A Writer of Fluff

“Heyyyyyy, kiddos!” Umemiya chirped, placing the gaming console on the ground next to the TV. One by one, with a very dad-like grunt, he would pick up the boys in a tight hug.

Nirei was mid-slice of carrots when he was hugged from behind and hoisted. He giggled like a child. “Umemiya! Careful!”

“What’cha cookin’, kid?” the older male inquired, setting the boy down and draping himself across his shoulders.

“Making yakisoba for all of us.”

“Ooooh. Sounds yummy,” he hummed. “And look at you with your hair up! The ladies would just be all over you!” Umemiya made cooing sounds as he pinched at Nirei’s ears, resulting in flustered giggles from the blonde.

Suo was next. As he helped Hiragi set up the gaming system, he was suddenly scooped like a bride. He subconsciously kicked his feet with a tiny gasp. “Hello, Umemiya.”

“Suoooooooo. You’ve been taking care of yourself, right, kid? Not just worried about everyone else, yeah?”

The redhead sighed dismissively. “I’ve got to get this hooked up if we want to play games.”

“That’s not what I asked you.”

“I—“ he exhaled with that polite smile of his. “Of course I have; it’s just that sometimes, others need my help more than I need rest.”

“Oh! My dear pupil! You wound me so!” The oldest cried out. He cradled Suo to his chest like a baby, gently humming the lullaby song to him.

Sakura scowled. What a dork

That scowl was replaced by a rather manly yelp when he was swept off of his feet and thrown over Umemiya’s shoulder like a sack of potatoes. “Put me down!” he cried. When the white-haired male began to spin him, he pounded his fists against his back. “Umemiya!”

Hiragi huffed with a grin. “Alright, Umemiya, put the kid down.”

“Awwww! But why?!”

“First, he looks nauseous as shit. Second, we got the console set up.”

With a groan from the older male, Sakura was back on his feet. He sat down next to Suo with a huff and crossed his arms. When Suo patted his head, he shot him a glare.

“Hey, Sakura,” Hiragi hummed, “Y’ever play Smash Bros?”

“Heard of it,” he replied. “Never actually played it.” The boys turned to look at him as if he were a space alien. Even Nirei looked up from his vegetable chopping to gape at him. “What?” he asked, confused by their incredulous looks. His patience shortly wore thin. “Okay, what?! Is it like some rite-of-passage game? I bet you’ll shit yourselves when I tell you that I can’t play chess either!”

Suo turned to him with a Cheshire grin. “Now, young Sakura, we are going to teach you the ways of the gamer.”

The boy snorted. “Oh yeah, sure. Like I need to know how to wear the same hoodie for five days straight and shower once every two months.”

Hiragi snorted at that, clapping a heavy hand on Sakura’s shoulder. “Nah, kid. This is just like the party game ever.”

“Wrong,” Nirei called from the kitchen; he hadn’t even turned to look at them, as he was caramelizing onions on the stove. “The party game ever is Mario Party.”

“Wrong again,” Umemiya chimed. “Wii Sports is the way to go.”

“Absolutely not,” argued Suo. “The best one is totally Carnival Games.”

There was a collective groan from all of the boys except Sakura. Hiragi scoffed. “Do you want someone to throw a book at you?”

“Barker is SUCH a bitch, dude!” Nirei cried. There was a subsequent, loud sizzle from the pan in the kitchen.

“Careful now, don’t singe your eyebrows off,” Suo hummed.

Sakura felt like he was missing something again…

A small controller was put into his hand. It was blue, and it had four buttons and a joystick. How simple…

“So, first, you pick who you want to be,” Umemiya hummed, taking a seat next to the boy. “My favorite to play is Kirby. He’s a little hard to get used to because of the timing.”

“Teach him to play Pikachu. He’s like the easiest,” Hiragi mused.

“No way! Teach him to be Lucas! That’s my main!” Nirei chirped. Sakura couldn’t help but grin when the blonde sneezed. At least the food was getting seasoned.

“Of course you play Lucas,” Suo grumbled.

“And who do you two main?” Nirei huffed, stirring the contents of the pan.

“Palutena, duh,” Hiragi reported proudly.

Suo sat next to Umemiya, putting the oldest male in the middle. “Sora main here.”

“Booooo DLC player!” the silver-haired male chided, wrapping his arm around the boy’s neck. “Pay-to-win, Pay-to-win!” he cooed.

Suo’s visible eye rolled, and he snorted. “Paying only gets me the character. It’s the skill that sells it.”

“I wanna be this guy!” Sakura interrupted. “He looks cool.” Hovering his “P2” icon over the character, the boy looked at the rest of the group.

Hiragi gaped at him. “You wanna be…”

“Mister Game and Watch…?” Suo asked.

“What’s wrong with him?!” The half-and-half boy barked, a blush creeping onto his face. “He’s so cool! He’s old-fashioned gaming!”

Umemiya grinned at him. “You’re right. He’s based off of the first ever Nintendo console, the Game and Watch. He was the first video game character to ever exist.”

Sakura’s eyes lit up. “I wanna play him!”

“Game and Watch it is,” Umemiya hummed.

The boys showed Sakura the ropes, and as expected, the young man greatly enjoyed himself. What they were not expecting was how fast he excelled.

“How the hell did you take two stock already?!” Hiragi yelped, fiddling with his joystick in a panic.

“His down smash demolishes. And I can edgeguard with neutral B,” the boy chimed.

“You talk like you’ve been playing this game for years,” Nirei noted.

“Your noodles are boiling over,” Hiragi grumbled at the sound of the bubbling pot.

Game after game, Sakura continued to absolutely destroy his friends in the game. Not a single one of them could defeat him. Even after changing characters, the half-and-half male still managed to steal stock after stock from them.

Now, it was him against Suo for a final deathmatch. Infinite stocks, 10 minutes time, total chaos.

Umemiya watched the screen with a delighted, soft smile. His baby brothers were really getting along, and it warmed his heart to see Sakura enjoying himself.

Delighted and frantic war cries filled the room. They were neck and neck. When one person would take a stock, the other would match it. Each boy was giving it his all, and both were at a stalemate within the first minute.

Soon, Sakura had the up on Suo, and Umemiya was truthfully getting tired of the same narrative over and over again.

Experimentally, he poked a single finger against Sakura’s foot. The boy merely twitched, curling his toes up. When they un-scrunched, he waited for Sakura to charge up a strong attack before he skittered his fingers over it.

“What are you— ngh! D-Doing?!” he yelped, jerking his foot away.

“Nothin’!” chirped the older boy.

“Don’t screw with me. I’m about to beat Suo’s ass!”

“Hardly! We’re one stock apart from each other!” the redhead argued.

“Boys! Don’t argue,” the white-haired male chided. “You’re both the winners in my heart!”

Sakura made a gagging noise, and Suo’s visible eye rolled. Umemiya glared at the two before sneaking a pinch to Suo’s side and a squeeze to Sakura’s kneecap.

For Suo, his response was a small jolt and a death glare.

Sakura on the other hand…

“DON’T!” he exploded, yanking his knee away. His features softened when he realized everyone stopped to stare at him. “S’just a sensitive part of me… Don’t touch it; that’s all.”

