Friends are Forever
1. They May Be Back in Nowhere
Epilogue One ft: Clockwork, Victoria, Serenade, Dissonance, and the Guards
Written by: The Fox Sisters
"Hey, sis? Are you, uh, are you sure we should do this?" Dissonance's ears drooped as she stared at the sign plastered onto the large door. 'King Lessons in Progress. Do Not Disturb' the sign read. The white rabbit winced in response. Dissonance loved adventure as much as the next gal, she really did, but Victoria could be rather... frightening. And after the woman helped defeat the Mad God, there was no doubting that the ex-dragoon was a force to be reckoned with. "Commander Sieghart takes her classes
very seriously, sis."
Serenade simply nodded, her expression almost unreadable. "Yes, that's true. But Clockwork doesn't exactly want to be king."
"I know, I know," the white rabbit made a face. "But you're knocking, I'm not going in there."
While Dissonance continued to pace around the hallway, Serenade approached the door and gave it two swift knocks. The black rabbit waited for a moment then knocked again.
Victoria's lesson came to an abrupt halt and the sound of boots clacking against the palace floor resonated throughout the hall. "I told you already," the ex-dragoon mumbled as she opened the doors. "The king has had enough biscuits for today--oh, Serenade, Dissonance, do you two need anything? We're in the middle of an important lesson."
"Yes," Serenade answered, she was calm and collected like always. "We need to have a brief word with the king. It shouldn't take long. Skitz sent us with some important news."
From inside, Clockwork lifted his eyes from his desk and stared curiously at the door. He was chewing dilligently, his cheeks puffed up like that of a chipmunk. Copius amounts of jelly stained his cheeks and shirt. "Me?" Came the somewhat garbled response.
"Yes, King Clockwork," the black rabbit answered. "May we borrow him for a bit?"
Victoria held back a sigh and nodded. "Alright, but don't take too long. We've still got a very long way to go."
"We promise," Dissonance chirped as she bounced towards a very alert looking Clockwork and grabbed his arm. The king responded by immediately reaching for the half empty bowl of jam dodgers in front of him. "Come on, Your Majesty, we shouldn't keep Skitz waiting!" The white rabbit tugged harder but Clockwork stared at her with mournful eyes. He seemed really reluctant to leave the cookies behind even though there were nine empty bowls on the table. "Come on," Dissonance urged, looking desperately to her sister for some much needed back up. The king seemed to be much heavier now that he had a cookie addiction. She guessed the cookies had to go somewhere aside from making his cheeks rounder.
"Yes, we need to hurry," Seranade added calmly. She pulled out a huge cookie lolipop from under her sleeves and waved in front of the monarch. Clockwork had stars in his eyes as he reached for the cookie lolly. Serenade sighed. Was this cookie monster really the guy who defeated the Mad God? He seemed far too child-like to be their savior. "Shall we? Skitz wants you to look at the new cookie houses we are building for the bunny guards."
Clockwork nodded vigorously. Being king wasn't his favorite thing in Nowhere and responsibilities were constantly being shoved onto his shoulders. It was something he didn't quite want, but Victoria said the people of Nowhere needed him, and because he owed the ex-dragoon, he begrudgingly agreed. Mr. Cuddles' cookies helped sweeten the deal somewhat. That, and his comfy, floofy bed. Actually, those were the only two reasons he stayed so long. Fine crumbles began dotting the red carpet which earned the trio a glare from Victoria. Realizing their window of opportunity was shrinking, Dissonance yelled goodbye and the two dragged their cookie addict out the doors.
"Skitz?" The time guardian mumbled and pointed in the opposite direction before taking another big bite out of his rapidly diminishing cookie. He saw the sisters exchange looks and he gulped. The evil grins suggested that he was in big trouble. Serenade wasn't still mad he finished all the cookies at the tea party yesterday, right? She had threatened to throw him down a deep well. And, she looked like she would have if Victoria hadn't joined them then. Even without a sword in hand, the ex-dragoon was intimidating. Feeling a lump gathering at the back of his throat, Clockwork swallowed again. His unchewed chunks of cookie went down the wrong pipe, resulting in the Nobody choking and turning slightly blue in the face.
"Shhhh," Serenade hissed as she clamped a hand over the choking King's mouth. She did it so violently that the half-eaten cookie lollipop fell to the floor. Crumbs and chocolate chips dirtied their shoes but Seranade didn't even blink. She was too focused on hushing their king-to-be. Rook and Aimee were supposed to be patrolling this corridor and she'd rather not try to pull wool over the guard captain's eyes. That story about the lying recruit was legendary! "If you want this to work, you're going to have be quiet!" she stopped before adding. "I don't think I'd like to get yelled at by Rook." Serenade frowned. "He made Arno cry on his first day."
"Sis," Dissonance called out. "The guards will be here soon." She reached out to yank Serenade away from Clockwork, freeing him the process.
Coughing, he slammed his fist into his chest then eyed the two sisters warily. Both wore worried looks on their faces, and even the usually cheery Dissonance had grown silent."Want what to work? I might be wrong, but both of you are acting quite suspicious."
"Remember your birthday party?" Dissonance hinted as she reached out for his hand once more. The white rabbit ignored the puzzled look on Clockwork's face and began dragging the poor Nobody down the hall and towards his room. "You wished to travel and make new friends. So... " she whirled and grinned. "We're helping you escape! Mr. Poppins is waiting with a wagon. He's outside, below you bedroom window."
Hundreds of question popped into Clockwork's head, none of them relating to cookies for once. He wanted to question the soundness of the sisters' plans and point out that it was a silly wish. He had duties. He was the king! And yet, if he was completely honest, he didn't mind. He was getting bored and Victoria seemed much better at handling the endless royal duties thrown his way. So, why not? It wasn't like Nowhere would collapse without him. However, there was one pressing question. One super important one that the sisters overlooked.
"Erm ... " he began. "Isn't my window at the top of the highest tower..."
"So?" Dissonance countered. "We made plans."
"Okay, I guess," the king replied unconvincingly. They might have busted him out of a boring class about diplomacy and treaties but he highly doubt that Rook and Victoria would be fooled for long. They always appeared when he tried to leave the palace.
"Believe us!" Dissonance reassured him. She was speeding up so much that three bunny guards marching towards the royal classroom with their tiny arms hugging bowls of cookies were punted out of the way. Dissonance went "ooops" and apologized to them. However, she had no intention of slowing down. "Hurry, sis!"
Serenade followed at a slower pace, making sure that no one was behind them. "If we take too long, Commander Sieghart is going to send someone to fetch him."
"Chillax, sis, we're here." Dissonance reached for the king's bedroom door and opened it with a flourish. Inside was a suitcase and what appeared to be several bedsheets tied together in an attempt to form a makeshift rope. Clockwork tried commenting that he felt the rope was far too short but his comments were brushed away. Dissonance made a fist as her eyes blazed with determination.
"See! We are going to be like the spies Ace told us about." Grinning, she pulled out a scroll from under her kimono sleeves. "We even made a random note! Then, once we are out of here, it should be smooth sailing! Sis and I used to be traveling musicians, so we know Nowhere like the back of our hand. We used to have concerts with Songbird," a pout wormed its way onto her face. "But since he's too busy being all lovey-dovey with Brandy now, you can carry our band equipment for us!"
"Ransom," Serenade corrected. But really, kidnapping the king!?! She was sure that wasn't part of the plan at all. This was crazy beyond crazy. "Dissonance," she wailed. "We can't kidnap the king. We'll go to prison!"
Dissonance's white ears drooped and her smile slipped off her face. Prison? The musican flailed around in a panic, yelling that she didn't want to go into prison. Begging loudly for mercy because it was too late. "What do we do?" she wailed. "We already kidnapped you."
As fate would have it, a strong gust of wind blew the ransom note out of Dissonance's hands and out of the room through the slit under the door. There was a pause. All three stared in horror as they heard Arno picking up the note. They blinked.
Oh Celery!
News of the king getting kidnapped filled the hallway and the panicky trio heard bunny guards blowing their trumpets. Dissonance wailed at the injustice of it all. "We just wanted to help! You hate being the king, and you're always talking about how you want to see the world and stuff, so we thought of taking you with us. But whyyyy..." She clutched her head dramatically. "Oh Celery! We're travelling musicians not criminals!"
Serenade facepalmed. She pulled Dissonance into a hug to calm her sister down. "Ignore her. The point is we're busting you out, so pack up." She nodded to Clockwork. "We have to be fast if you want to come with us. Rook and Victoria will be here soon."
Clockwork stared at the sisters blankly. He'd lived his entire life within the Tower of Demise and had always wanted to travel the world. "Okay," the doubt ebbed away and he grinned brightly. Clockwork didn't waste a second, he dashed up to his cabinet and threw the doors open, revealing endless rows of boxes labeled 'Jam Dodgers'. He tucked a box under each arm and stuffed his suitcase until it was close to bursting. He zipped it up and stood, eyes ablaze with determination. "I'm ready."
He noticed the sisters already working hard to barricade the shuddering door with his dresser, his armchair and finally his wardrobe. No matter how heavy everything was, he doubted it would keep Rook out for long. The guard captain was hacking at the door and yelling for someone to bring Eloi and Bento.
"Window, now!" the sisters exclaimed.
"Wait, stop..." Clockwork shouted, waving his hands about. "Actually, time, time stop!" he yelled. Colour ebbed away, leaving the time guardian the only spot of colour in the dreary world. A twinge of regret crossed his face briefly but it was succeeded by a look of relief. Finally, he had a moment to himself. Some time to think, literally!
He hated the thought of running away like this but he couldn't lie to himself anymore. No amount of cookies or nights spent in a comfy bed could ever motivate him. Vicky would probably do a better job. He nodded and clenched his hands into fists. Yeah, he wasn't the Nobody for the job and it was time to rectify that. But, before he left, he owed Victoria an explanation. He owed her at least that. Clockwork scanned the room and spied several pieces of paper scattered at the foot of the upturned wardrobe. With time in stasis, he had all the time in the world to write her a farewell note.
