#forgive typos its late. honk shoo

[zephyrusz]

it was omly a matter of time before i lost my mind. its almost andrews birthday so yk what that means! yap!! andrew yap i love andrew hes amazing and him and harper make me go insane!! happy early birthday dirt man i love you

- when harper first arrived, andrew caught their eye.

not because of his standout appearance- no, no. his personality shone bright. he had a certain look in his eye that reminded harper of themself. too introverted to make their voice heard. but he seemed nice, and they felt like he would be a good companion, he was straightforward and no-nonsense.

- they hadnt gotten the courage to speak to him until they bumped into each other around a corner (turns out they both walk close to walls and dont pay attention to their surroundings).

andrew seemed to tense. harper flushed red out of embarrassment- the guy they wanted to be friends with was already off to a bad start with them.

just one simple compliment could mend whatever awkward setting they set, "your eyes are pretty."

he seemed taken aback, barely hesitating before briskly walking back to his room.

- after that, their interactions were very scarce. seeing each other at meals, the infirmary, that was it.

- until they had a match together.

harpers first match was nothing but a wreck. they locked eyes with the photographer and froze in fear, feet rooted to the ground and staring like a deer looking down the shaft of an arrow. safe to say their teammates werent happy about their cowardice.

andrew, on the other hand, was used to rescuing early. he didnt care for their poor performance, but he tended to be more understanding than others. he will forever brush it off as "just doing his job as a rescuer", but he truly cared for their safety in the match.

so, for the entire match, he kept them safe. maybe they weren't too bad, just a kid who needed support. he didnt particularly enjoy company, but over the course of the rough ten mintue game, he figured they didnt care about how scary he seemed- his odd appearance. his opinion on them grew neutral. he was open to giving them a chance.

the match was a loss. it didnt matter to andrew much more than it did harper. he stayed with them, showed them the way to the infirmary, and left without saying a word.

- since then, harper was determined to be his friend. they even found purple flowers in the garden they brought to him afterwards as a thank you gift.

- andrew was more hesitant. harper had never shown him any difference in any of the survivors, but nobody could be trusted.

- but eventually, the two grew close, they began having more conversations, comforting each other after bad games and being the other's main support systems.

- they both latched on to one another almost immediately after getting comfortable. andrew yearned for a friend, no matter how much he hates to admit it, and harper often helped him forget about his poor reputation. (thinkjng about that one wreck it ralph quote that kinda went "if that kid likes me, how bad could i be?" or something yeah thatd them.) harper saw him as a big brother. it had been five years, but andrew seemed to fill the hole in their heart cassian left behind.

- to everyone, their friendship was very surprising. an introverted, shy man who could be scary at times paired with a cowardly, trembling sopping wet cat of a person? no, that cant be right. but the two helped and related to each other in ways the other survivors couldnt really understand.

- they would spend nights together, sometimes in silence, other times talking and ranting about the others. nights normally spent in harpers room, andrew resting on their bed listening to them at their desk, their quill scribbling around on the paper as he gave feedback on their rough draft lyrics.

- andrew surprisingly loved hearing what harper has to say about the other survivors. they both love gossip- andrew only respecting claims he knew were true- after all, rumors are hideous things. but harper would be sure to fill him in on anything going on that he didnt want to find out himself.

- a few weeks before harpers birthday, he desperately asked tracy to ask if she could borrow harpers mandolin, and then give it to him. he wanted to do something special for his first real, close friend. so, what better way than to get tracy to be a spy, asking harper questions about how to play, then learning and relaying them back to andrew?

on their birthday, andrew sat by their side with trembling fingers, taking an embarrassingly long time to pick at the strings, playing a slow and pathetic rendition of "happy birthday".

harper broke into tears right on the spot.

- theyre both incredibly special to one another, filling the empty holes in their hearts with someone to love and care for. real friends- a first for both of them.