#th!dna

 A giant stream of light ascended from the grounds of the Lanyaburg desert. A high-pitched, loud wail following. To anyone else, this seemed like a normal day, but the birds knew of the strange occurrence. They flocked away from this light, but some figures approached it. A short, eccentric lavender-haired person, a taller, more reserved person with similar hair color following him. The shorter one waved at their summoner. Then, a shadow materialized from the ground up. The shadow seemed less than enthusiastic to be here.

Their summoner spoke, welcoming them and stepping a little further away from the location of the shadow, seemingly avoiding eye contact. “Cosmo, Lareye…Ira. Thank you all for coming.” The masked figure was hesitant to speak the shadow’s name. He continued. “I have an important matter to discuss with you all.”

The knowledge that something important happened had been clear to everyone, after all this was the first time they’d all met up since they finished building the very ground they stood on today. The signal used to summon them was only for emergencies, so this must be very urgent.

“I trust you all remember the bombs planted from the war?” DNA asked.The short one, Cosmo tilted his head in confusion, a puzzled expression on their face.

The taller of the two, Lareye nodded in response. Ira nodded as well, their interest piqued.

“Well, I found one.” 

“You what?!” Lareye exclaimed.

“I thought we got rid of all of those?” Ira questioned, seemingly interested and excited at this terrible news.

“What bombs? What are you guys talking about?” Cosmo asked, confused and lost.

“Okay Cosmo, remember how we built the planet with everyone? The bombs were a.. problem we ran into along the way.” Lareye explained as best they could to the confused and clueless god.

“Ohhh.. That’s probably bad…” Cosmo responded to the new information. Ira had a questioning, yet interested look at the small exchange.

“So then.. did we just miss one? Or does this mean something a lot worse could be happening?” Lareye questioned, unsure if DNA knew anymore about this.

“I’m not sure, to be honest. It could mean nothing, or it could mean he’s returned.”

Lareye nodded in response, appearing less concerned than he really was.

“Is there a way we could figure out the age of the bomb? See when it was left here, or how long it’s been on Thuvis?” 

“You can always check the age of the rocks around the site.”

“Okay, then we should start there.”

“I’ll stay and hang out with Ira!” Cosmo said enthusiastically, not quite grasping the seriousness of the situation.

“Sure, Cosmo.” Lareye answered. “Well, do I have to?” Ira chimed in.

“Well we can’t leave Cosmo unattended. DNA and I will go look at the rocks and figure out the age, you two stay and..”

“Catch up!” Cosmo interjected.

“Yeah.” Lareye nodded “Catch up.”

DNA walked off, Lareye following narrowly behind him.

Ira turned on their heel, they stood face to face with the smaller god with an indifferent look on their face. It was clear he didn’t exactly understand Cosmo’s confusion, the whole situation was rather tense and old news anyway. “Hi Ira!” Cosmo waved, a big grin on her face.

Offering a light wave, they’d attempt a smile. “Hello, Cosmo.” He greeted.

“How have you been? It’s been a while.” Cosmo asked innocently, as if they didn’t know what happened the last time they were all together…

“I am fine, to put it simply. Though why are you so confused about this situation? You act as if we haven’t been away from each other for years.” They’d answer the question, just to quickly turn the topic.”It’s just been a while.. And even though we haven’t seen each other in a long time, that doesn’t mean I can’t be nice to my friends.” He responded.

“Do you not remember everything, Cosmo? You were the one that kept us together, you know..”

“I admit, my memory has gotten a little rusty over the years.. But I remember we were great friends!”

“Cosmo, do you not remember what I did?” Seeming to get straight to the point, a flash of simple grief washing over their expression.

“Um.. no.. but it couldn’t have been bad, I’m sure!”

“You don’t remember the day? It all fell apart–the day where-” Struggling to speak, tears welled up in his eyes as he stared at Cosmo, now wide-eyed. “You cannot just act like that never happened!”

“Like what never happened?” 

“He’s dead and he can’t come back, Cosmo!” They’d shout, a few tears running down their face.

“Who? You’re all here, except Etar, he went home.”

“No no, he’s gone and he won’t be back. We watched him CRUMBLE that day, Cosmo.” Ira spat, a river of tears falling over their face.

“Hey.. hey.. It’s okay Ira. I.. didn’t know that, but why would I blame you? You did nothing wrong.” Cosmo looked saddened, and a little shocked at this news. Her emotions were always readable..

