Finally finished my gift exchange piece 😅
It’s for @8-fracturetea !!!
It had been too long since they’d had a nice day like this. The drive out was relaxing and they hadn’t come across any problems. The sun was shining, like pretty much every day, but it wasn’t nearly as sweltering as usual. Winter was Ghoul’s favourite time of year out in the zones, mostly because of the more bearable weather, but really, it was when there were better things to steal from the city because there was so much excess. The holidays meant more food and less time spent on business, which in turn meant chances at actually edible things in supply runs, and of course - what was probably the best thing - the patrols came out a lot less because exterminators had time off.
It looked like it was going to be the perfect day; the four had decided to go to the market to trade, everyone was in a good mood, and Ghoul actually had some things ready that should get them some pretty good stuff. So of course, Show Pony had to be there, ruining everything.
Ghoul was clinging to Kobra, and it looked like nobody else has noticed Pony yet. He hoped it would stay that way, but as soon as they turned around and saw their datemate and crush, it would all be over. He did what anybody would do, and distracted everyone, quickening his pace to walk at the front of the group and making conversation, despite how little he wanted to, so that nobody would turn around.
“Oh, hey there darlings!” Great. They’d seen the group.
He watched in objection as Party smiled and turned, and Jet, who had been chiming in to respond to Ghoul’s pointless conversation topic, stopped mid-sentence when Party’s index finger pressed against his mouth, shutting him up.
“Shhh… Look, Pony’s here too!”
Ghoul failed at restraining an eyeroll at how dumb the three of them were. Party and Show Pony had been obnoxious together for as long as he could remember since the two had met, and that, combined with Pony’s general dislike for him, was already too much to deal with, but recently, Pony had started flirting with Jet, and that was just a rotten cherry on top of the garbage sundae. At least he and Kobra were subtle and kept their love strictly to themselves. They didn’t ceaselessly bother others with it. Maybe it was just that he hated Pony though. Pony was annoying.
“Hey, Ghoul…” Kobra spoke quietly to him, catching up to lean up against him. “Let’s go see how much stuff we can get for our tech, huh? They’ll catch up with us later.”
“Uh, yeah, that sounds good.”
“You made a couple ‘a pretty nice bombs recently, right?”
“Yeah. I bet Burst is gonna be all over these! We’re gonna get such a nice haul!”
The two of them walked off smiling, close to each other because their arms were too full to hold hands.
“So, babes, what are you all here for?” Pony sidled up next to Party and peered into the box that Jet was holding next to them.
“Well, I’ve got whole buncha paint that I made recently, and that’s bound to draw in all the artists, ‘cause I was able ta get some real nice vibrant colours.”
“And how about you, Jetty?”
“Oh, uh, I… I’ve got uh… p-plants…”
“Pardon me if I’m not understanding, but can’t anybody get plants for free?”
“W-well I mean yes, I guess, but… uh…” he trailed off, looking embarrassed, and Party spoke up to help explain.
“He’s been working on medicines and herbal remedies. They’re all of his own creation based on his own knowledge, but he hasn’t had much chance to really show them off, so he’s nervous. You know how joys can be sometimes. We’ve got our traditions, and new things don’t always sit right.”
Pony nodded thoughtfully. “I see. Well, you have nothing to worry about, hon. We’ve got your back, and we ain’t gonna leave your side.”
“We aren’t? But… I need to trade my paints…”
“Fine. Then I’ll have his back, while you completely abandon him,” they teased.
“You’re fine, babe. Now, go on and do your thing, and I’ll take care of Starman.”
They hesitantly gathered their paints from the box Jet was holding and wandered off for the right stalls.
Pony turned to Jet and gave him their familiar smirk.
“You ready to go sell your wares?”
“It’s… it’s trading. Not selling.”
“Yeah yeah, no capitalism and all that, I know. I’m tryin’ to be funny, honey.”
Kobra was enjoying himself a lot more than he thought he would. At first, the group getting separated seemed like it completely defeated the purpose of the trip, and that it would ruin everything. But getting to spend the time alone with his boyfriend was the best thing he could’ve hoped for. Both of them were so excited about their tech and they were getting an amazing about of useful stuff for it. It was almost perfect.
It wasn’t quite perfect though, because he could tell that the crowds and noise were getting to Ghoul. He knew better than to mention it directly, so he needed to help him feel better without drawing attention to it.
“Hey, do you wanna take a break for a bit, maybe get some food, find a nice quiet place to sit down and eat alone? It’ll be like a nice little lunch date.”
“What? Oh, uh, yeah, sounds good, I guess.”
He frowned to himself slightly. Ghoul was worse than he had first thought. Oh well, that could be fixed through peace and quiet and cuddles.
He led Ghoul away from the crowds, back to the car to grab some food, and then toward the main marketplace again, but with a bit of a change in route.
“Uhh… where are we going, Kobra?”
He smiled as Ghoul just shrugged, and led them to the back of everything, behind all the covered stalls and tents. It was noticeably quieter back there, but not so much that it was uncomfortable, just a constant low buzz of meaningless noise from the other side of sheets of fabric and panels of wood.
“Oh. This is nice,” he smiled. “I never would’ve thought of this. Are we even allowed to be back here?”
“Sorry y’all, but I know when I’m being cheated.”