Sensitive, hm? He’s sensitive there… Now, Umemiya was not born last night. What Sakura needed to say, but was unable to, is that he was ticklish there. His knees are not sensitive; they’re ticklish.

“Ah, I see,” Umemiya hummed. “You’re ticklish,” he informed bluntly.

Sakura let out a strangled squeak when he was pinched again. “I— I am not!”

“Are.”

“Not!”

“Aaaaare!”

“Nohohohohot!”

Suo grinned evilly when the oldest’s fingers continuously prodded around the half-and-half boy’s right knee.

“Dohohohon’t tihihihickle mehehehehe!”

“Don’t tickle you? But Sakura, you just said you weren’t ticklish! Why would you mind?”

“Ahahahahasshohohohole!”

“Oh! How cruel!”

“Stahahap! Yohohohou’re dihihihistrahahactihihing mehehe!”

Shooting a wink to Suo, Umemiya only continued.

Despite the handicap of his knee being squeezed, Sakura still managed to keep his lead through giggles and jolts of his body. He couldn’t help but blush deeper when he noticed Hiragi watching him with a sweet grin. He was down to the final minute; he could do this!

“Stay on it, kid! It would be a cryin’ shame if you were to… lose focus.” Umemiya’s hands traveled up to squeeze at Sakura’s thighs, his touch unrelenting. “Don’t lose it!”

“Gngh— bahahahastahahahard! Nohohohoho!” he squealed, squirming.

“Hmmm… I thought you weren’t ticklish, Sakura?” the oldest cooed. “This is such an oddity. I wonder what’s happening.”

“Dohohohohon’t! Stahahahahap!”

“Don’t stop? Oh, so you want to lose? Is this like a… giving up control thing? Y’know, my therapist says—“

“Nohohohoho!” Sakura’s character splatted against the screen, and a pillar of lightning followed. He had lost a stock, damn it! “Stohohohop dihihihistrahahahactihihihing mehehehe! Bahahahastard!”

“Sounds like a skill issue, Little Sakura,” Suo cooed, poking the boy in the side.

“Ughhhhh! Stahahahap ihihihit! Yohohohou two suhuhuhuck!” Sakura whined. His laughter grew in pitch when he felt skittering fingers on his foot

Hiragi was grinning evilly, his free hand around the half-and-half boy’s ankle, his other hand tickling his foot with precision. Now within the final seconds of the match, the boys were tied. Suo had the upper hand because of this cheating! But Sakura was determined to keep his streak alive. He focused his attention into a down smash slam… followed by a side B—

“NAHAHAHAHA! DOHOHOHOHON’T!” he cried. Umemiya’s squeezing hands traveled up to his ribs and prodded around. “NONONONONOHOHOHOHOHO!”

The oldest smiled beamingly. “Don’t lose, kid! Keep it going!”

“UHUHUHUMEHEHEHEMIHIHIHIYAHAHAHA! HIHIHIRAHAHAHAGIHIHIHI! NOHOHOHOHO!”

Five… four… three… two…

“Shit!”

“No!”

“How did he—?!”

“GAME!”

“YEHEHEHEHES! YEHEHEHEHES!”

“That little shit.” Suo grumbled. He tossed his controller to the side and tackled the giggling Sakura to the floor—though, there wasn’t very far for him to travel. Umemiya and Hiragi let go with surprised chuckles. “So, Little Sakura, how’d you manage to cheat?”

“Cheat?! It was you three cheating! I could’ve easily whooped your ass into next Sunday if you weren’t t-tick… t-tickl—distracting me!”

“Ohhhh, distracting you, hm?” the redhead teased. “Don’t you mean tickling you?”

“I see; I see,” Hiragi hummed. “He was mad that we tickled him.”

“Oohoohoo!” Umemiya cooed. “Little Sakura can’t handle the word tickle!”

“I guess so. Look at how red he gets when we say the world tickle around him,” Suo observed.

The white-haired male couldn’t help but giggle at Sakura’s increasing blush. “Mhm. Mhm. How curious… I’m just tickled by this information.

“Shut up; shut up; shut up!” The boy whined. “You three are terrible! Nirei’s my only friend now!”

The blonde let out a little cheer from the kitchen.

“What I think is that you need to tell us how you managed to get so good in only an hour,” Hiragi said with a death glare.

Suo’s hold on him got a bit tighter. “We have our ways.”

Hold on… Were they gonna hurt him…?! They were just having fun and being—

“Relax,” the redhead whispered as he held Sakura’s arms over his head. He shifted to sit on his hands. “We would never hurt ya’, Little Sakura.”

Before he could relax, Suo dug into his underarms without mercy. “WAITWAITWAIT NAHAHAHAHAO! NOHOHOHOT THEHEHEHERERE!” he squealed, kicking his legs.

Umemiya grabbed onto his knees and squeezed both of them, cooing at him. “Ooooh tickle tickle tickle, kiddo! You’re so precious!”

As if he couldn’t have been more embarrassed! A blush formed at his neck as he screamed in laughter.

“GUHUHUHUYS!”

Suo smiled sweetly at him: a rare, genuine sight. “Hmm?”

“IHIHIHIT TIHIHIHICKLEHEHEHES!”

“I’m sure it does,” the redhead chimed. “Why, I’d be down for the count if I was being tickled riiiiight here!” Giving the half-and-half boy a break by moving his fingers to his neck.

In turn, Sakura’s laughter died to gentle giggling once more, as Umemiya had picked up on the signal and moved down to run his fingers up and down the boy’s calf. He wriggled slightly, his body merely twitching in response.

“You’ve been carrying so much on your shoulders… Why don’t you just lay back and laugh for a while?” Suo’s whispered voice in his ear caused a warm vibration to spread from his head to his toes. His blush spread to his ears and face now.

He nodded.

The redhead shot Hiragi a knowing look, and soon enough, there were skittering fingers on Sakura’s feet again.

The half-and-half boy lay there giggling like a child. His eyes were squeezed shut in mirth, and his body jittered from the tickly feeling. Daresay, he was… enjoying it. The gentle treatment went on for minutes, and his giggling was rather cheerful.

At least, until Umemiya decided that he had had enough of a break.

Sakura felt Suo getting off of his wrists, the other murmuring something about “not wanting to trap him.” As he went to sit up, to curse out his friends, he was pushed back to the floor with a heavy weight on his hips.

“So… you gonna tell us how you did it?” asked the eldest, a terrifying calmness on his face.

Giggles started flooding out of him like routine. His hands, now free—albeit trembling—shot up to grip his senior’s wrists.

The two held intense eye contact until Umemiya’s lips curled into a sweet smile. “Oh, kid. You’re just too cute.”

And then, Sakura felt two hands on his sides and tummy like lightning. He didn’t even get a chance to react! His hips bucked upward as a strangled yelp left his lips, all before he dissolved into sweet laughter. “Nohohohoho!”

“Oh, yes. See, when the head of Bofurin asks you a question, Sakura, it’d be wise of you to answer,” Suo chirped, sitting cross-legged with that patient, polite smile of his.

The half-and-half boy couldn’t even keep his grip on Umemiya’s wrists, especially not when they traveled up to his ribs. Sakura’s laughter grew in volume, his tummy quivering in the cold air as his shirt rode up.