“I didn’t even care to try and fight to make sure he’d live! I am a monster for that, I didn’t react even ONCE.” His tone was rushed and yet full of emotions, a lot of it holding stutters.

“You’re not a monster! You’re my friend!” Cosmo seemed almost offended at the notion that Ira had done anything wrong.

“Why don’t you hate me!?” They’d practically scream, desperation clawing at their very being as they sunk to their knees within seconds.

“Because it’s not your fault! I may not remember it all, but I can say with confidence that it wasn’t because of you!” 

“But I knew that it would happen-!” Is what Ira wanted to scream, shout for every single one of the gods to hear across the world. Yet they only stared at Cosmo like she had just fixed everything, pieced every bit of the puzzle back together.

“Now quit blaming yourself! I won’t allow any of my friends to be sad!” Cosmo leaned in to hug the figure at their feet, patting his back.

They shivered in Cosmo’s embrace, their head tucked between Cosmo’s shoulders and neck while their shaky hands reached out to gently wrap themselves around the other god’s waist.

“You’re cold. Like space!” Cosmo commented.

Lareye turned the corner, back to where she’d noticed Cosmo and Ira had stopped walking. “Okay, so-” she stopped, staring at the two Gods, Ira on the floor and arms wrapped around Cosmo. She smiled a little to herself, he wasn’t sure what happened while they were gone, but from the looks of it, maybe the both of them had needed it.

Lareye cleared their throat to get the other two's attention.

“By the way, the area around the bomb confirmed that it’s been there too long to be new. We believe it was a false alarm.”

Whipping around, Ira let go of Cosmo to stare at Lareye with a shocked expression. They were quick to wipe away any tears on their face and clear their throat. “We don’t speak about that.” They’d comment, handing Cosmo some random toy he had found to try and bribe their way out of this.

“Oh, sweet!” Cosmo started to play with what Ira just handed them, seemingly unaware they had just been bribed. Ira hears a familiar mocking laugh from the masked figure behind Lareye. “I didn’t know you still had feelings.” he says cruelly. Despite not being able to see his face, it was clear from his tone that he had a smug expression.

“DNA.” Lareye said firmly, though he had a feeling this would escalate anyway.

With a sharp growl, Ira sunk into the floor with a quick transformation into their shadow form, just to appear behind DNA and tie one of their misty strings around his neck. “I didn’t know you still haven’t learned when to fuck off.”

“And I see that you’re still a creep.”

“Oh by all the stars above…” Lareye muttered, leaning against the wall watching the two bicker, as if no time passed at all. Cosmo stood next to Lareye, oblivious to the argument, as she was too invested in the toy he had been bribed with.

Using the string to yank him backwards, they’d kick the back of DNA’s knees. “You aren’t much better, I know damn well what you have done.”

“At least I’m not a stalker.” DNA pulled out his axe as a warning.

“Hey, I don’t ALWAYS look at you! Plus, you’re pretty boring a lot of the time.” Ira complained, letting the string disappear, though they did shove DNA away.

“I’m plenty interesting! And that really just confirms how creepy you are.” 

“Gosh, creepy? The names I’ve been subjected to..” They shook their head, turning away and acting as if they were innocent. “You know how I work has its reasons!”

“Yeah, like being lonely?” he pointed an accusatory finger at Ira.

“Lonely?! I have plenty of company! Plus I have my fun toying with you, though you’re not exciting enough to actually react.” Another complaint from him.

“Does your company happen to be your lab equipment?”

They’d gasp, staring at DNA with an agape jaw. Though it was quick to sour to a frown, “Of course not! That doesn’t speak.. I am sure your..little experiments are your company as well!”

“Sorry to interrupt,” Lareye cut in. “But there’s a kid standing in the doorway.” 

“For fuck’s sake..” DNA cursed out loud, immediately knowing who it was. 

Whipping around, they practically stomped past Lareye to stare at the so-called kid, now staring in shock. “DNA! Are you having an affair with a mortal?!”

“WHAT?!” He exclaimed, offended and shocked at the comment. “No, I didn’t ‘have an affair’. We aren’t even together anymore, so it’s none of your business!”

“That does not matter!! You could be having an affair with a mortal, and you can’t get the mortal pregnant, so you would be the only possibility!” Scoffing, they crossed their arms and stepped away from the small figure.

“Uh, I actually just came to check up on my boss. I heard a lot of yelling and I wondered if there was an issue.” 

“It’s nice to meet the rest of you! I’m Brody.” He introduced himself, messing with a butterfly that seemed to be following him.