"Commander Sieghart! Commander," Arno and Eloi practically glided into the King's bedroom, kicking up dust clouds in the process. Between pants, the boys kept stuttering incoherently until Arno had enough. He took a deep breath and shouted, "We heard the King has been kidnapped and came as fast as we can!"
She raised a hand and signalled for them to quiet down. The past few moments left her reeling and she shook her head in response. "Clockwork has left voluntarily." The proof was written... no, smuged onto a piece of paper in strawberry jam. The words were sticky, but as clear as day. She didn't know whether she ought to be mad or just plain surprised.
The letter read:
"Dear Victoria,
I have left with the Serenade and Dissonance to travel the world. I apologize tenfold for the trouble I have caused, but I'm not fit to be king. You're more suited for the job than I am. As my last act as king, I dub you Prime Minister of Nowhere. Thank you for everything and please don't look for us.
Your friend,
Clockwork
As she clenched her hands and peered out the window, she caught sight of the wagon zipping down the dirt road. Clockwork stuck his head out the back door and waved apologetically before a pair of hands yanked him out of sight.
♠
2.
They May Be From Earth
Epilogue Two ft: Ace and Lelia
Written by:
@four and
@Aki
After a year, she would have thought things would have been slightly different. Then again, after a year she also would have thought she would have forgotten about that Train. But it was hard for Ace to just let something like that go...
And it was almost equally as hard leaving the former life she had built for herself. Well, it wasn't too bad. She hopped from town to town, but instead of 'living off the land' she managed to find some odd jobs here and there. It was stable and much better than the group of criminals she normally hung out with...Not that she didn't say hi every now and then. It was a stable way of living.
Ace was smarter. She planned these things out. And in her backpack, she had almost half the amount she needed to buy some rundown apartment and actually call some place her home.
All that didn't really matter at the moment. What mattered now was that Ace was lost and the sounds of a storm caught up with her. "Ah man...this isn't good." Looking around the neighborhood, things were quiet. No one was out and lights were flickering off in home windows.
12:47 a.m.
She knew buying that digital watch would be helpful.
The area she stopped in was littered in small homes and apartment complexes. There was nothing too fancy about the place, which was a good sign. In fact, the place looked near abandoned- even better sign.
To say the least, it was quickly judged that it was an empty apartment and Ace chose to make shelter for the night- or at least until the storm stopped. Trying to beat the rain before it came, the redhead didn't take the time to thoroughly investigate the place. She contemplated sneaking in just to find an umbrella or taking only what she needed, but she decided against it. As if staying in someone else's home was any better.
It wasn't one of her best plans.
Ace reached under her old worn out baseball cap to grab a hair pin. Those always came in handy for door locks. After a few jingles and tugs, she made her way inside right as the rain began to pour.
---
After a year, Leila thought, things would have been slightly different.
And they were.
The first seconds after she returned to the train station, New Years Eve 2013 - the specification of a location must always be space
and time - she spent being utterly, helplessly confused. The first minutes she checked over herself: home clothes, long hair. Scars - the barely noticeable one on her finger from a very bad paper cut, but not the one from fighting with a bow and arrows. The small one on her knee from the one time she rolled down a staircase, but not the rash marks from having jellyfish arms torn away. There had been nothing on her shoulder before the intervention of the fingernails of a witch whose existence was now much questionable, because now again that piece of skin was without marks.
The first half an hour, James found her wandering around at one of the exits of the station. An hour and a half, they made it home and she had him promise not to mention the incident to anyone else. The rest of the first day, she slept, because she was tired.
The day following that she began by telling him what happened, again under the condition that he did not mention it to anyone else. He listened but clearly did not believe. She went on until she got to the flying pirate ship, at which point she decided to write it down. By the end of the first week she had discovered she was not very good at writing.
So for the rest of January she read, and she did also for the following month. By the end of February she had heaved through at least four shelves of physics, math, history, and mythology, old and new; and had filled every page with annotations that allude to the secret realm accessible through the magical train that arrived at midnight. She noted that there were no mentions anywhere of the magical train at midnight, but she felt much more comfortable documenting things on the edges of pages already filled with text compared with working on blank sheets.
She would likely have continued if she had not, rejecting James' repeated reminders not to stay up too late, spent the first half that March being terribly ill.
For the fourth and five months she refrained from visits to the library, in favour of long intervals of time spent staring out of windows, at walls, and at swirling patterns between milk and tea.
And then a lot of things happened. Or not. Her parents visited. She talked to them. It felt weird. James filed his retirement. Not much changed. He still lived nextdoor and he still met her in the afternoons.
She felt like it was a pretty good representation of how things were after Nowhere. Everything chaged - the way she looked at stars and they seemed that much closer, the way she saw lakes and felt like she could hear songs, the way talking animals on covers of childrens' books looked less silly - but in the meantime, everything was the same. Stars and lakes were still what they were. Nothing changed.
But then again, that was more or less what every New Years felt like.
Twelve months, sixteen days, and a couple of seconds after Leila returned from Nowhere, she was wearing the shirt and trousers from earlier that day and the sweater jacket that didn't match but was doing a good enough job keeping her warm, filtering the otherwise harsh midnight temperature into something much more pleasant. The jacket had no objective influence on anything other than how she felt the air around her, but somehow the dark, rumbling clouds in the distance appeared to her also a lot less menacing and a bit more beautiful than they otherwise would.
Aside from the expanse of the sky and the streets below, the balcony on the second floor also offered a pretty good view of the main entrance on ground level. And at that entrance was a baseball cap that she was certain she had seen somewhere else.
---
So maybe it wasn't as abandoned as she thought it was. Upon opening the door, Ace gazed around a small and comfy living space. "May have miscalculated that one." A simple style of furniture and books- Ace wasn't good with words but she could only describe it as a 'really nice napping place'. "Eeh, right someone lives here. Time for plan B." She was definitely making this stuff up as she went. Plan A was to find shelter. Unfortunately, there was a slight problem with plan A so plan B was now to leave- and maybe grab something useful like an umbrella. Surely the person living here wouldn't mind a missing umbrella.
---
There was a door, a set of curtains, and eighteen steps of stairs were between the second floor balcony and the living room. There was also the interval of time, a little less than a full minute. In that time, as she discovered after flipping the light switch on the wall at the end of the staircase, the baseball cap had made its way from outside the door into the place - however she managed to do that.
Leila squinted a little. She didn't recognize the person, but neither was she entirely sure she remembered to lock the front door on her way in.
"Sorry, but you may have mistaken this place for somewhere else," addressing someone who was up to this point assumed to be a neighbour who erred in her haste to return home from the oncoming storm. "I know a person who had that exact same cap," a remark on an amusing coincidence. And, in a failure to distinguish between the two, the latter came out of her mouth.
Ace had still been trying to figure out a proper plan when the lights turned on. Her surprise and the voice of the owner of the apartment sent a cold chill down her spine. Busted, was the word she wanted to say, however when she realized that the person didn't react in hostility Ace took the chance.
"Y-Yeah. I," Ace cleared her throat and slowly turned around. No need to sound suspicious right? She fiddled with one of the straps of her backpack. "Sorry about that I didn't mean to--" Her pause was followed with a curious expression. That voice sounded oddly familiar, like she had heard it once before. Maybe it was just a dream.
She subconsciously took off the hat revealing the red mess of hair underneath. "And here I thought this was one of a kind." Ace pushed passed the odd sensation of familiarity and ran fingers through her hair. "Ah, anyway. I better run off. I'm no fish or anything and I need to get going before I have to swim home." She laughed at her own joke before giving a salute. "Apologies again missy."
Leila stood still for a good while, mostly trying not to make it seem obvious that she was staring at the red hair.
At some point she realized that she had to apologize for the prolonged silence, but at the same time, there's also a pending "it's alright" in response to the visitor's own apology.
Instead she smiled and said something else (she rarely smiled when she was alone, but courtesy wasn't lost when guests were present - even temporary ones). She said,
"That was not an particularly good joke."
"...sorry," she added, seconds later, after the interjection of the muffled sound of intensifying rainfall in the background.
"Would you need an umbrella or something?" There was a black one stuck in an umbrella holder just outside the door.
While Ace wanted to make another joke, out of mild spite really, she continued to inch back towards the door. "Oh? Oh. no no I couldn't take something that was yours."
She never knew silence could seem so familiar, but for some reason the way this woman carried herself- even if it was matter of fact sentences or silence seemed oddly...familiar.
"You wouldn't- Ah, nevermind, but thanks."
There was a thought, and just like every other chance one would only realise they'd regret not taking
just before they lost it, that thought managed to bubble to the surface of Leila's mind just as the door was about to close.
"Ace, wait."
It wasn't very loud and despite the storm Ace still heard the voice call her.
She froze.
The door was pushed open and Ace stood with a narrowed eyes. There were a few questions that went through her head but for some reason none of them came to the surface. In fact, she was uncharacteristically quiet.
This random woman knew her name. This random woman also gave her some odd feeling of... was it deja vu? What even was deja vu? She never knew the exact definition of it. How was she suppose to know what she was feeling if she didn't even know proper words.
'Bah, Leila would probably know-'
Ace's eyes widened for a moment as the light bulb went off in her head. "Holy-" Ace paused and narrowed her eyes again. "Tell me," Ace leaned against the opened door and adjusted her hat. "You wouldn't happen to..." It was a first Ace didn't know what to say. Everything she tried to say sounded really silly in her head. And this was coming from Ace. But the redhead had to to know.
"To be...a dragon tamer of sorts?"
There was, once again, silence, in which neither of them spoke and both of them stared at the other. This time not in confusion, and not in hesitation.