Innocently, Suo’s two fingers crept up his side like walking limbs. They strolled along his sides and traced torturous circles along the bare skin before pinching around his belly button. The boy tossed his head back and cackled loudly when a finger dipped inside.

“Such stamina,” Hiragi praised. “I wonder what’ll make you crack.”

“I know,” Umemiya chirped, “but our little friend here is enjoying himself; I can tell; best not to tucker him out so fast!”

And all good things, as beautiful and sweet; as torturous and breath-stealing; as giddy and exciting as they may be, must come to an end. Despite his enjoyment, it would be Haruka Sakura who would end his own merriment.

“Ihihihi cahahahan tahahahake ihihihit!”

Tsk tsk tsk… poor baby.

So confident…

All of that confidence melted away when Umemiya’s hands shot up under Sakura’s arms without warning. His back arched off the ground and thrashed madly, trying to escape. The white-haired male’s fingers followed wherever he would attempt, leaving no opportunity for escape.

Suo continued his soft treatment of the boy’s stomach, utilizing gentle prods and tracing over anything else. As the tummy beneath his fingers would jolt and twitch, he’d only smile, resting his cheek on Sakura’s lower ribs. One finger turned to two hands raking around the sensitive skin.

“Uuuup, and dooooown, and aaaaalll arooooound. Only the softest touch for my Little Sakura.~” he cooed.

Meanwhile, Sakura could barely think. The back of his head was glued to the floor while his back arched up. Umemiya’s weight on his hips rendered him immobile, with his arms free but just shy of stopping Suo’s torturous caresses. He could form no thoughts in his mind; he could move no limb to protest. He could scream his head off as his blush swallowed his whole face.

“Hmm… That redness looks quite serious, Suo, my friend. What are your thoughts?” inquired Umemiya, not ceasing his tickling for a second.

“Mhm, I agree… he’s far too flushed to continue for long,” mused the redhead. “Say, Umemiya, would you arch your back upward for me? Make a little room, please.” When his senior obliged, Suo smiled that calm, patient grin. “Now, Sakura, I know you can’t hear me right now, as you’re being far too noisy—for reasons I’m totally unsure of—but I think it’s time for myself to show our upperclassmen how to solve a problem. Don’t you?”

Belly laughter was the answer he received.

“Now… what to do…” he drummed his fingers along the warm, bare skin of the boy’s tummy. “Ah! Yes, naturally. Here we go!” With a deep breath, Suo ducked his head down and blew a raspberry onto Sakura’s skin.

“OHOHOHOHO SHIHIHIHIHIHIT! NOHOHOHOHOHO!”

“Ah! Umemiya, he seemed to enjoy it. Please arch upward once again!” Another breath, another raspberry.

“SHITSHITSHITSHIT! SHIHIHIHIT! FUHUHUHUCK!”

“Such a rotten mouth!” Umemiya cried out, honing in on Sakura’s underarms with a bit more fervor. He looked down evilly at the boy—a side which Sakura had seen only once before. A simple command was given to him; one that he would be able to ignore for a few good minutes. “Crack.”

And yet, nothing. Sakura’s screams of laughter were merely background noise for the tiny apartment.

“OHOHOHOHO MY GOHOHOHOHOD! SHIHIHIHIT!” Accompanied Hiragi’s attempt to study the controllers better.

“NOHOHOHOHO! BAHAHAHASTARDS! HYEAHAHAHAHAHA!” Was a sweet symphony to join Nirei’s plating of their meal.

The two continued their ruthless attack on the younger boy. Despite his hot blush, the intensity of their tickling, and the duration, Sakura still was going on strong. Umemiya ought to be the one to put his baby brother to bed after as an apology.

Raspberry after raspberry, Suo continued without mercy. His repetition led him to an experiment of sorts: berries toward the sides and hips were less ticklish, while berries toward the ribs and atop of the belly button were the most. He breathed in heavy for another one until he heard a frantic plea.

“OHOHOHOHO FUHUHUHUCK! NOHOHOHO MOHOHOHOHORE!”

He sighed, sitting up. However, Sakura was still hoarse with merriment. “Umemiya.”

“PLEHEHEHEHEASE! STAHAHAHAP STOP!”

“…Umemiya!”

“IHIHIHI CAHAHAHAN’T TAHAHAHAKE IHIHIT! STAHAHAHAP!”

“Hajime!”

When Umemiya’s fingers came to a halt, and Sakura’s upper body fell backwards, Suo was there to catch him. He gently pat the boy’s back as he caught his breath, subsequently snaking his hand under Sakura’s white top to rub the warm skin of his back.

“Just breathe, Sakura. Don’t speak; just breathe,” Suo soothed in a whisper.”

Umemiya’s fingers started to gently brush through his hair. “Shit, kid— Haruka, I’m so sorry.”

“S’okay… had… lots’a… fun…” rasped the boy.

A delicious smell of meat and veggies entered their noses, and a huge bowl of Yakisoba was soon prepared on the counter.

“Eat up,” Nirei hummed. “Get his strength back up.”

The half-and-half boy was gently shook, but he only groaned, clinging onto Suo’s free arm. Hiragi huffed with a fond grin, bringing back an extra plate for Suo, while Umemiya did the same for Sakura.

The five boys shared their meal in total delight. Sakura stayed glued to Suo for a good five minutes, eyes shut—at least until he realized that he was snuggled up to the redhead, then he promptly shot up like a spring, his blush creeping back. It was at this point where he would begin his meal.

After food was shared, Hiragi offered to clean up, while Umemiya offered to wash the dishes. While the two older men completed their cleaning, the Switch was booted back up. Nirei quickly loaded into the game and selected his main fighter. He took his hair out of the ring ponytail… Business…

And finally, throughout a day full of losses and revenge, Haruka Sakura was at last defeated.

Game and Watch: Many

Lucas: 1

Nirei’s laughter would bounce off of the walls of the flat soon after, Sakura’s following in hot pursuit. Suo’s soft giggles would follow along his tickling fingers. A smile of true joy at Nirei’s adorable snorts would form on his lips.

Umemiya couldn’t help but smile at the sight and sound of his baby brothers’ delight.

Type A.

Positive: Creative. Clever. Cooperative/Good Team Players. Negative: Stubborn. Uptight. Anxious.

✩ Most common blood type in Japan. (40%). I find this type seems usually assigned to characters that seem more outgoing and social, however Sako Kota and Mizuki Saku are here as well so that's not always the case. Those two do seem capable of working in a team setting however so it also tracks.

✩ It's worth noting for later that ALL the Four Kings are this type.

Characters with this Type:

Tsugeura Taiga

Kiryu Mitsuki

Anzai Masaki

Hiragi Toma

Tsubakino Tasuku

Momose Takumi

Mizuki Saku

Tachibana Kotoha

Wanijima Yūgo

Sako Kota

Kanuma Minoru

Shuhei Suzuri (also intrigued by his presence here as well, but I think his personality shines a lot more after he gets brought into the "light" so to say)

Type B.

Positive: Strong. Decisive. Empathetic. Passionate. Negative: Selfish. Erratic.