“See, he’s an employee. No need to get so worked up.” Ira could practically hear the eye roll behind the mask as DNA spoke.

“..just had to make sure.” Ira grumbled, though stepped towards Brody just to reach down and ruffle his hair.

He smiled at the shadow who ruffled his hair, visibly happy to just be interacting with and meeting someone new.

“Keep your hands off him. Your.. condition could be contagious for all I know.” DNA gestured at the shadowy figure’s appearance.

“I am not sick?! This was something I did to myself, plus I am working on fixing it..” Ira would yet again complain, though stepped away from Brody a moment after.

Lareye approached Brody, giving him a flower that she seemed to get out of nowhere before returning to Cosmo. Cosmo finally looked up, acknowledging his surroundings. She waved at Brody. “Hi, new person!”

“Hello other new person!” Brody responded, waving towards Cosmo excitedly.

“Don’t get too used to them, Brody. They’re only here for a short while.” DNA said.

“Aw man, okay boss.” 

DNA dismisses Brody out of the room, assuring him that there was no issue, despite how he clearly had an issue with his ex. DNA turned back to face Ira.”My stars, you’re so dramatic sometimes… me? Having an affair? With a mortal? Really, Ira?” He sounds disappointed and offended that Ira had even brought up the idea, pausing after certain words to rub in just how stupid he thought Ira’s earlier comment was.

“You know that you don’t always do the smartest of things.” Ira deadpanned, narrowing their eyes at DNA. “I mean, all your little experiments are rather poor sometimes.”

“Like you’re any better.” DNA would scoff, yet again rolling his eyes from under his mask.

“My experiments actually work! Half of yours are completely faulty!”

“Mine work just fine!” He sounded utterly offended.

“From what I’ve seen, everything else says otherwise! One of your little experiments is nice, unlike everything else. That's a faulty experiment.”

“Ok, fine, Brody malfunctioned, sure. But everything else is working as intended, I promise you.” He waved his hand dismissively, acting as if it was just a minor issue.

“Last time you promised me something, it was broken, I am not trusting that.” With a scowl, Ira turned around to start striding towards the door.

“Yeah, you better leave! I don’t want to see your mutilated self back here anyways!” He yelled after Ira.

“I hope the rest of your experiments break on the first test!” He shouted right back, shoving the door open with a frown falling over his face.

“I can say the same to you!” He made sure he was loud enough for Ira to hear it as they left.

Lareye shook her head, following Ira out.

“DNA, could you really not just be neutral with them for a second?” she questioned, not giving him time to respond before walking out.

“They don’t deserve that from me.” He scoffed.

“That’s not very nice, DNA. You shouldn’t be so rude to your partner.” Cosmo interjected.

“They’re NOT my partner, Cosmo. Why don’t you just follow Lareye like you always do?” DNA snapped back.

“Ok! I like hanging out with Lareye!” Cosmo skipped away, following after Lareye, unaware of the anger behind DNA’s words.

The doors shut behind Cosmo, leaving DNA in the darkness of his own facility. 

The creatures peeked around the corners, slithering their way towards the god just to hide in his own shadow. He stood there, staring at the doors. He didn’t seem to notice the stares he was getting from the dark.

The three of them stood outside in the sandy desert, The giant metal building behind them. Lareye approached Ira, a seemingly confused look on her face.

“Hey Ira, what did some of that mean? ‘Mutilated self’? Aren’t you just in your shadow form..?”

Their head tilted towards Lareye, their resting smile forming into a sudden frown. Clearly they were hesitating. “He was lying, this form is just something I prefer to use.” He spoke, attempting to shrug it off.

Lareye didn’t fully believe this, but he decided to let it go. She didn’t believe this was something worth arguing or debating over. “Ah. Are you doing okay? First time you’ve seen him in at least a few hundred years and the first thing you do is argue.”

“Us arguing is common, I am not worried about it. I am just going to head back, maybe see you guys in another few hundred years or something.” They waved it off, already pushing themselves off the wall to start walking.

“Wait!” Cosmo called out, as if what she had to say was urgent.

“What?” Ira questioned, tilting their head back to look towards Cosmo. They saw Cosmo approaching with rapid speed, arms out for a hug.

Ira only patted Cosmo on the head, not daring to hug Cosmo back this time around.

Lareye walked towards the two, standing next to Ira and putting a hand up on Ira’s tall shoulder. 

Only for Lareye’s sake, Ira crouched down just a little bit for her to stand more comfortably. 

Lareye was grateful for Ira’s movement, smiling at them and gently patting their shoulder.