Leila was aware that she had again not spoken for too long. But that didn't really matter now. Neither did it matter that she never really liked, nor felt like she deserved, that particular title Ace just mentioned. Ace had been standing with the door open for a little too long now and the rain outside was getting to the carpet - that was okay too, at least for now.
There was also the temptation to just lunge forward and hug the person she had never thought she'd see again. She didn't do that because there were at least six paces, a couch, and a tea table between the two of them and that was too much to lunge over.
But for the first time in a quite while, Leila was laughing. Her hand was over her mouth and she wasn't really making any sound, but she was laughing.
Between all that, she nodded. An answer was due for that question, after all.
"Yes."
---
"..And after the hotdog stand crashed into the officer- well long story short, I kind of got away scott free." This was probably the fourth or fifth elaborate tale from Ace now that the two were done gushing about how great it was to see each other. The stories ranged from a bit outrageous- as if this wasn't Ace- to somewhat expected. Nonetheless, she was overly excited to see someone she thought she'd never see again.
Leila smiled her way through most of the stories, as much at the stories themselves as at the unexpected pleasure of just seeing Ace being all excited. A few times she held back laughs ("the hotdog stand - what again?"). Many times she was reminded how much she actually missed it.
"Wow. I can't believe it's been a whole year!" There was a short pause before Ace sighed. "You know, I honestly thought I wouldn't see you guys again. I did try searching at some point, but I figured if I waited maybe juuuust maybe, coincidences would happen. Like this! Well, I guess this still counts even though I forgot about that whole declaration in the first place-" She began rambling on to herself about how she promised to find the others and that even though she'd be patient, she wouldn't rest until she found them.
Realizing she was getting off track again, she stopped and laughed. "Well, the point is, it's so good to see you! And finding you means that it's obvious that we have to find the others!" That familiar fiery passion shone in her eyes at the idea. She would have jumped up too if it hadn't been for the fact that she was holding a cup of tea.
Simultaneously, as she blurted out the idea thunder boomed in the background, reminding her that if she wanted to do anything, it would probably have to wait till after the storm. "So, uh, what do you think?"
Needless to say, Leila didn't deny the idea. Both women thought it was a great idea to, as Ace said, 'get the band back together'. Leila didn't recall any of them being in a band, but she was sure that was besides the point. And while Ace eagerly rambled on about the many possibilities of just how they could find the others - some of those ideas being rather impossible- Leila, quietly but very happily sipped her tea.
This was like the start of another adventure. A good one too.
♠
3.
No Matter Where You Are
Epilogue Three ft: Riders from Sol
Written by The Fox Sisters
"Cobalt," Ise called out. "Come back or we'll eat all the cake." The dragon rider was sitting on a checkered picnic blanket with Dune and Noe. Picnic baskets were scattered around in front of them. Each one filled with an assortment of treats.
The baby dragon ignored his rider's calls and Ise noticed he was racing towards a sleeping Lumi. "Cobalt," she tried again. "Leave poor Lumi alone! he's trying to sleep." Much to the girl's dismay, her dragon ignored her
again, opting to leap into a berry laden bush instead. The other baby dragons trailing behind their so called "leader" also dove into the same bush a few seconds after Cobalt took cover. All of them were trying to be stealthy, but they didn't realize that their tails and wings poked out from between the branches, giving them all away at first glance.
"Aw, let them have their fun, Ise." Dune grinned as he eyed his own dragon, Tasha, and flashed her a thumbs up. "Lumi's sure to put them in their place."
"I guess your right," Ise replied. She reached out to the sleeping Noe and gently tucked a stray strand of hair behind the healer's ear. It was the first picnic they'd gone on since Garret had died and, for the first time in awhile, things were starting to look bright again. Milo and Gaara had mostly recovered and Noe was regaining her strength as well. "We're all going to be okay, Dune." The recently elected co-commander of the fifth platoon stated.
Surprised, Dune turned to stare at Ise. "Yeah... I guess we are." It had been tough, but everyone was starting to get back on their feet again. He mustered up a smile then reached for the tray of brownies. "Hey, Gaara, Milo!" He called out from where he was sitting. "You guys want some? I baked them this morning and they're still warm."
Gaara adjusted the scarf round his neck until the hem hid his mouth from view. Dune frowned. "You could pretend to be happy just for one day, you know," he told his younger platoon mate. Seeing Gaara hide behind a book titled "A Complete History of Sol", Dune chose to leave the grumpy guy alone and focused on Milo instead. "They are so good Ise almost finished the first tray herself!" he added with a chuckle as a faint blush dusted his cheeks. Consider how Ise kept shovelling his clumsy looking brownies into her mouth, Dune couldn't help wondering if the fastest way to his crush's heart was through her stomach. That would be an interesting parallel, he concluded, as he remembered hearing that Commander Azalea fell for Ise's dad after tasting his mashed potato and gravy.
Dune never got to finish that thought when he noticed Milo bum crawling over. "They look great!" The spunky swordsman-in-training exclaimed happily, as he attempted to move his right arm that was still in a sling. The hand, which was immobilized by a cast, was only good enough to smash several brown cubes into a pile of crumbs but nothing more. Letting out a loud "awwwww", the determined boy used his less dominant left hand to grab at another cube. He almost succeeded but it ended up splattering on the mat after he knocked it off the plate. "Why did you have to make them so slippery?"
"Buttery, not slippery!" Dune protested with a huff. "And I'll have you know, they taste pretty great." Reaching for one of the uncrushed brownies, Dune leaned towards Milo and stuffed the tasty treat into his fellow trainee's mouth. "The butter makes it taste better." Dune explained while stuffing a second brownie into his poor friend's mouth until the boy ended up his bulging like some starving chipmunk.
"There! Now you'll appreciate good baking." Sheepishly, Dune turned to face Ise. "You think it isn't too buttery, right?"
Noticing the hesitance on Dune's face, Ise flashed him a reassuring grin. "Nah, it tastes great, Dune. Better than Dad's or Jared's for sure." She took another one off the tray and saw him light up at the gesture. She arched an eyebrow at him when he looked away a little too hastily. Recently, Dune had been acting weird and she figured it had something to do with Garret. Actually, it wasn't just Dune. Everyone had been acting differently since then and it worried her. Hopefully, she wasn't failing them as the new co-commander. "Dune, I think you should hold back on the brownies or you'll end up choking Milo. Also, are you alright, Gaara? And what about you Milo, is your hand feeling better?" Had Noe been awake, she would have fussed over the healer as well.
Dune's blush intensified. He murmured something that sounded like "beaver's have better otters". Ise arched an eyebrow again as she stuffed a second square into her own mouth. "What are you saying?" she spoke, spraying her secret admirer with goopy flecks on the cheek. "S-shumthing about otters?"
"I meant we never had better butter," Dune clarified quickly. The obviousness of his actions made Milo and Chevra stare at the poor tinkerer with wide, starry eyes. Sensing that his friend was about to start chanting "Ise and Dune sitting in the tree", Dune yelped and smashed the entire porcelain tray onto the ground. This was the end of the remaining brownies! They were nothing more than a smooshed pile of brown crumbs interspersed with powdery white shards. Dune was speechless.
"Awwww," Ise groaned, feeling sad about the loss. Those were seriously good brownies and she would have been more than happy to eat the whole lot had Dune not gone ahead and sacrificed them to some unseen earth deity. "You better bake me some more soon," she grumbled. "I hadn't had enough."
Milo snickered. "He'd like to give you more than brownies..."
"Uh, if Dune can bake chocolate cake, I wouldn't mind having that or jam dodgers ... hadn't had those biscuits since we were at the King's cornation." Ise tapped her chin thoughtfully, making it painfully clear she was oblivious to Dune's growing affections for her. She leaned forward until she was almost nose to nose with him. "Can you, Dune?"
Overheating was the kindest way to describe what was happening now. Dune's face practically glistened with sweat as he jerked away slowly. He let out several strangled utterances which left Ise looking hurt and confused at the sudden rejection.
"Don't worry, Ise," Felix said between yawns. "Dune isn't angry or ... having a f-fever." He rubbed his bleary eyes with one hand. "I think he ..." The guy didn't finish the sentence before he found Luxa clamping a hand over his mouth. She hissed angrily about respecting people's love life a little too overtly and this made Ise even more baffled.
Dune liked someone? She wondered. The co-commander crossed her arms over her chest and continued pondering this strange development. Dune received several love letters during the last festival and she remembered that girl at the kissing booth blushing heavily when he joked about kissing her. Ise wrecked her brains further.
Who was it? One of the girls who confessed in paper and ink? Or was it that pretty blonde at the kissing booth? She turned on Dune suddenly with stars in her eyes. "Duneeeeee, who is it?"
Why? Why was this happening to him? What had he done to deserve this fate? Dune leaned back helplessly as his mind continued drawing blanks.
Should he lie? Possible, but he didn't want to ruin whatever chance he might have. Actually, did he even have one at all? He wasn't able to come up with an appropriate answer, so when Ise started giving him funny looks, he leaped to his feet and turned on Milo. "You! I'm going to get
you!"
Milo blinked. "Me? DUNE ARE YOU GAY!?!?"
Their shouts made Luxa's eyes pop and she nearly ended up choking Felix. Milo didn't seem to notice the other riders' expressions at all as he was too focused on trying to get away from Dune.
He liked girls! That much he knew so there was no celery sticking way he planned to hang around and see if Dune batted for the other team. Eventually, the ever excitable swordsman-in-training felt his wobbly legs give way and he ended up lying in an undignified heap on the mat. Rolling onto his back quickly, the guy pointed a finger at Dune. "Also, could you please flirt with Gaara instead? Maybe you and him can, um, do better."
"WHAT?" Dune's scarlet face couldn't get any redder. "Gaara's not even my type -- I mean,
no! What are you even suggesting Milo?"
"What?" Ise's reaction echoed Dune's before a more somber expression made its way to her face. She nodded sagely then reached out to pat Dune on the shoulder. "Is this why you've been acting so weird lately? You know... if you need to talk, you can talk to us."