✩ I find this type usually assigned to characters that like "keep to themselves" by nature like Sugi and Kaji. Type Bs are reportedly viewed as misfits because they "go at their own pace and behave oddly" (see Kaji and Endo cough)

✩ Type Bs supposedly clash with Type As. None of the Type B characters on this list have any specific issues with any Type A characters other than Sugi's indirect clash with Kanuma but that's the closest connection. However, I find it really interesting that Kaji (and Enomoto) are Type Bs to Hiragi's Type A with this thought in mind. I will say it does seem that several of the Type Bs here seem to clash with EVERYONE in some case (Kaji, Sugi and Endo specifically)

Characters with this Type:

Sugishita Kyotaro

Kaji Ren

Enomoto Takeshi

Arima Yukinari

Inugami Teruomi

Endo Yamato

Type AB.

Positive: Rational. Adaptable. (Mysterious*) Negative: Indecisive. Critical. Forgetful.

✩ AB is the rarest blood type in Japan, which I find interesting considering our MC AND one of his trio are both in this type together.

✩ It's also considered to be a "joining" of multiple pieces of Type A and B types together, which is interesting considering the two Types are considered to clash with each other. So...I feel it presents Type ABs as being kind of at war internally with themselves which REALLY sells it in several of these characters below.

✩ I think it's really interesting that Sakura and Suo share this type, and it makes sense. Especially with their rational natures (tho Sakura's is a different brand imo that usually gets overlooked by his rashness).

✩ I'm also very intrigued that Choji also falls in this group as he seems to have a very different personality from everyone else when he gets back on the right path but I think he also falls into having a strange version of rationality too. Even if it's not correct, it was still a very realistic and rational view of approaching something.

✩ Also worth mentioning that Chika and Sakura sharing a blood type is very very interesting considering Endo's interest in the two. Makes you wonder how he'd feel about Suo if Suo was part of the fight lmao

Characters with this Type:

Sakura Haruka

Suo Hayato

Tomiyama Choji

Akihito Miyoshi

Chika Takiishi

Type O.

Positive: Confident. Determined. Resilient. Intuitive. Outgoing. Negative: Self-centered. Unstable.

✩ This type is usually seen in "natural born leaders" apparently.

✩ They're said to appear as selfish sometimes, specifically in the eyes of Type As. I find that very intriguing because ALL Four Kings are Type As. But especially Hiragi Toma, who initially hated Umemiya and his plans, but was brought in because Ume knew Hiragi would make sure he didn't stray from the right path.

✩ I also thing it's interesting that several of the characters with this type DO have established "selfish" dreams and desires that while not inherently bad or negative, are still technically selfish.

✩ Nirei - wants to become stronger & wants to help Sakura to the top. While this is a very interactive desire that includes Sakura, I think it's stuck in a kind of selfish basis too of wanting to be needed etc. And I feel like if Sakura said he DIDN'T want to be the top anymore, that he wouldn't know what to do.

✩ Umemiya himself says (to Hiragi actually iirc) about wanting to bring together Furin and protect the town that his dream and desires are selfish. These are not bad things, as it benefits a LOT of people but its still something that not a lot of people actually want at that point in time? And he's about to enact that will upon everyone whether they like it or not.

✩ Togame - Selfishly wanted Choji to remain the sun in his and their gang's eyes, even at the cost of all of their happiness for a bit. Even when maybe stepping down as leader or confronting Choji would've saved them all that pain.

✩ Also he's not brought up or shown very often but he's one of my faves so I have to bring him up - Kusumi Yuto being the Type O to Kaji and Enomoto's Type B is something I really vibe with, because I think it def gives this indication of Kusumi being a guiding light for the two of them as vice cpt. Same with how Nirei being the Type O for Sakura and Suo's Type AB is also kind of falling into the same design. Nirei and Kusumi are not the actual leaders here, but their personalities allow their assigned leaders - who are NOT naturals - to shine brighter with their support.

Characters with this Type:

Nirei Akihiko

Umemiya Hajime

Kusumi Yuto

Togame Jo

Kanji Nakamura

So uh yeah...a lot of yap tbh and maybe stretching some based on what I know about the archetypes and just what I've seen over time. But I hope you enjoyed this!

I look in the mirror, turning my head from side to side.

“Hm..”

“What wrong, question?”

“Nothing’s wrong- my hair’s just getting a little long. I haven’t cut it in a while.”

“Hair not look different to me.”

I shrug.

“Yeah it’s not all that much longer. I just get annoyed when the back touches my neck. It’s itchy.”

“Itchy, question?”

“Yeah. Human hair can have different textures - soft and smooth, coarse and stiff, thick, thin… I happen to have pretty thick hair, which can be scratchy.”

“Hm, Grace have bad hair.”

“Wow- okay.”

I huff, taking the shears out of the cabinet and flicking them on. Rocky flinches at the sound.

“What that?! Weapon?!”

“No! No, not a weapon! They’re just clippers! They wouldn’t put a weapon on the spaceship, Rock. This is used to cut hair, see?”

I turn to the side, eyeballing a rough cut of the shaggy hair at my neck.

It wasn’t a perfect cut by any means- even worse with my eyesight, but the end goal was comfort, not style.

A few tufts of brownish blonde hair tumble down my back and onto the floor. Rocky seems horrified by the sight.

“Hurt?! Grace hurt?! Losing body part!!”

“Nooooo, Rocky, hair doesn’t feel pain when you cut it off. People cut their hair all the time! Especially when it gets long and unruly.”

“‘Scuse me.” Simon appears, bargimg into the small bathroom, startling Roxy and me both. He reaches past me, grabbing a shirt he had hung to dry on the zero-G stabilizer bars near the ceiling.

“Yeah, see? Long and unruly, like this.” I tease, picking up and gently tugging a lock of Simon’s dark, long, unkempt hair.

“Get offa me, Astroboy.” He hisses, elbowing me in the chest, knocking me a step back. I snort, shoving him in the back, pushing him out of the bathroom. “Careful! I’ve got clippers! And you got in my way, Iron Man!” I chuckle.

“That one isn’t even clever.”

“Yeah it is! Blood’s made of iron!”

“Whatever.”

“60-170 micrograms per deciliter, baby.”

Rocky chirps with quiet laughter.

“See?! He thinks it’s funny.

Simon groans from outside in the dorm.

“Hey, your first nicknames for me were ‘Savior’ and ‘Angel’, and you didn’t drop either for days, so I don’t wanna hear it.”

“I thought I was dead, and you were the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes on a bright white foreign ship. OF COURSE I thought you were an angel! had just woken up from a coma!” Simon shouts, standing in the doorway, shirt held tight in his hand.

“Ohhhh welcome to the Confused Coma Club, Iron Man. Nice to have a third member! At least you didn’t wake up to a robot claw in your face. Would you put your shirt on please?” I snicker.

“Your shirt.”

“Well you’ve stretched the heck outta the thing, so it’s yours now.” I snicker.

“Asshole.”

“Language, Moon Fish.Hey, when are you gonna let me fix your hair up? Lord knows you haven’t done much with it since you got here.”

“I don’t want a haircut.”

“At least let me brush out. Pull it out of your face a little?” I suggest.

“No.” Simon grumbles as he turns to leave. “And for the record, you definitely got a kick out of ‘Angel’.”

