit up as she brought a bag to Doppio’s mouth. He watched carefully, to the point where he accidentally matched Doppio’s breathing, as she told him to breathe in. Breathe out. Hold it. Breathe.

Arven could see it helping, grateful to the doctor. But there was still a weird, immense part of him that was relieved when he saw the first flash of red, a still somewhat sleepy but concerned looking Kaito peeking in, assessing the situation, before hurrying in, carrying with him what looked like a carrying case with a nuzzled up, sleeping Miyako in it. “Knew something felt weird,” Kaito muttered, placing Miyako’s carrier down on the desk, before asking Nell, “What’s happening? Do you need anything else from the medward?”

“We might need to replace his heating pack soon, but…we’ll see for now,” Nell said softly, eyes still fixed between the baggie, Doppio’s face, and his chest. Which was moving remarkably smoother now, his breaths more even, but…

“...Arven?” the healer said gently. A sort of softness that still didn’t dampen the accusation to come. “What’s this I hear about Doppio carrying you through the halls?”

Maybe Kaito would have had a bigger reaction, had he not just woken up. But instead he just slapped his hand over his face, muttering into his palm, “Mothereffing shenanigans.”

“W-we, uh, we, we…” Arven stammered, feeling very in trouble (one of the rare times in his life he had ever felt like this, actually) as he finally caught a word, “We decided to take a walk so… so…”

“Okay, well, that paints at least a piece of the picture,” Kaito muttered, suddenly shuffling next to Nell and kneeling down at the bed’s edge, saying, “Excuse me, sorry, if you don’t need me to run to make a resource trip right this second, let me check on something–”

“Ow!”

“Yeah, I thought that looked off when I came in. Dammit, Arven, you just had this broken an hour ago! You were supposed to let it rest! Geez… should I get Dr. Green? Or can I re-wrap the clamp myself, doc? I know how, I’ve handled broken fingers before. Had a wrestler boyfriend, for a while. I imagine toes aren’t much different.”

“They’re different in enough ways that matter,” Nell sighed, looking over Doppio again before she gave Kaito a nod. “Could you hold this up while I fix Arven’s brace? There’s nothing more that needs to be done, at the moment, just support.”

As they shuffled around, Doppio peeked open a sheepish eye at Kaito, the most he could do for the time being, as Nell shot Arven an unimpressed look. “I seem to remember explicitly telling Doppio not to do anything that would make him breathe heavily. And while you were given the okay to walk, feeling any pain generally means not to. We’re trying to make sure you don’t lose a toe here, Arven.”

“...or for you to give yourself asthma, Doppio.”

Kaito hummed, a sharp, mmmmhm, as he raised an eyebrow at Doppio’s sheepish look. “Yep. Still feeling that oxygen coming in and out, Doppio? Good, you can breathe through the anxiety of me telling you I am absolutely tucking you in today. You and your boyfriend both. And I’m gonna make it real embarrassing. There will be an insistence on cute pajamas and tucked ends and book readings. If I’m still this annoyed later, you’re even getting some nighty-nights in a funny voice. Kiss whatever ‘impress Arven points’ ya just made goodbye kid, you’re both about to be adorable.”

“You can’t let him do this, it’s inhumane,” Arven whispered urgently to Nell, though he whimpered when the brace was put back into place. “Ow…”

All Doppio could do was weakly glare. And the only solace he had was, uh…he kinda felt like he could be asleep in two minutes, as soon as he laid down. Considering everything that had happened lately, you’d think he’d know, but, uh, turns out struggling to breathe made you real tired.

“We’ll get you an ice pack for your foot too,” Nell promised. “Rest, ice, compression, and elevation. …and this is the appropriate consequence for deliberately going against healers’ recommendations, I’d think. Though I could get a second opinion, from all the others who want to see you in good health.”

Doppio gave a small hum, which Nell echoed as she stood back up. “Alright, if you’re feeling okay enough for that… Let’s see what the damage is…”

Kaito held it steady, but followed Nell’s movements as she pulled it back, before passing it to her properly and stepping away, watching carefully. Arven practically held his breath for a second, as Doppio coughed a little… before his breathing evened out. His poor boyfriend looking absolutely exhausted.

“Okay.” Kaito sighed, running a hand over his face again, before asking, “You were saying about a new heating pack? I can go get that real quick, it won’t take me long. Where’s your cute pink pajamas, Doppio? About to wear some cute animal clothes. Arven, do you have any cute pajamas? Because you are both changing into pajamas and going to bed. You’re eating dinner here too, you can stop being grounded tomorrow morning, once I know you actually did get a good amount of sleep.”