"Ise. Read my lips, I'm. Not. Gay."
"There's nothing wrong with it, Dune. We'll support you no matter what."
"THERE'S NOTHING TO SUPPORT."
Before anything else could go wrong, he stomped towards Milo and raised his fists. "That's it! You are dead meat, Milo!" Dune reached for the collar of Milo's shirt and swung back a fist. Before he could do anything, Ise reached for his own collar and tugged him back so sharply that he fell back onto the grass. Milo landed on top of him shortly after.
"Get off! Milo, I hate you!"
The loud yelling caused Noe to stir and Ise sighed at the bickering pair. "You know, as much as you hate to admit it, you two really argue like a married couple."
Luxa nodded sagely, humming the tune of "Dune and Milo sitting in the tree" much to the boys' horror. They protested over and over again but she clamped her hands over her ears and continued humming that dreaded tune. Nothing was more fun than rattling two idiots for being stupid. Seriously, though, she wondered if Dune could use some help when it came to Ise. He seemed to have as much of a chance of being with their co-commander as there was being a snowstorm in summer. Zilch! For now, she needed to teach him an important lesson - how to stop being an idiotic boy! Ise would definitely thank her for whipping him into shape.
Across from the noisy humans, Lumi finally cracked open an eye. The dragon yawned at the same time Felix did, showing off his very pink tongue. He stretched his front claws in front of him, raked the earth with his claws and lowered himself onto his stomach again. A second yawn followed shortly after as his eyelids began drooping. The recruits' antics didn't interest him that much. Humans and their mating rituals were far too complicated for him to bother understanding. What interested him more was the flicking black tail he noticed coming from behind the bush. He suppressed his urge to grin and pretended to sleep again.
Fooling the young ones was going to be fun.
Cobalt crouched low. His black tail swished back and forth, peeking occasionally from beneath the bush. In front of him were claw marks scratched into the dirt. The markings were composed of odd circles and x's and in a way looked like a messy game of tic-tac-toe.
Air, Lull, and Tasha were gathered nearby, but none of them seemed to be looking at the attack strategy Cobalt had painstakingly carved into the earth. The oldest dragon shot his nest siblings Xerxes-like glare which went largely ignored. Air and Tasha were far too enthralled by the stream of bubbles Lull kept blowing in their direction. The younger two squealed happily as they competed to see who can burst more bubbles. Sadly, neither could count beyond 10 so they focused on popping the bubbles after awhile.
Cobalt let out an irritated roar and swiped a claw over the plans in the dirt. He received a bubble to the face from a snickering Lull and Cobalt glared at his friend as steam rose from his damp skin. They
always listened to Xerxes, but here he was ignored and left to plan on his own. Fine, he would choose to lead by example then. Crouching even lower, Cobalt launched himself forward, charging towards Lumi with his wings spread out in a silly attempt to make himself look bigger and more threatening.
All three heads turned towards him and the other babies looked excited. They loved racing! Bellowing their battle cries in unision, the dragonets took off after Cobalt. He might be the oldest but they believed they could outrun him easily. Tasha stretched her neck out even further, hoping against hope that she'd somehow manage to win by the tip of her nose. She was the only one who managed to keep shoulder to shoulder with the black dragon after all.
Lumi simply rolled over, as he watched the stampeding baby dragons close in on him. Then, just as Tasha was about to slam head first into him, he tilted his head to the side and blew out a gust of freezing air. Cobalt's wings remained semi-folded in an awkward position as ice encased his entire body. The young one cried piteously, as he realized that only his wing tips, his head, his neck, his claws and his feet were not covered in ice.
The older dragon chuckled and rested his bearded chin against his forearm, watching the baby dragons realize that all of them have fallen victim to his ice breath. Cobalt was first to realize this. Seeing his friends look so dejected, the little one glared at Lumi defiantly and started wiggling madly to aid his nearest friend, Tasha. Inch by inch he rocked until the edges of their ice cubes met. Just as he thought he succeeded, he was sent skidding towards Air instead. Cobalt shook his head stubbornly. Never mind, he was confident his plan would work anyway. He sucked in a lung full of air and spat out the tiniest flame he ever produced. He tried again only to produce sooty embers that snuffed out quickly. Tasha started trying too but she didn't do much better. In the end, the babies were resigned to their fate as Lumi's eyes started drooping for the third time that afternoon.
Not too far from the playful dragons, Jared was walking towards Azalea with a steaming pot of Garret's famous chicken stew. Sadly, the stew also fell victim to Lumi's ice attack and the once warm pot turned into a cube of ice in Jared's mitten-clad hands.
He watched as a fine layer of frost covered the pot and his eyebrows furrowed in irritation. "Thanks a lot, Azalea," the man said sarcastically as held out the pot of now ice-hard soup. "Looks like we'll all be eating ice for dinner."
"Bah," Azalea gave her fellow commander a dismissive wave and grinned. "It wouldn't have tasted good anyway. Garret's chicken soup my boot! That man's soup was legendary so I bet you won't be able to do it justice."
"Justice? I just wanted to try and re-create it, but now we'll be having ice and more ice. The kids were probably looking forward to this you know."
The grin never left Azalea's face. "We can get one of the baby dragons to melt your precious soup."
"If you look to your left, you'll see they're frozen," Jared retorted.
"Awwwww," Azalea fussed. "Don't they look adorable like that?" She would have continued teasing the little things if Jared hadn't reminded her that she was now in-charge of this bumbling lot. That sobered the woman up, a little. "Lumi was teaching them something," she defended. "Yeah! He was teaching them how to never underestimate a sleeping foe."
"Right..."
A bronze head nudged Jared from behind then peered into the rider's eyes with his own solemn dark ones. The two engaged in what seemed to be a staring competition before Thunderbolt smirked. That was when Jared realized what his partner was thinking of at that very moment.
"No," Jared said firmly as he gave his dragon a pat on the head. "You know better than that. This is a picnic and not a competition. The babies are watching, so you and Lumi need to set a good example." Judging by the tone in Jared's voice, Thunderbolt knew there would be no convincing his rider. Often when he said no, he meant no.
The dragon rolled its eyes and let out a fake sigh.
"You'll get to race Lumi next time and we'll kick him and Azalea to the curb, won't we?" He was quite confident that Thunderbolt would agree to his terms, so it took him by surprise when he knocked onto the grass by Thunder's tail. "Wha - No! Thunder, no, I said - No!"
Thunderbolt issued a challenge to the sleeping Lumi and Jared was left watching helplessly as his dragon rocketed towards the clouds. Lumi gave a taunting roar before he took off after his competitor. The two of them clashed playfully in the sky in a mock battle before Thunder streaked off in a random direction. Lumi followed close behind. Whenever they passed by at the start of their next lap round Sol, the baby dragons and young riders would cheer loudly for whoever was in the lead. They cries were enough enough to spur the slower dragon to move even faster.
"Thunder!" Jared bellowed as his dragon passed him for the third time. "You know better than this. I said come back!"
"So much for kicking us to the curb, eh?" Azalea smirked, as she picked up the pot that he dropped between his feet. "Now let's go serve them your legendary snow cones."
♠
4.
They Believe in You
Epilogue Four ft: Lesley, Amiel, Clockwork, Bunny Sisters, Victoria and Guards
Written by The Fox Sisters
The yacht cut through the clear waters of Summer Island Bay as Amiel leaned back into his beach chair. The sun was shining, the skies clear, and the wind cool against his skin - it was the perfect date and he let out a content sigh. "Isn't this the greatest, Lesley?" Amiel's pink-haired lover was sitting perpendicular from him on another beach chair, a pencil in hand and his nose buried in his sketch book. "Also," Amiel purred. "How's the picture coming along?"
Lesley looked positively delighted. "Good, but it'd go even better if you stayed put." Pencil met paper as Lesley's eyes roamed over Amiel's body. He'd gotten the face just right and the hair too but as for the rest of Amiel... the artist's sketching came to a halt as Lesley observed the curve of Amiel's biceps, the smear of sun tan lotion on his chest... his well-defined stomach. Lesley stared on, his eyes trailing lower and lower. Soon they caught a peek of the hem of Amiel's shorts. Lesley swallowed hard, trying to keep his naughty mind out of the gutter. "Oh, oh, I think you could bend your leg a little more. Keep those shorts hidden, yes?" Lesley teased with a wink. A scarlet blush fanned across the bridge of his nose to either cheek when Amiel obliged. "C'est magnifique! You are getting better at posing."
A proud smile wormed its way onto Amiel's features and a chuckle left his throat. "You're turning as pink as your hair, my love."
Pencil met paper once more.
Lord, what had he done to deserve such a beautiful man?
"Draw me, Lesley," Amiel teased. "Draw me like one of your bishie boys. The ones you've told me so much about." The Nobody let out a tinkling laugh, as he rolled off to his side and propped his head up using his palms. "Maybe this pose will set your heart aflame." He purred protectively, as he leaned towards the object of his affection.
"Amiel?" Lesley whispered.
Without bothering to reply, Amiel lunged forward, swatting the sketchpad aside and capturing his pink haired angel's lips hungrily. Sensing Lesley trying to break free, Amiel's arms snaked round his love's waist and reeled the wiggling body in until they were practically glued at the hips. He stared into Lesley's blue eyes, watching them flutter close. He closed his as well. They remained entwined for what seemed like an eternity. There was slow, passionate kissing with occasionally pauses long enough for them to gulp down lungfuls of salty air.
"Ahem!"
The couple jumped apart so suddenly that they resembled red-faced highschoolers caught necking in the church pews by the pastor. Amiel, despite how embarrassed he felt, quickly wrapped an arm round Lesley's waist and pulled the human close to his side. "Yes, Franz?" He would be lying if he said he wasn't upset about being so rudely interrupted. He and Lesley barely had any alone time back home, what with his father snooping on them.
"Lord Amiel, we are reaching Sol." Franz, the elderly butler, announced. "I suggest we get you ready for the ball."