“…Get out of my sight.” I click the clippers on and off at him a couple times as he walks off.

I roll my eyes, crouching down to collect the tufts, putting them in the waste bin.

“Why Simon no have to cut hair, question?”

“Because he doesn’t really care about it. It’s not mandatory, some people like their hair long, some like it short.” I run a hand through my hair, pushing the fringe back off my face. “I don’t like hair touching my face or my neck, so I keep it short. Simon couldn’t care less if he tried, so he lets it grow. Simple as that.” I shrug.

“Tedious. Tedious. Humans too tedious about appearance. Inefficient, statement.”

“Yeah well.” I mutter.

“’m headed up to the lab. Join me if you want to.” I say, placing the clippers back where I found them.

“What Grace working on, question?”

I shrug. “Got some samples I’ve been looking at the last couple weeks that I wanna check on.”

“Ohhh Simon Rocket samples!! Blood and metal!” Rocky chirps.

I grimace, shaking my head.

“Shhh! Rocky! …Ok, yes, those samples, but don’t say it so loud!”

“Why question?!”

“I don’t…” I peek my head out of the bathroom to make sure the coast is clear. “I don’t want Simon to know that I harvested samples from the planet and vessel that almost killed him!” I hiss.

“But… alive now! And okay! Should not matter.”

“In a perfect universe it wouldn’t matter. But trauma can make things that can no longer hurt you feel just as painful. And besides- he doesn’t react well to blood… he said it agitates him. I don’t wanna trigger him.”

“Why Grace get samples then?!”

“I got them before he told me all this! Look. I only work with the samples when he’s asleep, to minimize risk of exposure. I already feel bad enough keeping the stuff on board.”

“Then eject samples. Statement.”

“Through the airlock that’s as loud as a star exploding? Yeah, I don’t think so.”

“Bad bad idea.”

“Yeah, well I don’t know what else to do, Rock. I’m doing the best I can.”

-

It’s late.

And you’ll just have to take my word for it, since it always looks like night in space, but according to the clocks in the lab, it was well after midnight.

Simon had gone to sleep early, around 9:45, as opposed to his normal 11:00, so I spent that extra time in the lab this evening doing some work on the hull and ocean samples that I had - selfishly - retrieved from Simon’s ship during the rescue mission.

It was truthfully meant to be somethingto keep me busy during the rest of the flight to Erid. I wanted to learn about the blood ocean, the ship itself, what perhaps critical design flaws went overlooked, leading to the wrek, and maybe even figure out how Simon’s body was able to mutate in such a short time.

I could ask Simon all these things too, of course. But there was no use jostling trauma that was still trying to heal.

By the end of my session, the lab station was a wreck covered in specks of rust, drops and splatters of blood at varying dilutions that had escaped the pipettes I had been using to transport it from vials to dish to slide.

It looked like a bit of a crime scene. I chuckle, lifting my goggles over my head, setting them to the side.

In the last few weeks, I had come up with some pretty interesting results from the experiments and tests I had spent so long in secret running. I did wish I could share them with Simon, but the time didn’t feel right.

Who knows if he’d even want to know some of this stuff. Why did I want to know?

There was a bin in the lab specifically for biowaste, which is where I discarded my stained gloves. Although the blood from the ocean wasn’t technically from a human, it still counted as human blood. Finally, I wipe down the station, and begin packing up all my samples.

“What could you possibly be working on this late.”

“AAAH-! Cheez-itz! Where did you come from?! Why are you up?!”

I jolted, scrambling to shove the rusted metal, vials, and microscope into the nearby cubby at the back of the lab station.

“Nightmare. What’re you doing?” He remained unflinching, standing with my cardigan lazily draped over his shoulders.

“Nothing! Nothing important I- I was just… working on something for Rocky… that he uh… asked me to do.”

“Yeah?”

“Mhm!”

“Something for Rocky.”

“Yes.”

Simon looked me up and down.

“How many times I gotta tell you you’re an obvious liar. Simon rolls his eyes, pushing past me with ease.

“Simon-‘ wait, hold on-“

“Rusty metal? The hell does Rocky need with rusty metal when he has xenonite?” He mutters, peering into the cubby, dragging the lab set back out.

I groan as he leans down, looking at thw small vials of red liquid, all in a row on their stand, each one a slightly diluted color than the last. The stacked Petri dishes, and wrapped microscope slides.

Simon scanned the table, then looked back at me.

“Is this blood-? Are these samples from my ship?!” He looked… very irritated.

I freeze, unsure of how to respond.

He caught on quick….

“I- uhm, yeah…?”

He gave me a searching look, taking a step back.

“How the fuck did you get these?”

“I- I salvaged them during the rescue operation-!”

“Why do you have pieces of my ship?” His voice dropped. Ice cold.

“I- I’m sorry! I didn’t think it would be that… big of a deal..?”

“Not that big of a deal.”

“Yeah! I just- I just wanted to do some research on y-your ship! And the composition of-“

“You could just ask me that yourself, Ryland.”

“I mean, I could, but that would just be unnecessary trauma exposure…”

“AND THIS ISN’T?!” He shouted, slamming his prosthetic fist into the table. I clambered backward into a neighboring table, slamming my back into the corner of it.

“I told you specifically, in trust and confidence, that I NEVER wanted to see that god forsaken moon, the ship that was almost my CASKET, OR THE BLOOD THAT TURNED ME INTO A FUCKING MONSTER. EVER. AGAIN.” Simon shouted, bearing his teeth at me.

I cowered away, shifting away from the table, only to misstep, and fall backward onto the floor.

“I- I know, I know I’m sorry.”

“AND AT NO POINT, DID YOU THINK IT WOULD BE WISE TO TELL ME YOU KEPT SOUVENIRS OF MY DEATH SENTENCE?”

“I- I thought I could do a better job! At keeping it hidden!”

“That’s what you’re taking from this.”

Simon stood over me, the dim, pale light of the lab backlighting his hulking silhouette.

“NO! I- I didn’t mean it like that!” My heart was pounding in my chest.

“I’m not sure I believe you. Seems spot on to me” I could hear every inhale and exhale from his lungs. 

“Please-! Please, you- just listen! I already had the samples before I knew a-anything you told me. I wanted to bring it up but I didn’t know how ithout upsetting you, I’m sorry-!”

Simon says nothing. I swear I could see his red eye flicker in the low light as he stood over me like a devil in the dark.

“I- I can get rid of it! I can put it all in the airlock and I can shoot it aaaall out into space.”

…

“Simon..?” I was paralyzed, firmly against the wall like I was trying to phase right through it.

Simon makes some kind of move towards me that I could only see a split second of before I flinched, shutting my eyes.

“No- NO-! ROCKYYY!” I shout on a broken cry, balling up on the ground and bracing for… something.

Nothing ever came.

I heave, still rigid in fear.

Enough time passes for me to be confident I was no longer in danger. I open my eyes.

He’s… gone.

-

I’m in trouble… boy don’t I know it…

know I’ve made a mistake. A ridiculous, moronic, dangerous mistake. And honestly, if he would have torn me into microscopic pieces for going behind his back like I did, I wouldn’t hold it against him.