“What even counts as ‘cute’ pajamas?” Arven muttered, still looking worriedly at Doppio.

Nell asked a few easy questions--it was apparent to everyone how beat Doppio looked--listened to his breath, and… She sighed, giving him a small nod. “Rest should do you well, but I’m telling you, Doppio. Stop pushing it. Yes, we know how to manage asthma, but the best management is not weakening your lungs to the point you develop it. Rest.”

Doppio looked away, scratching his arm. Nodding, properly chastised.

Getting up, Nell offered an arm. “Would you like help to your bed? I’ll leave you be, at least for myself, after this.”

Doppio blinked at her arm, before tellingly glancing over to Arven. …whose lap he was still in.

“Yes, he would like your help, thank you doc,” Kaito called over his shoulder, checking on Miyako– still snuffly little baby sounds– before searching what he guessed was gonna be the pajama drawers. Ha! Pink. And, hmmm… Arven’s were generally less cute. This one's pattern kind of reminded Kaito of that winter holiday Kokichi liked so much. Aw, that was kinda cute then, just by association with his wonderful husband. “Because if he doesn’t let you, I’m going over there and picking him up.”

Arven glared at Kaito, before sighing. Giving Doppio a hug, he whispered, “Might as well for now. You look like you’re gonna be asleep in a second anyway.”

Doppio sighed and pressed his hands against Arven’s for a moment before taking Nell’s arm. “Thanks.”

“My pleasure, Dopp-Oh!” Nell’s eyes widened along with Doppio’s as immediately his legs folded, only kept up by her grip, before Nell quickly adjusted and scooped him up, ending up carrying Doppio over to the other bed anyway. Much to Doppio’s red-faced dismay.

“You know,” Nell hummed, “The rumor in the halls was very impressed. But it seems your lungs weren’t the only thing you pushed.”

“S’fine,” Doppio grumbled, picking up his new pillow as soon as he was set down and smothering his face in it. Highly embarrassed, and a little more embarrassed and baffled that that was the thing to get him, when having a whole coughing fit in front of Arven wasn’t.

“He was actually really impressive!” Arven said, before ‘eeping’ as Kaito let out a little warning growl, dropping off his pajamas onto Arven’s bed, before moving on to drop off Doppio’s on his. “H-he was! He got me in all the way from the north garden! I-it was really cool, actually, so… yeah.”

“Yeah?” Kaito frowned, looking over to Doppio… before reaching over and flicking him on the ear. “Well, save the impressive feats for when you’ve recovered. You have plenty of time to be cool and healthy and fun, just let yourself be sick for now. And don’t get squeamish on me changing into pj’s, Arven can just turn around. Do you want any help changing?”

With a pat on the shoulder, Nell left to go collect the new heating pad and an ice pack.

Peeking over the cat, Doppio gave Arven a fond, grateful look, but, uh… “Ow…” he whined, pouting at Kaito for the ear flick. And immediately he started disobeying Kaito again as he glowered up at the man. “No. I…”

His eyes flicked around the room. Teeth gnawing on his lip. “...go stand in the bathroom. O-or the hall. And close the door.”

…Doppio didn’t know what it said, that he felt okay with Arven just turning away… But Kaito could absolutely not be in the same room when he changed. Doppio refused.

Kaito, at least, didn’t seem that thrown off by it, as he shrugged. “Sure, if you can change yourself, no problem. But no shenanigans in here, got it? I’m leaving Miyako to babysit. Miya? You’re in charge!”

Miyako snuffled in her sleep. Dreaming happy little baby dreams. Amaina had come for a visit. Dancing for happy babies was still the law, unfortunately.

Kaito nodded, looking back at the boys as he said, “Hear that? She’s a tyrant. Don’t give her any trouble,” before heading out into the hall, closing the door behind him.

Arven blinked. “...oh! Uh, hold on, let me turn around,” he said. Shuffling on the bed, turning his back to Doppio.

Doppio let out a little sigh of relief as Kaito left and Arven turned, starting to change himself. But…for all of his new insecurities about his body, Doppio didn’t actually mind not, like…not existing while he was partially naked.