Amiel glanced behind the butler and nodded when he noticed the harbor coming into view. "Oh," he muttered before lapsing into a complete silence. His father warned him to be on his best behavior as the Prime Minister of Nowhere would be there and he was supposed to impress her. Their family's sugar business depended on her continued support after all. His eyes flit towards his beautiful companion. "Do we have a dress for Lesley?"
"Of course, as requested, several dresses have been prepared for Lord Lesley."
"Fantastic," Amiel gave Franz a tap on the shoulder then beamed brightly at the human by his side. "You're sure to be the talk of the town, my love." He laughed when a bright blush crept up Lesley's face. "Well, we don't want to be late. I'll see you when you're ready." And with that said, the lovers broke apart to prepare for their night in town.
A few moments after the boat had docked, Amiel arrived in a crisp dark suit. He donned a fashionable long coat and was straightening up his tie when Lesley arrived to join him. His eyes flitted towards the vibrant pink dress Lesley was wearing and his heart skyrocketed into his throat, leaving him stunned and speechless. "Fabulous! Lesley, you are absolutely stunning."
"And you look positively dapper, Amiel." Lesley reached out and hooked his arm with his date's before flashing Franz a smile. The buttler was standing by the side of the boat, waiting for both men to disembark. Sadly, the two spent a good chunk of time complimenting each other and it wasn't until moments later that they'd all managed to get off the ship and onto the harbor.
Sol's harbor was swarming with people and as they made their way across, Amiel made sure to keep a protective arm around his lover's shoulders. "How far is the castle, Franz?"
"Quite far, but not to worry, my lords. After we leave the harbor, we should be able to take a turtle bus to the venue." Franz tilted his head up, noting that the sun was still high in the sky. Sol was one of the few places in Nowhere that had a night and day cycle, and judging by the sun's position, they had plenty of time to reach the castle. "I assure you, we won't be late." At least, as long as nothing out of the ordinary happened.
"Good, first impressions are everything after all." Amiel beamed.
Relieved, the trio walked on, but as they made their way through the crowd, Lesley suddenly stopped in place, his eyes focused on two hooded figures he couldn't help but find odlly familiar. In the distance, three hooded figures stood before a fruit stand. One of them snatched three oranges from an unmanned stall and stuffed it into their sack.
"You can't just take things," Serenade hissed. Thankfully no one had seen them, but she didn't want them to be branded as thieves. "Jam, you have to pay for things."
The confused man nodded, but he was more interested in the round green fruit that was resting one of the stall's countertops. It was bigger than his head and green stripes ran across its round body. Taking what Serenade said about paying to heart, the Clockwork Soldier, now officially known as Jam to his friends, desposited five of his precious cookies onto the countertop.
The confused merchant didn't have time to say anything else, because as soon as the deed was done, Clockwork wrapped his arms around the shiny watermelon and began to walk away. Serenade and Dissonance stood with their mouths hanging wide.
"That wasn't what sis meant!" The white rabbit yelled. "You're supposed to pay with Stars." But by then the Cloclwork soldier was several feet away and the enraged merchant was yelling 'thief' and calling out for the city guards.
"Stars?" Jam sputtered having just taken a huge bite out of the fruit. "What are stars?"
The bunny sisters exchanged exasperated looks. H
ow could the "King" of Nowhere be so ignorant about how the world worked? Seriously, his naivety never failed to floor them even after they had been travelling with him for some time. Serenade shook her head, pulling her hood tighter round her face, as she clamped a hand on top of Jam's head to prevent his hood from flying off. "We'll explain later. Promise, just promise, okay? You'll never take things again when you don't have stars."
The black rabbit could almost imagine their royal friend pouting under that hood when the runaway king whined. "But I don't have stars...."
"We'll get some. Just don't take anything," Serenade added sharply.
"Yup! You'll get arrested and thrown in prison!" Dissonance chimed in. She turned to look back briefly before looking ahead again. Her eyes grew as wide as saucers when she noticed a dark haired gentleman and his pretty lady walking towards them. The couple were so busy flirting that they didn't even notice the hooded figures running straight towards them. "LOOK OUT!"
Desperate to avoid colliding into the nobles and getting into even more trouble, Dissonance grabbed her sister and Jam and leaped off the sidewalk. The hooded theives landed onto the puddle-riddled cobblestone road with a huge splash. They fumbled around, nearly crashing into an all too familiar ex-dragoon and her bodyguards.
"Stop theives!"
"How dare you try and ambush the Prime Minister?"
The myriad of shouts were causing Serenade's head to hurt. Today had promised to be such a good day too. Why did she promise Jam cookies today? Why? She and Dissonance should have kept quiet and surprised him like they always did whenever they passed through town.
"We're not trying to ambush anyone!" Dissonance yelled as she quickly grabbed the dazed Clockwork and her sister by the sleeves of their green cloaks. Before the guards could reach for them, they were off, rushing down the busy street and disappearing into the crowd.
"Was that... Serenade and Dissonance?" Lesley couldn't believe his eyes. He'd only seen them for a split second, and yet, they'd been all too familiar. He stared on in a daze, until he felt Amiel's strong arms wrap around his waist.
"Lesley, are you alright?"
"I'm fine," came the quiet response. Was it really them? He stared on, his eyes flitting to another familiar face. Victoria Sieghart stood motionless, her eyes focused on the busy streets. Lesley wondered if she would chase after the hooded figures, but instead, he noticed a ghost of a smile on her face.
The newly-elected Prime Minister of Nowhere shook her head. "Leave them be," she whispered as she motioned for the soldiers to return to their post. The angry merchant insisted that the thieves be caught, but when Victoria handed him a pouch of stars, he quickly mumbled apology after apology before rushing back to his fruit stand.
Rook, who'd been assigned as Victoria's head bodyguard, shot the woman a puzzled glance. "Lady Victoria, what are you doing?"
Victoria leaned in to whisper something in his ear and Rook went quiet, unable to believe what he'd just heard. The rabbit sisters and the Clockwork soldier had disappeared right before the king's coronation day, and frankly, he didn't think they would ever see any of them again.
"Life sure is full of surprises," the man mused.
"You're preaching to the choir, Rook," Victoria chuckled. "One day I was a dragoon and now I'm the Prime Minister." Sometimes she still couldn't believe it, but what's done was done and now they could only continue moving forward.
As Victoria and Rook made their way down the bustling street, Amiel fussed over Lesley, rushing around his stunned date like a mother hen. "Lesley, you're awfully quiet. Are you sure you're okay-" the words died in Amiel's throat as two bunny ears suddenly popped out of Lesley's head. They were pink and they twitched whenever a loud sound echoed down the street.
"Amiel, what are you looking at?"
"Um, nothing my love. Now, let's get you something to eat, you looked absolutely famished!" Hand in hand the lovers walked on, eventually disappearing into the crowd the same way the hooded figures and Victoria had earlier on.
"Lesley?"
"Yes, Amiel?"
"I love you," he wrapped his arm tighter around Lesley's waist. "No matter what."
♠
5.
You Will Always be Connected
Epilogue Five ft: Ran and Riley
Written by The Fox Sisters
It was 3:05 and the artist was nowhere in sight. Riley stood impatiently by the swing-set, checking her phone every minute or two to see if there was a new e-mail. The man she was going to meet was the artist of the comic dubbed
Mr. Rabbit Dreams of Nowhere, a fun whimsical comic Harper referred to her over Facebook during start of his summer break.
At that time, the comic had only one chapter but the cute drawings had her hooked. Soon the two reunited pals began following it obssessively. Initially, they would remark about how similar the Nobodies looked to Songbird, Brandy, Martini and even the bunny sisters while chatting on Skype. After seeing Queen D in chapter three, however, Harper couldn't help exclaiming during their voice call that this was too much of a coincidence. Riley agreed and suggested that it had to be one of the Lost Souls, possibly Inadi.
Before Harper could stop her, she contacted the artist and Jasper via Facebook Messenger. To Jasper, she mentioned that she and Harper believed they found Inadi on Facebook and, to the artist, she demanded that he man up and confess his love to Jasper in real life. Less than a minute later, Riley noticed that both parties had replied. Jasper was puzzled because she thought she mentioned to the rest of the Lost Souls that Inadi was staying with her for the next two weeks. She added that he denied knowing about the comic. Even weirder still, the artist sounded very amused and gave her his personal email. He asked her to contact him via email instead because he only logged into Facebook to update the comic.
Riley emailed him, of course, and they corresponded for about a week before she proposed meeting up before Inadi travelled back to Japan. That was how she ended up here in a random park in New York that two train stops away from Jasper's cafe. Waiting, possibly forgotten, at three in the afternoon. Now that she had even more time to obssess over it, she couldn't help wondering if she scared this person off. The last email she received came in four days ago and the person hadn't been online since. She sighed.
She checked her phone yet again. Two years had gone by since they'd first returned, she managed to contact Inadi, Jasper, and Harper, but the whereabouts of the rest was an unanswered question that continued to haunt her until this very day. Wherever they were, she hoped they were moving forward and that they were happy.
Three benches away from Riley, a casually dressed man and his young son sat in front of a huge, bubbling fountain. The toddler sitting in his father's jeans clad lap chewed on his toy rabbit's drool soaked ear as he stared at the office workers in vibrant coats zipping off to destinations unknown. Everyone appeared too busy on their handphones to pause and enjoy the nippy autumn air. The man holding onto the boy was no different. He was so caught up with drafting an email that he didn't realize that his three o'clock appointment was sitting on the swings to his right.
"Babi, Babi! Who?" the dark-skinned child squealed, as he stopped chomping on the ear and stared expectantly at his father with a huge smile tugging at his lips. He pressed his white rabbit dressed in a red soldier's coat upwards until the bunny was nose to nose with his daddy. "Babi!" he exclaimed joyfully, yanking the toy away from the man's face and shaking it vigorously to get his father's attention. The head lolled from side to side so crazily that the stitches began to strain.