So stupid! All of that, just to do some reaserch on a moon I’m never going back to, and a vessel that’s been pulverized.

I feel like a horrible friend.

It’s been three hours. Simon is probably in bed by the window, and I’ve sequestered myself in the dorm, frankly too scared to go up.

He wouldn’t have actually hurt me…

Even if something did happen, that’d be 100% on me.

Rocky didn’t hear me calling for him. He was asleep, here in the dorm.

I set Simon off, AND left Rocky to sleep alone. Great.

I sit up slowly, standing up off the bed, pacing around in a circle around Rocky, asleep in his ball.

At the very least, I can gather up all my samples of Simon’s ship, and toss it all in the airlock. I won’t cycle it, since it’s late, and the airlock is deafeningly loud, but hopefully it’ll put Simon a bit more at ease if I prove that I’m willing to get rid of everything.

I think to myself.

Yeah, that’s a good plan.

I make my way up the ladder, out of the dorm and into the main, long hallway. It’s pretty easy to sneak around the ship, since nothing really creaks or squeaks under foot.

There’s no light aside from the dim emergency lab bulbs a few yards down the hall, the light spilling up from the dormitory hatch behind me, and the hazy starlight at the end of the corridor.

I feel like I’m walking through a haunted house. It’s dark, I can hardly see as is, and I don’t have any idea where Simon is.

I don’t know if he’s asleep, awake, still mad, and stalking me…

One step at a time… my only objective is to collect the samples, and put them in the airlock. Easy!

I come upon the enterance to the lab. Staying close to the wall, I lean over, peeking in.

Simon’s in the lab…. Simon’s in the lab?! What’s he doing..?!

He’s at the station I left all the hull samples at. Craptastic. What does he want with them?! I thought he didn’t want to see them!

Maybe he’s getting rid of them himself. Thats okay too, I guess. He isn’t obligated to tell me. Those were pieces of his ship, after all-

~Creeeeeak~

I jolt- I had put too much of my weight on the open lab door, making the heavy metal creak as it slid forward.

I ducked away, my back to the wall I had been so desperately hugging. I closed my eyes tight, biting my lip, hoping, praying that Simon didn’t hear.

…

A moment passed. Nothing. Clear.

I open my eyes, turning back around the corner.

“Ryland.”

“AGH-! Simon! I’m so- SO sorry, I- I wasn’t spying on you! I was-“

He raises both his hand.

“Stop talking.”

“Okay.”

“What are you doing? Why are you creeping around the ship like it isn’t your ship?”

“…”

“You can speak now.”

I sigh. “I… I thought you’d be asleep by now… I was coming back to get rid of all the samples…”

“Right.”

“I’m serious!”

“You weren’t gonna just move them someplace else.”

“Simon.”

“You understand my hesitation to trust you right now, right? It was easy enough for you to lie to me before, why wouldn’t it be now?”

“I didn’t lie to you!”

“Lying by omission is still lying, Ryland.”

“Fine, yes, that’s… that’s fair, and I’m sorry! I don’t know how else to prove to you that I’m sorry!”

“…”

“…”

“Did you learn anything?”

“W-what-? I I mean yes, I’ve learned a lot from this- n-not to just go and do things behind-“

“From the samples.”

My face goes a little red. Oops. “Oh. Y-yes, I did, yeah.” I mutter.

Simon stares at me for a moment, piercing eyes scanning my face like a laser.

He grabs me by the wrist, turns, and drags me behind him into the lab.

“W-wait woah-! Woah woah, what’re we doing?!”

We reach the lab station, and Simon shoves me down onto the lab stool.

“Show me.”

“…Show you…”

“Show me what you’ve gleaned from your samples.”

“Are you sure? We don’t have to-“

“Show me.” Simon hisses.

“Alright! Alright… okay. Um…” I tap my fingers anxiously on my thigh as o think of what to show him.

“Okay, well for starters, I know why your hill breached.” I say, reaching down to a metal filing drawer, pulling out a thick notebook, edges worn, with various corners of stray parts and sticky notes poking out in all directions.

I set it on the table, flipping it open, scanning the page with my finger.

“You keep physical notes?”

“Well I didn’t wanna risk you stumbling across the notes on the ship’s cloud drive, so I opted for physical.”

Simon groans.

“I l ow… I’m just being honest. Here.” I point to a paragraph on the center of the page. Keeping my finger on the paper to hold my place, I reach into the cubby at the back of the desk, pulling out a sealed, clear container that I’m sure Simon missed.

I hand it to him.

“That’s a chunk of the outside layer of your hull.”

“I can see that.” Simon groans,poking at the chunk of metal inside. It was a good sized piec- maybe about theee or four inches, square.

“Turn it over.” Simon flips the container.

“See the caked on blood there? Under earth.”

“Everything was caked in blood, what’s this supposed to prove.”

I stand up, looking down at the sample, and tapping the plastic of the container.

“Yes, but look. The entire bottom side of the piece is covered in dried blood. The bottom shouldn’t look like that if it were functioning properly. The outer layer wasn’t secured to the body of the vessel, and it was allowing ocean blood in between the hull and the body of the ship.” I explain.

“In space, a breach like that would kill you in minutes.”

Simon stares at the sample intensely.

“Rush job.”

“Rush Job. They just needed it done and built to send you down. It was a design error.”

I sit back down.

Simon is quiet for a while.

“What else.” His tone has softened quite a bit. He sounds curious now, as opposed to angry, and holding himself back.

I swivel back around on my stool to my notebook, flipping through the pages.

“Right, uh… nothing, nothing, nothing… a lot of obvious observations… oh! Oh…” I land on a page titled ‘Mutation’, and I sigh.

“What?”

“I uhm… I think I found what may have mutated your body, Simon.” I say cautiously. He stares at me, and I can’t read his expression at all.

“Okay, come here, look at this.” I slide everything on the desk aside, and pull the microscope forward.

I switch it on, and reach for a pair of gloves.

I spend the next few minutes setting up a slide with a drop of diluted ocean blood, and a very small sample of the only other living cell I could safely work with. A drop of taomoeba.

I close, and load the slide onto the microscope, and move out of the way for Simon to take a look.

“There’s something in the ocean blood. A microbe of some kind, and it’s aggressive.” I say.

“What’s it doing?”

“You see it? The little red cells?”

“Yeah… those aren’t blood cells..?”

“Yes, and no. They’re similar. They have almost the same composition and shape, but they’re poonty.”

Simon adjusts the magnification on the slide, zooming in.

“Has it found a tapmoeba yet?”

“Yeah, it… it attacked it. It killed it.”

“Keep watching.” I fold my hands in my lap, turning to watch Simon.”

“It’s moving again. The taomoeba. But it’s moving around kinda frantic.”

“Yeah, I observed the same.” I say. “The ocean blood cell attacked it, killed it, and replaced what was lost withsome e of itself. It mutated the taomoeba.”

Simon Stands up straight.

“That’s what happened to you. The microbe got into your system through a wound, probably, killed off parts of your body, and managed to change your genetic code just enough to convince your body to self edit.” I sigh.

Simon nods slowly, his eyes fixed on the floor.

“I mean… it’s not all terrible, though. If you really think about it, if you weren’t mutated into something that could withstand the ocean… you may not have made it out. I may not have ever found you.”