“Excuse me? My dear darling Jet here is no cheat. His trades are completely fair, and I am appalled that you would even consider him a liar!”
“This is just a bunch of plants. That’s not worth more than maybe a handful of batteries.”
“Forgive me for disagreeing, but you wouldn’t know something of value if it was right under your nose. Which it is! We will just take our business somewhere else!”
Show Pony started to lead Jet away but he whispered to them nervously.
“She’s the only one who has the parts I need though…”
“I know, just roll with it hon.”
“Hey!” The vendor called to the two of them angrily. “I don’t know what you’re trying to pull, but you don’t get to try conning me and then walk away! And I most certainly will take no insults.”
“Maybe you should get out of that holier-than-thou attitude and hear us out then.”
“It’d be a lot easier to believe that your stuff is worth anything if that coward would speak for himself instead of hiding behind you without sayin’ nothing like some kinda city flocker.”
“What did you call him?” Party growled, having been coming over to join them at just the right time to hear.
“You heard me. He’s just following the crowd, not doing anything worthwhile except pretending that bein’ out here now is some justification for how loyal he prob’ly used to be to the city.”
“You don’t know nothin’ about him. He’s desert-born, you freakin’ neutral. Yeah, don’t think I can’t tell. You don’t get to judge true ‘joys you got barely no right even sharin’ the desert with.”
Jet finally spoke up. “Party, hey, it’s not worth it… Don’t start anything. I just want to trade, and if I can’t do that here, I don’t want any trouble for it.”
“Nonsense, darlin’,” Pony drawled, wrapping an arm around him. “Nobody gets to insult you like that. Or any of y’all for that matter. Not even Ghoul.”
Party cleared their throat and looked at the vendor with a fire in their eyes. “Now, miss… Would you like to apologize, or keep diggin’ yourself a bigger hole?”
“I ain’t apologizin’, even if he is a snowstorm.”
“Have it your way.” They cracked their knuckles.
Ghoul felt much better after getting something to eat and getting out of the crowd. Kobra always knew how to read him and help make sure he didn’t get too anxious, just like he always made sure Kobra didn’t get too lost in his own head or too carried away in a project.
He looked at his boyfriend with adoration, and curled up against him. Kobra smiled down at him and ruffled his hair in that gentle but silly way he always would, and planted a kiss against his now messier scalp.
“Thank you for being you, Kobes.”
“Can’t be anything else, Ghoulie.”
“Wouldn’t want it any other way.”
He curled up tighter and practically crawled onto his lap.
“Hey, calm down, you don’t need to climb all over me just to cuddle.”
He laughed softly and the two of them cuddled in companionable silence, just getting some time to themselves. Then Ghoul has an idea.
“Climb all over you, you said? Stand up, I wanna get on your back!”
Kobra relented with a sigh and kissed Ghouls cheek before standing up. Immediately he was practically tackled by his boyfriend trying to climb up and get on his back. Ghoul struggled a bit, but finally got a good hold. He pumped a fist up in celebration before realizing he had to keep a good hold and quickly moved to be more stable, but that much movement couldn’t be good. T was too late, the two of them were toppling over together and- *Rrriiiip*
Suddenly Ghoul was pinned beneath Kobra, and they were both lying face up inside a market stall.
“Ghoul? Kobra?” That was Party’s voice. He wriggled out from under Kobra as his boyfriend got up too, and looked up to see Party, Pony, Jet, and some vendor he didn’t recognize, who spoke up, sounding mad.
“You know these two?! That’s it, all of you, get out!”
He didn’t think that it was such a big deal, but as he studied the situation further, Pony had their confrontational smirk on, Jet looked nervous like he only did when somebody started yelling, and Party looked like they had been just about to throw a punch.
Pony nodded and reached to help Ghoul up, for some reason.
“Yeah, she’s right, let’s get outta here and head home. Now!”
They pushed Ghoul and Kobra out of the tent, following close behind, and all five of them ran to the car.
“That certainly was an exciting day,” Kobra laughed, eliciting a bubbling giggle from Party.
They were all smiling despite being kicked out of the market for today, except Jet, who seemed downcast. Ghoul laid a tentative hand on his shoulder, which was tense.
“Guess so. Didn’t get to trade any of my stuff, so I didn’t get anything I needed, either.”
Ghoul frowned. He knew how hard Jet had been working, but he didn’t really know what to say, so he went back over to Kobra, who wrapped an arm around him in a nice, tight, half-hug.
“Oh, that’s just what you think, babe. But looks can be… deceiving.” They were holding up a basket of just the supplies he’d been trying to get.
“Snagged em as she was distracted with chasin’ us outta there.”
“Hey, you should’ve rightfully owned them. She was just too thick to see that. I’m just givin’ you whatcha deserve.” They grinned and leaned close to him. “And you also deserve… this!” Pony kissed Jet’s cheek, right near his lips and watched in delight and mischief as he blushed and stammered, more flustered than he usually got around them.
What an interesting day indeed. He climbed into the passenger seat, holding Kobra’s hand that wasn’t on the steering wheel, and he shot an apologetic look to Jet as he was dragged into the backseat, squished between the two datemates, both of whom were looking at each other with matching smirks.
A very interesting day indeed. And he could tell it was only going to get more interesting.