Noticing the flashes of red and white out of the corner of his eye, Ran pulled his gaze away from his handphone and turned his attention to the toddler in his lap. A single glance was all he needed to understand what his son was trying to tell him. Ran chuckled, as he reached out and mussed up his two-year-old's dark brown hair hair. "I'm Mr. Rabbit. I'm a bunny guard." he responded cheerfully, knowing the routine by heart. Andy never seemed to get tired of the bedtime stories about the Nobodies. The same stories which Ran had been serializing into the lighthearted comic he dubbed "Mr. Rabbit Dreams of Nowhere".
"Babi, where?" The boy's eyes lit up with delight. He swung his tiny legs back and forth already anticipating an action packed storytime right here in the park. Andy placed his plush over his Daddy's phone as an extra precaution because he knew that his father had the tendency to stare at the glowing screen for hours at a time. "Babi, where?" he shouted a second time to make sure his father really heard him.
"I'm from Nowhere." Ran spoke calmly, as he tried to pry the phone from underneath the rabbit's butt. As soon as he managed to tug his phone free, Andy grabbed the other end and refused to let go. Ran frowned as they continued engaging in this unnecessary tug-o-war. The final tug in the child's favor sent the poor bunny guard doll flying to the ground, but Andy didn't care. The boy simply waved the phone in front of his father, who sighed loudly.
"Where we go?" Andy insisted while he continued clutching the phone. "Daddy, where?"
Ran's free hand snaked behind Andy quickly to support the toddler's back as he finally yanked his phone free. Tickling the boy's belly, the dad stood up and began rocking the kid in his arms. "Where?" he teased. "We are in a boat. We are going to Orion."
"O on?" Andy repeated as he stopped fidgeting. He had heard of the Shakespearean Starfisher, the Siren Lake, Sol and Aven, the Midnight Man's Mansion, the City of Cogs and Gears and the Hobbit Hole, but he didn't remember hearing about Orion before. Brimming with curiosity, the kid tilted his head to the side and tugged at his father's t-shirt. "O on?" he asked again.
"Yes, Orion," Ran encouraged. "We're on a boat going to Orion!"
"See?" Andy asked suddenly wanting to see pictures of the boat and Orion. He pointed to his Daddy's phone, because he remembered the colorful, glowing pictures on the black rectangle thing his father liked so much. "Daddy, see?"
A little earlier, Riley had looked up from her phone to stare at the father and son duo. The white rabbit the boy had been carrying in his arms shared a strong resemblance to the bunny guards that walked down Nowhere's streets. One, two, one, two, she could picture them marching to an imaginary beat, their chests puffed out and their carrot rifles held tightly in their soft and tiny paws. Riley looked away, reminding herself that it was rude to stare, but the man began talking about Nowhere and the puzzle pieces fell into place.
He was the artist. Riley took a long, good look at him and a bright grin wormed its way onto her face. There was no doubt about it, it was Ran.
Stuffing her hands into the pockets of her coat, the girl made her way towards the bench.
"You can't get to Orion by boat, you need to take the whale bus." Riley scooped the rabbit plush off the ground and took a step towards Andy. Beaming, she reached out to offer the stuffed animal to the child.
"Whale bus?" Ran craned his neck around to get a better glimpse at his eavesdropper. His eyes lit up upon seeing Riley's familiar face - almost nothing about the girl has changed in the past two years, so he recognized her immediately. Given the vibrancy of the carrot top, he guessed she colored her hair recently. "Rils," he greeted with his usual grin. "I thought it had to be you. Surprised to see me?"
Andy put his small fist into his mouth, as he stared at the newcomer approaching them. His eyes went rounder when she seemed to produce his favorite toy out of thin air. He was reaching for the bunny toy when his spotted the woman's orange hair. He stopped wiggling for a moment to stare at the wispy locks. Then, squealing happily, the toddler flailed his tiny legs and hands around even more vigorously than before.
"Looks like Andy is happy to see you too," Ran added with a laugh completely unaware of his son's true intentions. "Boy, looks like he really wants Mr. Rabbit. Andy, say thank you."
Andy let off another deafening squeal, making both adults wince. Laughing at their comic expressions, the child reached out and grabbed a fistful of the orange hair. Ran apologized profusely, but try as he might Andy refused to let go. The child giggled once more at his Daddy's funny face then stuffed the hair into his mouth.
"Andy!" he sighed. "Sorry again, Rils. I forgot he likes orange things a lot more than his bunny lately."
Riley stood there awkwardly. Just as she was about to respond, Andy had grabbed onto her hair and stuffed it in his mouth. Now she was stuck in a half-crouching position as she tried to free herself from the child's grip. "I can tell he really likes it," she joked lamely.
Ran gave her a sympathetic smile before eventually managing to get his son to let go. He apologized again and Riley gave him a dismissive wave in response. Getting nommed on by a toddler wasn't exactly up there on her to-do list but she was just really happy to see Ran again. Finding one of the Lost Souls was always great, they'd grown to become family after all. "It's fine, Ran. I'm pretty sure I'm not going to become a zombie." She winced as she reached for the fistful of hair Andy had bitten. "Anyway, it's really, really good to see you again. I've missed you." She stuck out a hand to ruffle Andy's hair. "Are you babysitting one of your nephews? How are you? It's been so long." Riley continued to ramble. "And you're writing comics now?"
Andy burst into tears the moment the hair was removed. Ran cooed softly, rocking his son gently but the boy continued wailing loudly. Not even Mr. Rabbit could distract the boy. Ran tried his best to ignore the small group of college kids staring at him and Andy, but things were getting awkward fast. "Maybe we can go grab a coffee?" he hinted to Riley. "It's past Andy's naptime."
"Oh, right." Riley nodded not wishing to have Andy cry even more. "We can talk later. Actually, I've got some news you might like. Jasper's coffee shop is in the area, I was planning to head there after meeting you. We should go! I'm sure she'll be so happy to see you." Riley would have said more, but Andy was growing more antsy with each passing second. "Let's go, it's not far from here."
The two adults barely made it out of the park when Andy decided it was time to turn into a child Hulk. He screamed until his face was red, thrashing around and almost falling out of Ran's arms. Unknowingly, the kid garnered so much attention that his stony-faced father started hailing a cab. "I think I'll skip the coffee," Ran spoke apologetically. "Andy's not his cheerful self today. I should have guessed when he woke up two hours earlier than usual this morning."
"Oh, of course," Riley eyed the wailing child worriedly. "Is Andy sick?" She made a mental note to send Jasper a text or give her a call so she could tell her about today. Running into Ran at the park was kind of a miracle in itself. She'd need to tell Harper as well. "We can catch up some other time if you're busy, Ran. Either way, it's great to see you again."
Ran nodded, as a cab pulled to a stop beside him. "No, he'll be fine after a nap. Say, it's too early for good-byes. Why don't you come over? We could have tea or a Pimm's Cup after Andy nods off." He grinned then decided to add something else as a way to make his invitation more obvious. "Plus, I'd appreciate you helping me with the pram."
Riley lit up when Ran invited her to follow them home. She'd been looking forward to catching up with Ran and talking about the rest of the Lost Souls and the Midnight Train. "Sure, that sounds nice, Ran." It was always a little odd meeting them for the first time outside of Nowhere where things were normal but with Ran it was different. It felt like they never said goodbye at all. "How have you been since, y'know, Nowhere and all that? It's been a long time. I've found Harper too," she continued as she kept an eye on Ran to see if he needed help with anything. "Two years, it's kind of hard to believe, isn't it?"
"Well, let's talk after we get to my place?" Ran suggested with a laugh. "The driver's waiting and Andy's not gonna like me being distracted." He indicated that he wanted his friend to enter the cab. He let her settle on the seat before he wheeled the pram towards the driver waiting near the boot. Noticing Riley sitting on the edge of the seat as if she wanted to dash over and help, Ran shook his head. "We're good, Rils. Be with you soon."
He chuckled when he saw how conflicted she looked. People, men or women, reacted the same way when they saw him wrestling Andy and the pram. He appreciated their kindness but he would rather handle everything by himself. After all, he had two years of practice being a single dad. Leaving the taxi driver with instructions on how to lock the pram, Ran walked back to Riley's side of the car and climbed in after she scooted to the other side.
Slowly, he rubbed Andy's back as the kid continued hiccoughing into his shirt. The warm wet patches left by the tears and snot were starting to cool, indicating that this current tantrum was finally over. The dad was secretly relieved, as Andy had been throwing longer tantrums lately. The longest was last week when his son practically cried for over two hours and he couldn't do anything to soothe the boy at all. Andy only paused long enough between each mini tantrum before wailing himself hoarse over and over again. It was so bad that several concerned neighbors came knocking on his door. That was perhaps the second most embarrassing moment since the boy was born, Ran mused. The other was when he took a two month old Andy shopping with his mom back in Bangkok sometime after his on and off girlfriend, Mazu, moved out of his home and heart permanently.
Refusing to let melancholy take over, Ran returned his attention to his little bundle of joy. He peeled the groggy child away for a bit, whipped out a handkerchief from his jeans pocket and started wiping away the gooey remanents on the tiny face. Andy's eyes started drooping further, so Ran shifted Andy over to his cleaner side and allowed the boy to rest against his shoulder. Sensing Riley staring at him, Ran turned to look at her and pressed a finger to his lips. He winked, hoping she got the message.
Riley responded with a silent nod. Awhile ago, she'd asked if Andy was Ran's nephew, but she was starting to think the kid was his son. It made questions whirl around inside her head.
Was Ran married? The thought made her grin. Back in Nowhere he'd been the cool uncle of the group, so the thought of him settling down was an interesting one. Something to talk about as they killed some time and caught up with each other.
She wondered if he'd married Mazu. Ran had mentioned her once or twice, but back in Nowhere, his words had never been overly optimistic. Riley opened her mouth to ask, but decided to save the questions for later. Waking Andy up was not on her to-do list. The poor kid had cried enough for one day.