I stand up, shoving my hands in my pockets.

“The mutation doesn’t seem to be spreading anymore, since you got here. Which is also a plus. You had enough healthy human cells to fight off the infection, with Armando’s help, so it’s not gonna get any worse. The ocean blood cells can’t survive without th right atmospheric conditions. Thats why I keep them in the vials- oh!”

Simon cuts me off, wrapping me in a tight hug. I stand there, frozen like a fool, unsure of what I’m supposed to do or say.

“Thank you.”

“For… what, exactly-?” I mutter.

He doesn’t reply for a while.

“Proving with your sneaky, annoying science that I’m not a monster.”

The words are quiet, muttered into my shoulder like something he was assuring himself of, and not telling me as a fact.

“What?! Of course you aren’t. You never were. You’re a survivor.” I finally bring my arms up, hugging him back for a long while.

With a deep breath, I take him by the shoulders, prying him off me, and holding him at arms length so I could look him in the eye.

“And look, I’ll still get rid of the samples if you want me to. I never should have hidden them from you, and if you want them gone, they’re gone.”

“No.”

“No?”

“No, it’s better if you keep them.”

“Are you certain that’s what you want?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll even let you cycle the airlock yourself.” I chuckle.

“Angel, I’m positive.” He smiles softly.

“Angel? Why am I Angel again Not Gracie, or Astroboy?”

“Would you prefer something else?”

“No, just wondering.” I shrug, letting go of Simon’s shoulders, and turning back to the lab table. I grab a small cup, and a small squeeze bottle that I had lying off to the side, filling the cup about a quarter inch.

“What’re you doing now?”

“Killing the mutated taomoeba. I don’t want these little guys running around the ship. Already had one leak, and that was plenty.” I remove the slide carefully from the microscope, and dunk it into the cup.

Simon leans down over the cup, his hair falling over his shoulder, into his face, dangling over the cup.

I gasp, quickly reaching over, gathering his hair and holding it back. The solution wasn’t volatile, just some lab grade isopropyl alcohol, but a rule o always had in my classroom was to keep hair, clothes, skin, and jewelry away from chemicals at all times.

“Careful-! Careful- my god! How many times do I need to tell you to watch your hair around the lab!” I scold, holding a bit too tight, as evidenced by whether grimace on Simon’s face.

“Sorry, my bad- here let me…” I step behind Simon, twirling his hair around two of my fingers, and fastening it onto a tight bun. He didn’t seemed thrilled, but he didn’t fight me.

“There. Perfect. It wouldn’t hurt to wear some goggles… too…” I trail off a bit, walking back around to the side, as Simon looks at me.

“What?”

“N-nothing! I’ve just never seen you without your hair in your face. Looks good!”

He rolls his eyes. He did honestly look a lot different. The usual shadow cast over his eyes was gone. They were a lot kinder in the light - and maybe a bit tired.

“It feels ridiculous.”

“It isn’t, you’re just not used to it.”

Simon groans walking to the other side of me, helping me clean up the lab station.

“Oh- no don’t worry about it, I got it.”

I shake my head, looking up at Simon. I catch a glimpse of something I hadn’t seen before just as he picks up some equipment, and pivots to go put it back in a cabinet a few paces away.

“Wait- hold up. Back up. Come here a second.”

Simon sighs. He knows exactly what I saw.

“No, you make too big of a deal out of everything.”

“Correct! Now come here! You’ve got another mutation you weren’t telling me about?”

“So you can keep secrets, but GOD FORBID I do…”

I jog over to him, ignoring his jab. “Hold on, let me see!”

Simon rolls his head back in annoyance, before relenting. “Oh my god, it’s not that interesting!”

“You’ve got a fin for an ear! That’s incredibly interesting!”

It’s true. On the same side as the rest of his mutation, Simon’s ear had become something like a multi-pointed fin around the shell. The points were sharp, three of them, jutting out about two inches from where the top curve of his ear used to be. A r rib of cartilage held each point up, like the bones of a duck’s webbed feet.

The extension of the ear faded in an even ombré from the paling tan of Simon’s slin, to a bright ruby red at the ends of each spoke.

“That’s incredible! This is what you were hiding under your hair this whole time?!”

Simon takes a seat on the low lab table, letting me do my thing.

“Yeah, it looks dumb.”

“No it doesn’t you look like a dragon! You’re so tough on yourself, Si, jeez.” I say, still glued to Simon’s fin.

“What could this mutation possibly have been useful for…?” I mutter to myself, running a finger along the back of the fin.

Simon’s head lulls to the side, into my hand just slightly. It seemed to happen against his will.

“Yeah?” I give Simon a sideways smile, repeating the motion again, scritching with a bit more pressure this time. He tilts his head again, looking at me like I’ve put some kind of spell on him.

“No way-!” I laugh.

“I’m not doing anything! I can’t contr-ol i-it!” I scratch behind Simon’s ear with purpose, and he drops his head completely into my hand. And his leg starts to bounce against the ground.

I smile wide, laughing more out of surprise than anything else.

“Oh my goodness! You’re like a puppy! A sea puppy!” Simon tries to scowl at me, but a smile fights his way onto his face.

“C-cuhut that out, Grace.”

“You’re laughing! Does that tickle? Ha!” I experimentally run a nail up one of the points, earning a snort from Simon. He shrugs his shoulder up in defense.

“Haha! How silly is that?!” I lift my other hand to his opposite ear, scratching behind it the same way. He laughs just as much as he did with the fin, but without any additional movement.

“Ohhh okay, so you’ve just got ticklish ears anyway. But this one-“ I give the back of his fin a sort of rough scratch.

He lets out a high piched cackle, dropping his head to the side again, his knee bouncing in place.

“This one’s the ticket right here!” I snicker.

“A-ahahAHAhaAHA-! G-GRAHAHACE!”

“Yeah? Whats up, bud?” I lower my hand on Simon’s undamagwd side to scritch along the curve of his jaw. He laughs through gritted teeth.

“S-stoHOHOP! I- I’m gonna kihihill you!”

“Noooo, you won’t. Earlier if you told me that I woulda believed you- but you wouldn’t be calling me ‘Grace’ if you were really upset. It’d be ‘Ryland’.” I say my own name with a deep, gravelly imitation of Simon’s voice.

Simon shakes his head back and forth, slowly sliding down off the table. I follow him down to the floor, a hand on the back of his head to make sure he didn’t smash it into the table on his descent.

“Ok, floor it is. Comfortable?” I sit on my knees towering over his slumped down form.

“Stay- a-away from me.”

“Why would I do that, Siren?”

“Siren-?”

“Yeah, the dish fin thing gives you a kinda mermais, siren kinda look. And it rhymes with Simon, so-“

“Laaaame.”

I scoff. “Askin’ for it!” I say, bringing my hands back to either side of Simon’s head, skittering randomly all over, behind his ear, behind his fin, along his jaw, under his chin, and down his neck, all while making the most annoying ’tchktchktchk’ sound through my teeth, just to tease him, really.

“A-AHAHAHA-HAHA!! GOHOHOHODDAMNIT-!!”

“I would have never known your face could turn so red with all that hair you kept in your face, man!”