“...I’m sorry,” he said softly to Arven. “I didn’t mean to freak you out… I just…thought I’d need to catch my breath for a sec. …I just didn’t want you to be hurt…”

The shirt was easy…though it reminded Doppio of his balled up, gross sweater on the floor. Nng, he hoped that…stuff didn’t stain… The pants were…a little more of an issue, but not an unsolvable one.

“Why be sorry? I forgot too. I could have said we shouldn’t do it, if I had remembered you weren’t supposed to be doing stuff like that. If anything, we’re equally guilty of being kinda stupid on this one,” Arven said… before whistling lowly. “It was very cool though. You were even injured when you did that! That’s… wow. Like, kind of incredible.”

“Hey, look away, I’m gonna start getting changed too,” Arven said, grabbing his pajamas. “...or don’t. I… I don’t mind.”

Doppio’s cheeks flushed, though it was a much more pleasant feeling than what had been going on just a few minutes ago. Incredible… “I think I told you before…or maybe you said it, I don’t remember. I-I’m pretty strong.”

Eyes widening a little, Doppio finished scooting his waistband up before pausing. His eyes flicking over towards Arven…thinking about his broad shoulders and soft tummy… Before, his blush growing, he rolled over on his side, looking away. “...wanna give you privacy too…”

…he sighed softly. “...feels kinda weird, getting ready to sleep in a different bed.”

“Pffff, that’s only for now. Soon as we ditch our babysitter? I’m limping my way over to you,” Arven promised… before glancing over at the baby carrier. “Don’t tell on us, Miyako. No one likes a tattle-tale.”

Baby snuffles.

As Arven kicked his pants onto the floor, the tool belt crashing with a little thunk– he wasn’t worried about it, it was durable stuff– he shuffled into his pajama bottoms, before taking off his vest and tossing that over next. It also landed with a heavy thump. “Though, that said? Maybe we did overdo it today. It might be okay to rest properly for a day or two. I have homework I can do here… ugh. Did I really just say that? That guy’s getting in my head,” Arven muttered, putting on his fleece.

“Bring your ice pack over too, then,” Doppio bargained. “I’d just come over myself, but…well, uh…” …they’d just seen how that would go. And Doppio didn’t think he could really stay awake that long once Kaito left them alone. Already he could kind of feel--

Doppio’s eyes snapped open, staring at the wall as he heard a heavy thunk. More aware, now, hearing the shifting of clothes, before he heard another thump. Somehow…the palpable sound of Arven’s clothes being taken off just…oh. Oh. Um.

Hugging his cat pillow tightly, Doppio nibbled at the inside of his lip. Feeling his heartbeat. Think, think, something else, something else….

“...maybe,” Doppio murmured. “Pretty much…all I did the first day Kaito brought me here when I was sick was sleep, and that’s about as easy as I’ve taken anything in…a while. I don’t think I’m very good at it. …but I don’t wanna get asthma either. Thought it was something you could only be born with…”

“Yeah, I don’t want that for you either. So… we’ll rest! Like, real rest. We got to pet our snake anyway, so it’s fine,” Arven said, buttoning up. “...wasn’t he amazing? Those scales… he hugged me! We gotta get you a snake hug soon, Aceto. It was a euphoric experience.”

“Can I turn around?” he asked.

“It did seem pretty incredible… Kokichi said not to get our hopes up, but I’d never seen a snake as big as Nino, and he was just…amazing. You were chosen, Arven.”

Blinking, Doppio startled. “O-oh, yeah! Yeah, I finished, sorry. Uh…can I… Well…you said it was fine from the beginning…” Muttering to himself, Doppio rolled back over, giving Arven a soft smile. He supposed it was…fine for some people but, really, did the beds have to be so far away? Both of them reaching out still wouldn’t be able to touch…

“...uh… How are we supposed to tell Kaito to come back in without waking up his daughter?”

“...that’s a really good question,” Arven said as he shuffled around, looking a little forlorn at Doppio. “...you’re so far away.”

“......... okay, but what if we made a pitch for them to push the beds together?” Arven said, “We’ll rest better! Get to stretch out more. It’d be child abuse not to push the beds together.”

There was a light knock at the door. “You guys good?”

Doppio pouted, reaching out in the space between them, arm, as he’d guessed, not even coming close to reaching halfway. Far too far. Even if he was dead to the world while he was asleep, there had been something comforting, knowing how close Arven was.

Looking to the door--that question solved, he supposed--Doppio… Well. He could never quite leave well alone, could he?

“Kaitooooo,” he groaned (still making sure not to be too loud and accidentally wake up a baby), “Heeeeeeelp.”