The rest of the ride was spent in silence, but eventually, the cab came to a halt in front of Ran's appartment. They paid the driver and were out the door shortly after. Riley went on ahead to open the door for Andy's pram, and once Ran and his son were inside, she made her way to the elevator and pressed the button. "What floor are you on?"
"14th, thanks." Ran whispered. He placed a hand reassuringly over his dozing toddler's back to prevent Andy from opening his eyes again. Luckily for them, no one else entered the lift, so it took less than three minutes for them to reach the 14th floor. Quietly, Ran led Riley to apartment 106C and indicated for her to reach into his right pocket. He merely mouthed the word "keys" so she didn't think he was trying to be lewd or anything.
Riley unlocked the door then took a step back so Ran could make his way inside. She followed shortly after and eyed at the apartment room curiously. "Soo," she made sure to whisper. "What are you doing in New York, Ran? I thought you were from Thailand?" Some memories from Nowhere had grown hazy with the passage of time, but at the very least, she was sure she remembered this right.
"So many questions!" Ran exclaimed in a hushed voice. "I'll answer them once I put Andy to bed." Without jerking Andy too much, Ran pulled down a false wooden partion in the wall under his loft bed to reveal a plush looking bunk bed. He pushed it down until he heard it lock into place. Bending over, he lowered the sleeping child onto the mattress and began removing the tiny sneakers. Then, with the shoes in hand, he began searching for Andy's baby blanket and favorite bedtime buddy, a small dragon doll named Cobalt.
While Ran tended to Andy, Riley peered around curiously in hopes of catching a glimpse or a sign of Mazu. When she found none, she eyed the rest of the apartment and noted that it seemed rather small for three people. Perhaps it would be best not to ask about her and focus on the Midnight Train and the past two years instead.
"Mroaw," a soft purring sound came from one of the bags on the floor.
"You have a cat?" Riley asked. "N'aw, sounds like things are going
purrfectly well for you, sorry, sorry. Old habbits die hard and all that."
A black cat tumbled out of a crumpled Food Panda bag. He purred cutely, rolling over to show off his white underside. His green eyes stared into Riley's and he reached out to biff her fingers with his white paws as if he was demanding a lot of belly rubs. "Mroaw," he called again.
Pet me human, Riley could hear him whining inside her head with a voice that sounded awfully similar to Cello's.
Pet me now.
Miffed that the girl wasn't adoring his furry person, Jo pulled a grumpy face before walking over and lying across Riley's shoes. He yawned, stretching his paws upwards and downwards then twisting his spine into an almost perfect S. Again his green eyes flicked towards Riley and she could have sworn he was smirking. "Mraow."
"N'aww, who's a cute cat? You are." Riley stooped down to scoop the cat into her arms. If Jo protested, she didn't hear it over her cooing. "Aww, such a chubby cat. I bet Ran spoils you rotten or something."
"More like he pampers himself and acts like he owns this apartment," Ran corrected. "He would come over and demand thickened cream or cat food even when I'm trying to put Andy to sleep. And," Ran paused so that he could glare at his cat. "He loves leaping into the laundry basket and leave me with a huge mess. Luckily, he knows better than to tear up my shirts. Right?"
"Meow?" Jo asked innocently while cocking his head to the side.
"Yes, you do," Ran argued.
Jo simply flicked his tail dismissively before turning back to the new human. He stared at her with huge, googly eyes and started licking her chin and cheeks in an attempt to convince her to take his side. He batted her arm in gentle taps. "Meow, meoooow," he pleaded.
I'm innocent, he insisted.
Ran facepalmed. "See what I mean. It was so much worse when I had the other four around. They were the furry mafia of Fleet Street. Each gang memeber took turns to make sure I toed the line. I had a strict schedule to follow - when I change their kitty litter, when I cuddle whom and what groceries I needed to buy. Not the most baby friendly household."
Jo yawned and turned his face away.
"A furry mafia, that doesn't sound too bad." Riley laughed at the revelation, but hadn't turned away from Jo since he'd started looking at her with
those eyes. "I see what you mean though, cuteness can be very dangerous. That's why cats and dogs tend to be master manipulators." To be honest though, she wouldn't mind getting manipulated by an army of floofy animals. "Did Andy like the cats?" Her eyes flitted to the sleeping child and she broke into a grin. Only two years had passed since Nowhere but it looked like everyone was already living very different lives. It was good, a little strange, but still good.
Ran shook his head. " Wow Jo seems to have you eating out of his paws so quickly! Anyway, grab a seat," he said, gesturing to the messy dining table with three chairs surrounding it and the huge sofa overflowing with toys. "I can get us some drinks. Beer? Cider? That Pimm's Cup I promised? I have some wine as well if you like or, erm, diluted coffee. I ran out of beans earlier this week."
"Water is good," Riley laughed. "It's like three in the afternoon, Ran."
"That's pretty tame," Ran teased. "I expected better from you. How about some of Andy's carrot juice with a dash of vodka? I think a rum and coke might be a better choice actually." He saw Riley's eyes grow wider with each suggestion. Ran reached behind and ruffled his hair. "Been awhile since I had an adult around, you know. Of course, I have baby friendly juices too. That grape juice from the Heinz bottle isn't too bad. Well, it's much better with some vodka if I wasn't too tired to look for the bottle on most days."
Riley arched an eyebrow at the growing list. "Yeah? Either way, Carrot juice with Vodka... I'm sorry Ran, but that sounds gross." At least the other options didn't sound that bad. "Maybe next time though, I need to bike over to Jasper's later. I don't think I want to get hit by a truck today." Riley sat down on the couch and looked at the drawings Ran had tacked onto the walls. There were so many of them, and most of them looked way too familiar to be anything other than scenic shots straight out of Nowhere. "Looks like you've been really busy. So, uh, I've been trying to find the other Lost Souls. Jasper, Inadi, and Harper are fine. Are you doing, okay?"
"You have?" Ran remarked from inside the kitchen. The man noted that he forgot to fill up his water bottles again so he prayed that he had some kind of can drink somewhere inside his fridge. He recalled buying some
recently. After junking his greying pepperoni pizza slices from three weeks ago, dried out sweet sour pork over bloating rice and a plastic wrapped furry, green loaf that expired last a month ago, he found two forgotten cans. The soda water expired seven months ago while the coke was only three months passed it's best by date. Not too bad, he guessed. After all, he read on the Internet that canned food usually were good for months after their expiry dates. Shrugging to himself, he walked back to Riley and tossed her the coke. "Sorry, out of water. I can boil some but I'm not a fan of hot water. Hope you don't mind coke."
Pushing Andy's wooden blocks off the sofa, Ran plopped himself down beside his guest and placed his can on top of cluttered coffee table. "How's everyone?" he asked curiously. He doubted Riley would want to hear him go on and on about the trials of parenthood. That was pretty much his life since returning from Nowhere.
"Coke is good, thanks." Riley caught the can and popped it open only to notice the absence of the all too familiar fizzy sound associated with carbonated drinks. Curiously, she eyed the can and noticed that it had expired in June, which was nearly three months ago. "Harper's in college. He wants to be a teacher. Jasper's running Rosen's cafe and Inadi visited her last week. He'll be here for a couple more days. I think he's working on his next book. We were pen pals for a bit. So yup, they're all doing well! Not sure about the others, but I hope they're fine too. I'm guessing they are. Oh, and not to be a bad guest, but I think this is expired." Riley laughed it off as she placed the can on the table. "What's been going on with you?"
Jo stood up on Riley's lap. He chased his tail for a bit before tucking his legs under his body and turned into a black, purring pillow. Ran considered freeing Riley from Jo's tyranny but she seemed really happy. He pretended to grumble at Jo only to have a paw stretch out and nudge him away.
"Fine," he huffed. "Rils' a better friend than you anyway." Turning his attention back to his guest, he smiled lazily and leaned back until his head was pressed against the head of the sofa. "I've been ... occupied. Between Andy, Jo and my freelance contracts, I barely have time to eat." He chuckled. "Heck, I tossed out more food just now. Best weight loss plan, eh?"
"It's something," Riley laughed before giving Ran a mock glare. "Doesn't sound like the best way to save up on cash, though. Food too." She would have joked around a bit more, but the lighthearted atmosphere turned into something much more somber and she quieted down to listen to what Ran was about to say next.
"But yeah ... I dunno. I feel weird. Empty, you know when I'm not busy. Sometimes when I happen to be up at 3 a.m. or maybe when I'm the only one awake at 2 in the afternoon. I can't help wondering where you guys went. If you are real... that's why I started the comic. It made everyone seemed more real." His eyes pulled away from the ceiling fan finally and he rolled his head to the side so he could see Riley. "What's your story? I doubt you planned to set out to find everyone the moment you got home. Or did you now?"
Riley nodded sympathetically. She understood what Ran was trying to say, the emptiness after the Midnight Train, the endless questions, she understood all of it. In fact, she'd doubted almost everything until she found Jasper and Harper. Before that, questions about Nowhere and everyone's whereabouts kept her up at night and made her question her sanity. "Yeah, I feel you. After the train, things were really shitty for me too." She waved a dismissive hand and mustered up a chuckle. "Nah, I wish it were that easy. I tried to ignore it at first, just keep going, pretend it never happened. Mhm, it didn't work out so well. Started blubbering about Nowhere to my friend and it really freaked her out." Riley laughed at the memory. Kim drove her home and that was the end of their adventures as a dynamic duo. "I moved back home, started obsessing over finding the others. Whaddya know, I run into this blog about Jasper's cafe, and on that same forum? Bam, I find Harper. It was a Christmas miracle out of a Disney movie, Ran."