“S-shuUHUT UP-!” Simon puts his arm across his face.

“Absolutely not, c’mon.” I tutted, shooting a hand down underneath the arm, pinching and prodding at his armpit. His arm comes crashing back down to his side, and he howls.

“AHAHAHAAAA-! FUHUHUCK!! GRACIE- GRACIE, PLEHEHEASE.”

“You can’t butter me up with a nice nickname, that doesn’t work as well as you think it does.” I drag my hands down, gently running my nails over Simon’s gills. I know it can be a bit much for him, so I take it easy.

“AGH!! YOHOHOU BASTARD-!”

“See? That’s why nice nicknames don’t work. And I’m not even being aggressive about it! I’m going nice and easy.” I say in a bit of a condescending tone. I’m having fun, sue me.

“DohoHON’T patronihihize me I could tAHAKE it.”

“Ohhh is that a challenge, Fishstick?” I grin, stilling my hands.

“Do it, Foxtrot.” Simon hisses.

I smile, staring down at him for a moment.

I extend a hand to him firmly.

“No fighting, hitting, or shoving me off. Gills, thirty seconds, or until you say “Hail Mary.” Deal?”

Simon mulls it over in his head for a moment.

He takes my hand and gives it a confident shake.

“Deal.”

“Alright, ready?” Simon nods.

I swing a leg over him, straddling him by the thighs to keep him down. “3… 2… 1!”

I latch onto Simon’s ribs, both hands velcroed to the middle gills on each side. With everything I have, I vibrate my fingers into the arches.

Holy moly his screaming could wake the dead.

“AAAAAAA AAHAHAHAHHAHA-!!! SHIT SHIT SHIHIHIT-!”

“Let’s find kinder words.”

“NOHOHO, SCREW YOHOHOUHAHAHAHAHA-!’ OH MY GOHOHOD-!”

“Could’ya say it a little louder? I couldn’t hear you too well, actually.”

I chuckle, and switch to raking my nails up and down Simon’s ribs with force I typically would never use. Not enough to leave any sort of mark, but probably pretty close to it.

By this point, Simon has completely slid onto his back on the floor. He had taken to gripping the locked drawer handle behind and above him to keep his arms out of the way. Man, he was serious about this.

“Fifteen seconds.” I announce. I speed my hands up, switching back to the vigorous kneading from before, making Simon’s entire body jolt.

“Huh, look at that- your other ear is just as red as your fin now.” I tease.

“HUHIHUSH.”

“So rude.” I huff, leaning down, and without slowing my hands down, blow hard against the side of Simon’s neck.

I had forgotten to shave earlier too. If this were any other situation, I’d apologize for the scruff.

“AAAHAHAHAHAHA-! FOUL! THAHAHAT’S A FOHOHOIL!”

“No it isn’t. I just said “gills”. I did t specify which gills. You signed off on it.” I say with a conniving smile.

I blow another, then another, the seconds ticking down. I switched quickly to the raking motion against his ribs again, and to my surprise…

“OKAHAHAHAY!! OKAY OKAY OKAY I GIVE!”

I slow down a bit, but don’t stop.

“What do you sayyyy,theeeen?” I I sing out.

“HAIL MAHAHARY! HAHAHAIL MAHAHARY-! PLEASE-! Please-! A-Angehehel-!” His voice quiets down as o stop at the very first word.

“You alright?”

Simon groans, letting his arms fall from the drawer handle.

“Yehehes. I’m fine. Did I make it.?”

“Three seconds short.”

“Bullshit.”

I snicker. “Toooold youuu- WOAH-!”

Simon takes me by the shoulders, pulls me down, and barrel rolls us both over, pushing up once he’s successfully swapped our positions.

“That was a cheap shot to the neck! I would have won!”

I laugh incredulously. “You ALWAYS say that! It was fair game! Get ohohoff me!” Simon gets one decent squeeze to my stomach before I catch his hand, wrestling it away.

Simon growls, pushing against my arms as I push back, the two of us wrestling like dogs on the lab floor.

I pull my legs free drum under Simon, moving them both to the right, and using them to push Simon over to the left, successfully knocking him off me.

“Oof-! Christ! Where the hell did you learn that?!”

Don’t worry about it! TRUCE! Truce! No more.” I yelp out through nervous laughter as Simon looks at me like he’s gonna jump at me again.

“Truce.” I say again.

“Fine, Fine, truce.” He nods, pushing his hair, that had long since jostled free of the bun, back behind both ears.

“Hey! You’re wearing it out of your face now!” I smile, crossing my arms.

The right, unscarred half of his face turns a little bit pink. I never knew it took so little to embarrass him- I’m learning a lot with a clearer view of Simon’s face.

He gives me a look. He knows I noticed.

He rolls his eyes, lift in himself off the ground.

“Oh shut up, Gracie, you’re just as bad.” He leans down as he walks past, grabbing my cheeks and giving my face a firm shake, before stepping over me on the floor. “At least I have the hair to cover it up.”

“You have the hair because you refuse to cut it.”

“I do t want it cut!”

“You’re just too lazy to cut it!”

“I am not too lazy, o simply do not feel like it.” Simon mutters, replacing all the tools and equipment on the lab table back in their respective homes.

“First of all, same thing, and I’ve offered to do it, no less than 700 times.”

“And magically, you think im gonna say yes on the 701st ask! You know what that is? Insanity.” He points a finger down at me. “And besides I don’t trust you. You’re scissorhappy.”

“Wrong!”

“Correct!”

“I cut my own hair just fine, and I can cut yours!”

Simon looks at my hair with a raised brow, then back down at me.

“Yeah, I’ll pass.”

“What?! I look great!”

“In the dark.”

“Fishbrain…”

“Dogboy.”

“Dog boy?!” I scoff

“Yeah, your whole thing is foxes. Foxes are dogs”

“Incorrect. They’re both in the Canidae family, but they’re completely different. Just like how a tabby cat isn’t the same as a tiger.”

“Ohhh whatever! You certainly yap like a fox.

I snort, standing up off the floor. “Yap yap yap yap!” I make “quiet coyote” hands, making them bark in Simon’s face.

“Get away from me, you stray.” He mutters.

“Don’t hate on foxes, you’re still wearing my cardigan!” I snicker, bumping into Simon on purpose as I walk past. He shoves me back, making me hop a step forward.

“Oh! You can keep that notebook, by the way.”

“Notebook?”

“Yeah, the one with all the stuff I wrote on your ship samples. There’s two whole pages about the composition of the ocean. Some weird stuff in there.”

Simon looks down at the still open notebook on the table.

“You sure? You don’t need it?”

“Nah, next time I work on the samples, you can help me out. I’ve got plenty more books- we can start another one.” I smile.

Simon nods slowly, closing the book carefully, keeping a hand on the cover.

“Thank you.”

“No problem.” I give Simon a thumbs down, which he returns with a quiet whir of his xenonite arm.

“I gotta get back to Rocky… I’ve let him sleep alone wayyyy too long.”

“Right, alright. G’night, Starman.”

“Ha’ I like that one!” I laugh on my way out of the lab. “There’s a staaaaaarMAAAAAAN waiting in the skyyyyy!”