Ran arched an eyebrow. Rils' story left more questions than answers. He couldn't see the connection between reading the blog about Jasper's cafe and finding Harper. Was Harper the writer of the said blog? Was Jasper photographed with Harper? He narrowed his eyes playfully, making Riley start a bit before he broke into a laugh. "Kidding!" he assured her with a pat. "Still don't see the link at all to be honest. How did Harper come into the picture? One moment you mentioned Jasper and next you talked about Harper."
Truth be told, his thoughts were jumbled up during his emotional lows and he couldn't help wondering if Riley was experiencing the same thing. Everything seemed horribly mixed up inside his head, past, present and future. It was like he could remember individual events perfectly but the links between them were broken. He doubted he was like that before taking that fateful train ride to Nowhere. Still patting Riley sympathetically, he continued observing her quietly while waiting for an answer.
Riley narrowed her eyes in response. "Hey! Though, I guess you're right. Sorry 'bout that. Okay, so this is what happened. Harper's sister wrote the blog post featuring Jasper's café. I found Harper in the comment section of said post. Like I said, doesn't make much sense, but I'll take whatever miracles I can get. Started contacting Harper through the blog then we got in touch with Jasper through Harper's sister."
They lapsed into an awkward silence after that. Ran wasn't sure what to add to the conversation without it sound forced. He didn't want to keep talking about the past for too long because it felt like something that could derail their relationship. He was sure they'd grow jaded of one another if all they ever did was focus on Nowhere. They needed to move on anyway. It'd been two years since they got back.
"Isn't Jasper waiting for you?" he asked politely as the cuckoo clock in his living room sounded. It was 5 in the afternoon and Andy would be up soon. "I mean we could hang out at my place after she closes for the day. Have dinner and all."
Ran scratched the side of his nose sheepishly. "Would suggest going out but Andy needs to sleep by 8 and I can't leave him alone at home."
The tense silence was cut short when Ran jumped in with a question. Riley nodded in response. "Oh right, Jasper. Thanks for the reminder. I almost forgot. She'd be pissed if I didn't show up." Riley found it difficult to imagine Jasper getting mad, but she'd seen the kind albino lose it once or twice in Nowhere, and well, Jasper could be quite scary when she lost it. "That sounds like a great idea. I can call Harper too, if you don't mind." Her eyes flitted to Andy. "Would his mom mind though? We wouldn't want to intrude." She almost said Mazu's name but stopped herself before she could, she wasn't exactly sure who Ran had ended up with. That, and he hadn't mentioned Mazu at all.
"Harper's here?" Ran spoke cheerily, trying his best to distract Riley from her latest question. Thinking of Andy's mom still felt like a punch in the gut. She had chosen her career over trying to build a family for their son. To make matters worse, she married his best friend only to further her own career less than a year after. A marriage of convenience obviously since they only lived together for a month or so before Mazu returned to her own apartment. He stopped following the gossip after that and he felt so much saner. "I'd be glad for more company," he added truthfully. "I need a social life outside my son."
The slip of the tongue brought Ril's attention back to the question. Ran slapped his forehead and muttered under his breath, something about being such an idiot.
There was no avoiding it now. "About Andy's mom..." he trailed off and began lacing his fingers together tightly. His eyes broke away from Riley's gaze. "I never married. Mazu proposed around 12.30 am the night we got back. I mean we were engaged but I could see she was miserable the entire time."
He squeezed his fingers until they turned white, as he tried to figure out how to continue. He saw Riley inching closer to him like she wanted to give him a hug but he moved away. No, he decided. He didn't want to keep this a secret anymore. Not from Riley. Silly as it sounded, he kinda felt she'd understand. "I didn't want to marry her either to be honest. She cheated on me many times and I had enough. I almost broke up with her anyway before New Year's Eve when she told me about Andy."
Ran closed his eyes and exhaled. He allowed his words to sink in before he opened his eyes to look at Riley. "I only agreed to the proposal because I didn't want her to abort the baby. The thought of taking someone's life to pay for our mistake disturbed me."
He saw her look away but he didn't drop his gaze. "Riley, I was so distracted that night because of Mazu that I didn't even notice the train was different." He laughed dryly. "It must have heard my desperate wish to escape from it all. My unemployment, my family, memories of my mentor and Mazu."
Ran's revelation caused the atmosphere to grow heavy, but Riley stared on unflinching. "You know," she struggled to find the right words. "Andy's lucky to have a caring dad like you." She might not have said much, but the look she gave him was one of respect. Ran had agreed to Mazu's proposal to ensure she kept Andy alive when he didn't even want to mary her. It was a sacrifice and it was... well, it was a very grownup thing to do. "That was a really cool thing to do, even cooler than that time we almost won the hoverboard race." 'I'm sorry,' Riley almost said, but instead, she wiped the frown off her face and gave Ran an encouraging pat on the shoulder. "You'll be a kickass dad, Ran. Andy's going to have the coolest father around." She had a few more questions she wanted to ask, but Riley shoved her curiosity aside. The last thing she wanted to do was reopen old wounds.
"Anyway, Harper and Jasper replied. They're psyched to see you." She mustered a grin. "I'll give them a call right now. Are you sure Andy will be okay with all the people around? I mean, we'll try to be quiet of course, but still..." Seeing as Ran didn't look the least bit worried, Riley whipped out her phone and gave the other Lost Souls a call.
"Yup, I'm telling the truth!" Riley hissed as she pressed the phone against her ear. ""Ouch, Jasper. Ran's really here. I'm not making excuses, okay. I was going to go, but I ran into him in the park. "Ouch, Jasper. Ran's really here. I'm not making excuses, okay. I was going to go, but I ran into him in the park. What? Yup, you, Inadi and Harper should come. Okay, see you later. Bring food, please. Ran doesn't have any."
The idle chatter continued for another minute or two before the call was eventually dropped. "Hey, Ran. Do you have room for one more person?" Riley gave him a sheepish smile. "I kind of forgot about Inadi. He's coming too."
Ran brightened up at the mention of Inadi. "H-hey, yeah!" he had to stop himself from flooding Riley with questions about Inadi and Jasper. Things like if they were married already or if Inadi had already published his first novel. Those things could wait, he guessed. They were coming over after all. "That's great! I was planning to order Clam on Clam from this new pizza place called Ottermore's Pizza. Apparently, the original branch is in Oakwoods. Been there almost 50 years before the owner's son decided to open a branch here. Apparently, his wife lived here all her life and she didn't want to move away."
He grinned and pulled out a battered looking pizza pamphlet with a anime-ish otter emblazoned on the front cover. The cute, chubby cheeked animal was stuffing its face with super oozy pepperoni pizza. "People were raving about a new pizza called Captain Walter Overboard on Facebook the other day. It was launched the day the Oakwoods owner became a granddad and the shop claims it will be the biggest pizzas you'll ever see!"
"Ottermore's, huh?" Riley took the pamphlet from Ran and grinned at the cute otter mascot. "I've never heard of them before, but sounds adorable. The food looks good, and gotta give them points for the cute designs too." Riley flipped the pamphlet on its back only to catch a glimpse of several coupons. Heck yeah, they were eating tonight! Or not... her eyes fell on the expiry date written on the coupons, apprently, they'd expired two days ago. "Um, Ran? I think we've got a little problem. Your, uh, coupons. They're kind of expired. Kind of like the food in your fridge." She shot him a mock glare. "Kidding, kidding, though you should be more careful. Andy might eat something rotten. Maybe you need a little help? Not to pry or anything of course."
"Are you implying you wanna work here?" Ran joked. He laughed for a bit but eventually stopped when something crossed his mind. "Say, Rils, I'm looking for a partner. I plan to start a company soon and it'll be nice having a friend onboard. Media stuff, like I can design websites, create logos, edit videos and create short animation films. You sound like someone who can do sales and write stuff. You know, be my copywriter."
He scratched the back of his head nervously, fearing he might make things awkward again. "I, yeah. Sorry. It's just a crazy idea I had. Thought you might be interested since you mentioned I need some help." He shrugged. "I'm okay with you working from home or we can find a bigger apartment in New York. This place is kinda too small and expensive now that I have Andy."
For a moment, Riley wondered if Ran was kidding. When she realized he was serious, she broke into a grin then laughed. "Not what I was implying, but that would be great, Ran. Wait... this is for real, right? This isn't some late April Fools prank or anything like that?" She'd spent the last two years obsessing over finding everyone that the thought of actually having a real job was almost surreal. "Copywriting for you. Totally in. So is there an interview?"
"Well, kinda? I dunno. Never did HR before and I don't think I'll have the heart to reject people I interview. So, yup, you're hired!" Ran beamed as he stretched out his hand. "I hope you don't regretting starting from ground zero. I mean we can live off my savings until our company makes a profit. Shouldn't be too bad."
Riley practically had stars in her eyes. "I can't believe it," she laughed. "I actually have a job. Mom and Dad are going to think I'm making this up." She would have gone on and on, but a knock on the door interrupted her from saying whatever it was she'd planned to say next. "Ooh, I'll get it. It's probably them." In a flash, Riley was looking through the peephole and pulling the door open. "Guys!" She practically yelled. "I got a job."
"What? Congratulations?" Harper had barely stepped through the door and already Riley was bouncing around like a kid in a toystore. "H-Hey, Ran. Long time no see. Thanks for having us over. Um, I'm a little confused. What's happening?"
"Ran and I are starting a company." Riley blurted out.
Ran didn't have time to respond when he heard Andy crying. "Sorry, guys, erm, duty calls. Make yourself at home and ... err... Riley can show you around. Get you drinks and all. Trust me, take her advice and drink the baby grape juice. It's great with some vodka."
"Vodka?" Harper's eyes went wide. It wasn't even past dinner time yet. Well, it was Ran and Riley after all. A small smile tugged on the corners of his lips. He'd missed them all, and being together again felt good. "I'm glad you invited us over, Riley."
"No worries, now let's get you all a drink!" Riley stated as she began shoving them through the door.
You Are Fire Forged Friends!
Stay Tuned for Epilogue Part 2